Review - Wethering the Storm (The Storm, Book 2), by Samantha Towle

Music journalist Tru Bennett has done the impossible: capture the heart of rock-star bad boy Jake Wethers. Now they’re busy planning a wedding and navigating their new life together in the US. Of course, Tru misses London and her best friend, Simone, but living happily ever after with Jake in LA is going to be great…right?

Wrong. Even the bright California sun can’t whitewash the dark side of celebrity coupledom. Greedy music execs, merciless paparazzi, and Jake’s wild past are lurking around every corner. Making matters worse, Jake announces he doesn’t want kids, which just may be a deal-breaker.

Tru loves Jake more than anything. But when a devastating crisis threatens to destroy everything they’ve fought for, the couple must face the hard truth: What if, this time, love is not enough?

I've been a pretty big fan of Samantha Towle since I first discovered the Alexandra Jones series last year. I thought her characters were well written, witty, and interesting, the storylines were original and captivating, but most of all her actual writing style flowed really well and made for an all-round good read.

When I first saw The Mighty Storm, the first book in the Storm series, I knew without a doubt that I would be reading the book. All of the above, PLUS hot guys in bands? I'm sold. In fact, it was one of the first 'bad boy musician' type books I picked up, so safe to say it got a solid review from me. However, I didn't figure that the rest of this series could offer too much more than we already saw in The Mighty Storm. We had the romance, the drama, the obstacles to overcome etc. What more could she possibly include in another book?

But BOY was I wrong. I won't lie, the first half of the book followed a similar pattern to the first and I thought the initial big plot point was very, very predictable (and very 50 Shades... Just sayin'). I started to groan around here and begged Towle to offer something in the latter half of the book to pick it up and keep it on par with The Mighty Storm...

AND THEN BAM! There it was. I won't give it away BUT GOOD GIRL Samantha Towle. It was exactly what the book needed and from that point onward I was a god damn blubbering mess. I genuinely don't think I've cried so much, so consistently, at a story. It wasn't necessarily full blown ugly face, snot cry, but it was pretty much steady tears until I closed the book.

Jake's character in this story appealed to me a lot more, too. He was much more controlled, made pretty much no stupid decisions (okay, maybe one), and just generally a more likable character. I also felt this way about Tru, though I did start to tire of her mood swings (and if I remember correctly, I felt the same throughout The Mighty Storm).

But anyway, for me, the character's weren't the most important thing in Wethering the Storm. What I needed to really keep this book on par with The Mighty Storm was a more exciting storyline, and Towle more than offered that. So much so that I've given Wethering the Storm 5/5 stars on GoodReads, a whole extra star than it's predecessor. Would definitely recommend it.

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Review - Twisted Perfection, Abbi Glines

Life outside of her house was a new experience for Della Sloane. The dark secrets of her past weren’t something she ever intended to share with anyone. They would never understand. No one would ever get close enough to find out. There was always a chance she’d go crazy sooner than they expected…

Woods Kerrington had never been one to be attracted to fragile females. They seemed like too much work. He wasn’t in it for the work just the pleasure. A night full of naughty fun had been exactly what was on his mind when he’d laid eyes on the hot little number that didn’t know how to pump gas and needed some help.

What he didn’t know was she was as fragile as they came. The carefree girl who spoke her mind and didn’t care what the world thought of her was more breakable than he could ever imagine…

Right, so I've read a few Abbi Glines books in the past, and while I've never given them huge scores, they've definitely always been good for a YA/NA pick me up when I've needed it - and Twisted Perfection was no exception.

Glines tends to follow the same pattern in her books with troubled protagonists that find love and solace in each other's imperfections (this isn't a bad thing, some of the best YA/NA authors I've read are exactly the same).

Della Sloan is a little darker than a lot of leading females I've come across; a broken recluse with a suicidal mother and a strong belief that she'll meet the same tragic end. Woods Kerrington is more typical of this genre; a rich, 90210-esq socialite set to inherit his fathers fortune of beach houses and diamonds should he marry in his station continue the family's flawless name.

As with most relationships in this genre, for me, it was much too rushed and I didn't really see too much development in terms of discovering each other and all that jazz. It was very much a 'wham-bam thank you ma'am, oh now I'm in love' type thing which always irks me a little. It did with Della and Woods more so because of how much Woods is willing to risk for his infatuation with a one night stand.

Despite this, the characters were easy to like and Della isn't too needy and doesn't make too many decisions which I'd like to punch her for, which I unfortunately find quite often. There's a nice mix of 'booster' characters that offer a bit of variety in terms of dialogue, are also pretty easy to like, and keep the narrative flowing.

The actual storyline was nothing spectacular, though the darkness of Della's past was somewhat of a nice (albeit morbid) surprise and added to the intensity of her character (however, I was still slightly surprised at how developed she was in terms of social skills and confidence given her upbringing... just sayin')

Anyway, I don't have anything super amazing to say, it was an easy read and gave me the fill of romance, passion, and YA/NA that I was looking for and expecting. I'm guessing there'll be more to come in this series that I may or may not check out depending on my TBR list at the time. Middle of the road 3 out of 5 stars for Twisted Perfection - worth checking out for YA/NA fans and Abbi Glines fans will certainly love it.

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Review - Walking Disaster (Beautiful, Book 2), Jamie McGuire

Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

I literally cannot tell you how excited I was for the release of this book. Beautiful Disaster was one of my favourite books of 2012 and Travis Maddox is officially my favourite book boyfriend ever.

The one thing I wanted after reading it was a little more insight into Travis and what went on in his head, so when McGuire announced that Walking Disaster would be the same story but from his perspective, I flipped.

The main thing I loved about Walking Disaster was that it doesn't pander to a general audience. You probably wont understand most of it, or get some of the jokes or references, unless you've read BD. I thought that was brilliant. Kudos to McGuire for not pushing out another novel purely to gain a following. Obviously fans are great but this book felt a little more personal and I took it as McGuire giving a more intimate hat-tip to BD fans (who are totally obsessive mental - in a good way, of course).

Travis, as always, was a huge ball of neuroses, sex, and brooding, and we wouldn't have him any other way. His character didn't deviate at all from BD and within seconds of opening the book his style of speech and thoughts brought back all kinds of feelings from BD that I shouldn't be having about a fictional character.

It was great to be reading all the crucial moments from Travis's POV and I had a major swoon moment when McGuire FINALLY explained the meaning behind the 'Pidgeon' nickname, which is freaking adorable by the way.

We (obviously) get much more insight into Travis's life and his relationship with his dad and brothers which you don't get to see in BD and it was really lovely (crap word, I know) to see a more relaxed Travis. McGuire is also a great writer with that side of the narrative and just reading those scenes made me feel comfortable for him. It was refreshing to see a male protagonist in this genre who is able to brood and vent with his family and friends in equal measure. (I tend to find a lot of male characters a little too broody, you know?)

As the story line didn't change there's not too much I can comment on that (go and read my Beautiful Disaster review) but naturally there were new scenes in Walking Disaster and a lot more dialogue from Shep and Travis, and again, it was nice to see Travis's relationship with Shep from an inside perspective.

I thought McGuire did a great job in BD of making the reader understand Abby and Travis's relationship and how Travis reacted to certain situations, so I can't say I found anything profoundly new from that angle. We know Travis smashes up the apartment, we know he sits outside Abby's dorm room all night, we know he plans the surprise party etc. That's not a bad thing as I don't really think any of that needed to change... and theres another tick for McGuire's writing - She doesn't over-do it on the detail. She has a panache for knowing just how much info needs to be given. This was something that I worried about when picking up WD but McGuire hit the nail of the head square on.

I won't lie and say I loved the ending a whole lot. I don't know what I was expecting because I think I would have been equally as upset if we just left Abby and Travis in college with a 'and they lived happily ever after...' stuck on the end, but the whole thing with Travis's job and Benny was maybe a little too far fetched and I'm not convinced the story really needed it to be honest.

Despite that, if you were a fan of Beautiful Disaster, even a little bit, then go and read Walking Disaster. I've just sat and read it in a day and I'm already considering starting my third re-read of BD just so I can start it again. I love these two books, I love the story line, I love the characters, I love McGuire's writing, and if none of that can sway you, just read them for Travis Maddox. Hands down 5 out of 5 stars, exactly what it needed to be.

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Review - The Collector by Victoria Scott

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment: Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.

There are 2 reasons I read this book. 1) The blurb is well written and witty. 2) Victoria Scott has done such a great job at marketing this book, creating SO much hype around it, that I felt like I wouldn't be friends with the cool kids unless I had this latest shiny toy.

And then there's the reviews. And boy, are there a lot of them. Through various competitions and ARC giveaways people managed to get their hands on this book some weeks ago and ALL I've seen since then is 5 stars and Dante Walker swoons, on Twitter, on Facebook, GoodReads, blogs... It's like this book was stalking me. I had to have it.

My first reaction after finishing the books was something along the lines of "well, I wasn't expecting that." I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. From the cover and the whole 'bad boy' thing, I thought this was gonna be a bit darker, maybe something along the lines of the Lux series, but it wasn't... and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I enjoyed reading it for sure. It was really well written and, like the blurb, it was witty and entertaining, but something about it held me back. I think that's the flip side of great marketing. I had certain, high expectations of The Collector that didn't quite match the actual book.

If I hate to describe it in a colour, it would be pink. Charlie, as a character, would be pink. Girly, sparkly, neon pink. I am not a fan of pink. There's not too much about her I really liked to be honest and she wasn't what I was expecting as a protagonist in the slightest. When she was first introduced and we hear her talking and see her bedroom, my first thought was "This isn't Charlie, no way. He's walked into the wrong bedroom". But alas, there she was.

I didn't really get the dynamic between Dante and Charlie, he's all bad boy and she's all nerdy and not that attractive, but somehow, as they always do, Dante falls head over heels for her. I get the whole 'she's the opposite of him/the other half of his personality/what he wants to be' type thing but I don't think she was likable enough as a character for me to want them to be together.

Dante is your typical brooding and mysterious YA character, which isn't a bad thing, I liked him. He was funny, attractive, sarcastic, and it was cute watching his feelings for Charlie grow... but to me, he wasn't any different to any other leading guy. There wasn't anything exceptional about him and there weren't any proper swoon moments for me. He was great, but I didn't love him.

As far as the story line goes, the actual idea of the seals and collectors is really good. I've never come across anything like it before and I'm always impressed when I find a truly unique concept. I also love a good Heaven vs Hell narrative, so The Collector ticked that box for me, too. As I've said, the story line wasn't what I was expecting and while it was good, it wasn't anywhere near the best Heaven/Hell/romance narrative I've ever seen.

All in all, it was a good book, but I was spoilt by the fantastic marketing. I think Scott could have done much more with Dante's character and Charlie could have been much more likable. I'm going to give it a 3.5/5 (4/5 on GoodReads) because although it was very well written, it still lacked quite a lot for me. I will be reading the rest of the series but I don't think it's the kind of series I'll be fervently waiting for.

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Review - Fate and Fury (Grey Wolves Book 6) by Quinn Loftis

The last few days have been the darkest of Sally’s life. After experiencing the joy of finding her mate, she now suffers the pain of losing everything she holds dear. Both the Romanian and Serbian packs have been captured, ripping Sally’s soul mate away from her almost as soon as she had found him. 

Her best friend and the emotional glue that usually holds Sally together, Jacque Pierce, lies writhing in a restless coma, having been put down by Desdemona’s dark magic. Jennifer Adams, the unshakable one, has revealed to her friends and her mate that she is pregnant, but the Fates have marked her unborn baby for death. 

Though she rails against the darkness, deep inside Jen knows that Decebel’s baby must die as payment for her own life, and the knowledge is tearing her soul to pieces. Cypher, King of the Warlocks, has claimed Jacque’s mother as his mate and agreed to help Desdemona open a door that would release a horde of demons from beyond the Veil.
So I have FINALLY gotten round to reading Fate and Fury, which is the 6th book in the Grey Wolves series by Quinn Loftis. Before I start the actual review I need to get something off my chest that bugged the hell out of me whilst I was reading this book...

I must have somehow bought an ARC or something because this was disappointingly one of the most poorly edited books I've ever come across. Seriously. There was comma's eeeeverywhere and in the complete wrong places, I found a number of spelling mistakes and other grammatical errors, as well as some points where words were missing completely (the occasional 'and' or 'a'). So just an FYI Quinn... Fire your editor.

ANYWAY, other than that I liked Fate and Fury, as I knew I would. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Grey Wolves is hands down my favourite werewolf-esq series. I love the idea of the mates and the passion behind that and I think Loftis does a really great job of bringing in A LOT of characters and scenarios that I think many other authors would struggle with.

Fate and Fury was no exception to this. There's wolves, there's elves, pixies, witches, dragons, trolls, you name it, Fate and Fury has it, and most importantly, they're all presented at appropriate moments and they're all relevant to the story. Loftis hasn't just thrown them in there as an aside, going "hey look! I can do magic", she makes you totally understand the characters and the part they each play in the narrative. Because of that, the story line flows really well, the introduction of new characters is exciting, and the book generally reads really nicely.

The only niggle I'm going to add in terms of story is that there were times when I felt like I was kind of reading a list, which is always a potential issue when you have a bigger number of protagonists. There were a couple of moments when it was kinda like "then Jacque and Fane did this, then Jen and Decebel did this, then Sally and Costin did this". I've never noticed that at all with the rest of the series so I'll let Loftis off as she does such a great job of everything else.

The characters, as always, are great to read. Each has their own personality and unique dialogue and while some are maybe slightly more boring than the rest (cough *Sally and Costin* cough), they are easily balanced out by strong characters like Jen and Peri who constantly bring the entertainment as far as dialogue is concerned (Though I don't remember Peri being so sarcastic... her character deviated a lot from what I remember).

I was a little confused as to why the (super long) blub was all about Sally when I felt the narrative was split up quite nicely between everyone. That threw me a little bit as I went into Fate and Fury thinking this was going to be Sally's story but if anything, her character was somewhat drowned out but other things going on and more entertaining characters. But hey, maybe that's just me.

Hands down my favourite moment is the final chapter that Decebel is in. I won't give it away but OH. MY. GOD. I was literally devastated. It crossed my mind one or two times but I didn't actually think Loftis would do it! I didn't even need the last chapter after that to be honest, she could have finished it there and I'd probably been doubly as psyched for the next book!

As you can probably tell by how disjointed this review it, I have mixed opinions on Fate and Fury. I liked it, of course I did, but I don't think I can say I loved it, not when you compare it to the first 5 books in the series. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was disappointed by the book, but I definitely felt the lack of the males at the beginning and as I said before, some of the characters we're teetering a liiitle too close to the edge of being dull.

Dialogue gets a 5/5 for sure but all in all I'm going to have to give it a 3.5/5 (Sorry Quinn, I love you but this is the lowest I've given in the whole series). I'll give it a 4/5 on GoodReads but as I can do halves on here, I think a 3.5 is pretty fair. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series but I hope future books are edited better and maybe structured slightly better.

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Review - Effortless (Thoughtless, Book 2), S.C Stephens

A lot can happen in a year. You grow, you change, you learn from your mistakes. And Kiera had made a lot of mistakes to learn from. But she had learned, and she was determined to never cause a man pain again, especially the amazing man who currently held her heart. But life offers new challenges for every relationship, and when Kiera’s love is put to the ultimate test, will it come out the other side unscathed?

Love is easy… trust is hard

So, I wont lie, I feel somewhat hypocritical reading this book given that Thoughtless, the first book in this series, didn't exactly get a sparkling review from me. I hated Kiera to the point where I considered putting the book down, the storyline kinda bored me, and I wasn't blown away with the writing.

The only saving grace, however, was Kellan Kyle, because I'm a total sucker for a boy in a band with a troubled past and possessive tendencies. *sigh*.

He's basically the only reason I picked up Effortless, and while I can't say it was a complete 180 and it's now my favourite book ever, it was definitely a lot more enjoyable than Thoughtless and I didn't consider putting this one down. Huzzah!

So Effortless basically revolves around Kiera and Kellan maintaining their relationship while Kellan goes on tour, with a few little obstacles in between. The story line alone had me enjoying this book much more, simply because I could sympathise with Kiera who faces a lot of worries about Kellan and cheating on tour, groupies, when he's coming home etc etc.

I grew to like Kiera in Effortless and found her a more believable character. She faces some self confidence issues which I think most girls can relate to, and throw in a super hot boyfriend who spends a good deal of time in the company of other attractive females and you've got yourself a believable character.

The sub-characters were also a great deal more interesting, as I found that they offered little to the narrative in Thoughtless. Kiera's sister, Anna, has her own story line going on and more is made of characters like Jenny and Kate, as well as the other D-Bags.

Kellan, as before, was an enjoyable character and his relationship with Kiera became less about the sex and more about the actual bond, which was a nice change up from Thoughtless which predominantly focused on how sexually attractive they found eachother.

Having said that, I still don't have anything amazing to say about Effortless, there was nothing about it that screaming THIS IS AWESOME. I've read a lot of other books involving the whole rock/music/band thing that I enjoyed much more and I've definitely read other new adult/contemporary books that Effortless couldn't hold a torch to. *cue hordes of angry fan-girls*

For that reason I'm going to give Effortless a 3 out of 5, as I did Thoughtless. In my first review I said I wouldn't recommend it, and I think I stand by that, though maybe not as passionately. I won't tell you to put it down, but I'm not shoving it under your nose.

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Review - Thoughtless (Thoughtless, Book 1), S.C. Stephens

For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart.

Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source—a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes...and none of them will ever be the same.

Firstly, I didn't realise when I first picked up this book how freaking long it was! 530 pages (paperback), is a pretty epic read by any New Adult/Contemporary standards.

Half way through, I was definitely waning. If you've seen any of my GoodReads updates you'll see just how irritated I was becoming with the length of this and how drawn out I feel the storyline was in places. However, I'm glad I didnt review this straight away, because the more I think about it, the more I actually quite liked the elongation of the plot points.

You can tell from the blurb that Kiera gets it on with Kellan, so I'm not giving anything away there, and what I found with Thoughtless is that the length of the book almost brings a sense of realism to the whole situation. Normally, I'm complaining that stories are too short, relationships aren't developed enough, and there's too much wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am going on. But with Thoughtless I really felt the bond between Kiera and Kellan growing.

I liked Kellan as a character and I think Stephens did a good job of portraying his torment about hurting his friend, Denny, by sleeping with Kiera. He fits the typical hot rocker/bad boy mould, but I'm not complaining. Kiera, on the other hand, annoyed the hell out of me. I cannot stand prudish characters and this is exactly what she was. Doesn't swear, doesn't talk about sex, only slept with one guy, blushes a lot - argh I can't stand it. I don't know about you but I don't know a single girl that is THAT prudish.

She annoyed me because not only can I never see someone with Kellan's characteristics looking in her direction, but she spent paaaaaages and paaaaages whining about her problems. For someone so prudish and morally upstanding she sure did a great job of screwing over her long term boyfriend... then whining about it. It bugged me. A lot. For that reason, I actually considered putting the book down part way through, but I stuck it out for Kellans sake.

The story naturally revolved around the whole affair and wasn't too deep. Sub characters were okay, the other D-Bags had some personality, but not loads. The writing was okay, nothing spectacular. All in all it was a pretty average book and I've given it a 3 out of 5. I probably wouldn't recommend it, but I am currently reading Effortless (Thoughtless, Book 2) so what do I know?

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Review - Lonely Souls (Witch Avenue Series, Book 1), Karice Bolton

It’s two weeks before Triss turns 18, and her world is about to change into the most magical one imaginable as she readies herself to enter The Witch Avenue Order... that is until her mother’s disappearance. Instead of celebrating her transformation, she finds herself spreading rose petals into her mother’s empty grave.

When Logan, her best friend from junior high, moves back to town for college, he vows to help her find the answers she so desperately seeks surrounding her mother’s disappearance. As they begin uncovering clues, it becomes apparent that the life of white magic they both grew up loving is not what the majority practices, and their lives are in danger.

With a haunting feeling that her mother may still be alive, she begins to hear a call to the wilderness. Triss realizes that in order to find the answers she needs, she must learn the ways of her ancestors and become the hunter, not the hunted before it’s too late, and she becomes part of the lonely souls.

This was the first book in a very, very long time that I considered giving up on. Had I not felt insanely guilty by doing so, I would have given up after about 25%.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting with Lonely Souls, but we've all established that I'm a huge cover whore so I was more than willing to give it a go. Given the name, it was a fair assumption that this would be a witch based YA book, which I was fine with, but I finished it feeling like it never really began.

The main reason I was set to give up on it was the writing (ignoring storyline and characters for now). The writing was a huge turn off for me. Not only was the language repetitive and not particularly advanced, I got the strong impression that Bolton has no idea how an 18 year old would talk. I cant count the amount of 'who talks like that?' moments I came across and I found it extremely difficult to associate with the characters in any way as a result of this. The dialogue was boring and wooden, giving away absolutely nothing about the characters, and the actual structure of it had me re-reading quite a lot of paragraphs so I could actually establish who was talking.

So, I wasnt getting off to a great start. Then I started evaluating the characters. Triss, for me, was a terrible protagonist. She had very little personality, to the point where I'm not entirely sure how to review her. There was just nothing about her. She was relatively whiny and her obsession with Logan completely detracted from the fact that her mother was missing, perhaps dead. She definitely played up to the helpless heroin stereotype, which is my ultimate pet peeve.

Logan wasn't any better. You could tell Bolton was trying to portray him as the good old YA bad-boy but it just didn't work at all. He wasn't smooth enough, there wasn't enough description of him to make me swoon, and his dialogue wasn't particularly witty or flirtatious. He returned Triss's obsession but it irritated me more with him as he was supposedly madly in love with her for the years they've been apart, blah blah blah. Yeah alright, what 18 year do you know that turns girls down for a chick he hasn't seen in 2 years?

The storyline was... well, I'm not quite sure what the storyline was because to me it just seemed like it was about Triss and Logan fighting their annoying teenage feelings of lust for each other. The foundations for a decent plot were all there but nothing was elaborated on enough to really grab you. I got to the end of the book wondering what the hell the last 290 pages were about and when the real action was going to kick in.

There were moments in the storyline that felt reminiscent of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series and once I found myself making that comparison, Lonely Souls was done for.

I think I've established from reading Lonely Souls that I don't like witch novels. Something about witches just doesn't do it for me, and once Logan whipped out a wand, I was out. Harry Potter was pushing it for me, and Clare only just got away with the Steele, but I'm sorry, wands are not cool.

When I come across books like this it's usually the action that helps me see them through, but in Lonely Souls there wasn't any (this is why wands suck, who can kick ass with a 5 inch stick?). There was one almost-fight-scene towards the end of the novel but it lasted all of 5 seconds and didn't have me white knuckled as other well written action scenes have me.

All in all, I just felt Lonely Souls was a weak book that seemed to have lost its way when it comes to plot and general purpose. I wont be reading any more of the series and I wont be recommending it. Because I hate giving 1 star I'm going to give it a 2 out of 5.

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Review - Beautiful Disaster, Jamie McGuire

INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

Beautiful Disaster is a re-read for me, but as I didn't review it the first time round, I'll do it now. This was hands down one of my favourite books of 2012. If not THE favourite book of 2012. There is so much about it I love that I kind of feel the need to do it as a list rather than a proper review, so that's what I'm gonna do.

The characters
If you've read any of my previous reviews you've probably picked up on a couple of my pet peeves when it comes to main characters; a major one of which is indecisiveness You know what I mean, the whole 'will they/wont they' kind of thing. The 'I love him, but we can't be together. Oh wait, yes we can. Oh no we really can't'. That whole thing just pisses me off. Come on guys, lets just get together than throw in a nice juicy obstacle rather than beating around the bush.

Well, anyway. Beautiful Disaster actually played up to that pet peeve for me, but its probably the only book I've read where I just didn't care. Everything else about it was that damn good. The main reason it didn't bother me so much was because McGuire actually justified that attitude. Abby and Travis have so many issues between them that even I was changing my mind about their relationship.

Both characters are so well thought out, with intricate and sympathy-inducing histories and their actions revolved around these perfectly. I felt like I really understood why decisions were being made, or people were being pushed away, that I can just let that peeve go.

On top of that, both characters were likable. I freaking loved Travis, so much so that he has officially been crowned my book boyfriend of 2012. Not only is he a total bad-ass, but he's very funny, cute in the right places, angry when its justified, and hot as hell to boot. His extreme personality is perfectly balanced by Abby's more serene one and his devotion to her is seriously heartbreaking.

Abby is more my kind of character, although she has her occasional face plant moments, she generally didn't piss me off and made most of the decisions I think I would have done in that situation. She approaches Travis with caution and makes the smart move of not buying a one way ticket to Crazy-in-Love-Land like most lead females do.

The story line
I loved everything about it. Although it starts off as your typical college romance, there's a more sinister side to it with Travis's fighting and Abby's past that turn it from something mundane, into something seriously exciting and completely original.

When I first read it through and I got to the whole Mick/Benny/Vegas story line I was completely taken aback, well and truly convinced the college would be the main setting for the book. Not only did it change it up when it risked getting dull, but it added a more adult side to Beautiful Disaster that most books in the YA or NA genre still lack.

The action/entertainment
There was bucket loads. Seriously, like I just said, the whole Vegas thing was an exciting turn of events, as was the event at the school (trying not to spoil), and adding Travis's fights in there, too, it was packed with fantastic action and entertainment.

I never felt like the book was winding down and the sheer amount of different little drama's that were going on kept me completely and utterly hooked.

The writing

I have a bit of a thing for the way a book is actually written, not just stuff like grammar and punctuation but the actual vocabulary used and how appropriate it is. And ding ding ding, you guessed it, Beautiful Disaster checked out on all fronts. The language was beautiful and reflected the genre, each character had a different style of speak, the writing flowed really well, chapters didn't drag, plot points didn't drag. and everything was just flawless.

Seriously, 5 out of 5 across the board. The only thing I wanted when I finished this book was to maybe get more of an insight into Travis's past and to see things through his eyes, AND WHADDYA KNOW, McGuires' next book, Walking Disaster, is exactly that. Cannot freaking wait.

It's out on April 2nd and I'll definitely be picking it up.

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Review - Hush Hush (Hush Hush, Book 1), Becca Fitzpatrick (WARNING: Super, epic rant)

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

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 that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

I am a huge cover-whore so I was immediately drawn to this book (kudos James Porter for one of my favourite covers), I love the fallen angels premise and I was intrigued by the name, pair that with some great reviews I've read and I was preparing for good things from Hush Hush.

Unfortunately, it didnt quite deliver. The story was scatty, not always making sense, unnecessary plot points (I'll elaborate later), not particularly original, and not particularly exciting. The characters were quite dull (Vee was okay, entertaining), I didn't learn enough to really care about any of them, and at times their behaviour was completely uncomprehendable and unexplained.

I don't tend to do this but I'm going to explain each point because I don't want to just incoherently babble about how disappointed I was with the book.

~~CONTAINS SPOILERS~~
Story line/Plot points/Action
When I think of a fallen angel story line I envision darkness, action, passion, battles, heaven, hell, and all that kind of jazz. Now clearly Fitzpatrick has thought of those things, too, but the mistake she's made (in my eyes) is trying to squeeze them all into one story. It's like she's taken every paranormal YA cliche available and thought 'yes, that needs to go in'.

• Fallen angel with no wings? Check. 
• Interference from Heaven? Check. 
• Fallen angel falls for weak, human girl? Check.
• Other fallen angel wants human girl, too? Check. 
• Human girl has sarcastic best friend? Check. 
• Human girl(s) get kidnapped and fallen angel has to save them? Check.
• Angel ex-girlfriend of fallen angel has it in for human girl? Check. (Okay, so maybe that ones a bit specific, but its not the first time I've seen it)

There's actually two different story lines going on and this is probably the main thing that turned me off. You have Elliot and Jules (Chauncey) being all sneaky and playing the obvious villains, then you have Debria gunning for Nora over a matter completely unrelated (the ex-girlfriend thing). Both are weak story lines but put them together and you've got a novel of rookie-mistake-making, self-indulgent, barely-there-fallen-angel-references, that don't hit anywhere near the nail.

There's so many things unexplained, too. Why is Elliot such a nutso? Jules briefly explains how he needed to test Elliot's loyalty, so he makes him kill his girlfriend? Now, I'm assuming Jules has worked his dark angel voodoo magic on Elliot's mind to achieve this, but that's only a guess, it's not explained, and neither is his mental push-Nora-against-the-house-drunk-at-6am behaviour.

Towards the end of the book, Vee starts getting a little psycho, too. She confesses that she's been seeing Jules on the sly but that's all that gets mentioned. Literally. Right, so the protagonists best friend is supposedly dating of the the narratives top prospective villains, and we get one mention of it? Again, surely Jules would be working some kind of voodoo magic on Vee for a specific purpose? He doesn't exactly strike me as the kind of guy that would be dating her for fun. Plant some ideas in Vee's head and try and get her to convince Nora, take over her body for your strange annual body-snatchers event, hell, even kill her to prove a point... but no? nothing?

And Action? There was none. Nora spent the whole book running and hiding, Patch didn't do very much, and Jules threw a few punches.

Characters/Character development
I've briefly touched on some of these already but I'm on a roll, so lets do it again. Elliot, Jules, and Debria are not strong characters and proved to be anticlimactic villains whose motives seemed slightly watered down and a bit boring to be honest. They're all so obvious. Elliot has a neon sign over his head from the start, Jules' behaviour was a huge ding ding ding, and Debria conveniently showing up at the same time as everything else kicking off is just too easy.

There was no suspense, no sense of who done it? Vee's mental behaviour even had me suspecting her at one point, and not in a oh my god, maybe its HER kind of way, more of a Jesus, really? *rolls eyes* kind of way. While she's funny, her actions are irritating and she's the kind of bimbo that you can see falling over and dying first in every horror movie ever made. In fact, I probably would have enjoyed it if she had died. At least something exciting would have happened. (Like when Paris Hilton got speared through the head in House of Wax)

Nora is one of the heroins that I hate (sorry). She makes dumb-ass decisions, changes her mind so much it makes me dizzy, totally ignores her better judgement, and is just dull, whiny character. Her relationship with Patch is headache-inducing to the point I was routing for Patch to just leave her the hell alone. "He wants to kill me. Oh, no he doesnt. Oh, yes he does. Oh my god I love him." It was like being in the audience of the worlds worst pantomime.

Patch is the only saving grace in Hush Hush, and that's purely because bad-boys are awesome. I would have liked more brooding and sexy one-liners, but given that the majority of book was a disappointment, I'll take what I can get. Although the narrative was from Nora's perspective, I didn't feel much relationship development between her and Patch. One moment he's aloof and hard to work out, then Jules is all 'Patch is in love with you, Nora'...Erm, what? When did that happen?

I had such high expectations for the book (damn you, cover art), but unfortunately it left me wanting more. I feel like I need to go and read a Laury Falter book just to get my fallen angel craving out of my system.

I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5. I'll probably read the next in the series just to see if it perks up. But if I feel the same after book 2, I'm not reading any more. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you already have it, I wont tell you to put it down.

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Review - Opal (Lux, Book 3), Jennifer Arementrout

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it

I'm starting from the back here because I can't physically keep it in - OH MY GOD. The ending of this book actually had me crapping my pants. It had to happen, really, we all knew it was gonna happen to someone eventually but I still freaked out when it did. And to top it all off, I now have no idea how long I have to wait for the next book. (Jennifer, if you're reading this, and I'll make sure you do, LET ME BE A BETA READER?! Give me an ARC, Jesus, even the first chapter!)

I know, I know, you're probably sick of my Lux reviews by now because they all pretty much say the same thing. "ERMAHGERD these books are so freaking awesome, go and buy them, 5 stars, gush gush gush."

Obsidian (book 1) Review - Onyx (Book 2) Review

Seriously though, Opal is even more kick ass, with even more revelations, even more secrets, betrayal, deception, romance, naughtiness, tension, relief and just about everything else a book needs to have you crying, cheering, and panting in the right places.

The action scenes are hold-your-breath-until-you-re-blue, the romance scenes are interrupt-me-and-I'll-kill-you, the story line is-HOLY-SHIT, the characters are either be-my-best-friend or -MARRY-ME.

Dawson has returned, Blake is back and causing even more trouble (we all knew leaving him alive was a bad idea right?!), Dee is still distancing herself from Katy following the loss of Adam, Daemon is still desperately trying to get Katy to confess she loves him, Arum are still trying to kill them all, the DOD is still sniffing around, and there's also Prom to contend with.

I've worn myself out with my last 2 reviews on this series so please go and read them, and please go and buy these books because they're just awesome. 5 stars, again. Nothing more to say.

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Review - Easy, Tammara Webber

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

Easy follows the story of Lucas and Jacqueline, two college undergrads who are brought together by an attempted sexual assault on Jacqueline. Lucas soon discovers the events surrounding Jacqueline play a little too close to the events that almost destroyed his childhood and we watch two struggle to deal with a haunted past and a dangerous present.

While the general tone of the story is relatively dark, Webber manages to present some touching and bright moments that'll have you exhaling the sympathetic breath you didn't know you were holding (and not just at the naughty scenes).

My first impressions of Easy was that it was beautifully written in all aspects. The language was lovely, not too childish but not overly adult, the dialogue was entertaining the pace of the story flowed pretty well, and it was generally quite a nice book to read.

The one thing I did LOVE about Easy, was that, not once, did Lucas or Jacqueline say those three dreaded words! I thought that was a brilliant and mature step for Webber to make as it made their relationship that bit more chaotic. I often find there's something so final about characters in this genre saying 'I love you'. It's like those words are the answer to a simple problem, but not with Easy. The lack of those words only added to the chaotic feeling of actually falling in love.

Given the subject matter that is ever present throughout the book, it's hard not to notice the little messages of not only female empowerment, but of male empowerment, too. Usually, I get majorly turned off by subliminal messaging in books, but I didn't feel like that with Easy. I finished this book feeling proud of the decisions made, and confident that not all men are the devil! (Which a lot of women seem to think, unfortunately)

The reason I'm not giving it any more than 4 stars is that I don't feel the story line, although it flowed well, was particularly strong or unique in any way. Lucas's childhood confessions were also a little rushed for me and I didn't really feel a build up in his decision to tell Jacqueline about his past.

I'd still recommend it for any NA/mature YA readers and give it a wobbly 4 out of 5 (I'd maybe give it a 3.75 but I'm not feeling that pedantic today).

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Review - Onyx (Lux, Book 2), Jennifer Armentrout

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

Alriiiiight, so you know in my review of the first Lux book, Obsidian, I wen't off on one about how great and refreshing the storyling is for this series? Yeah, I'm doing that again.

I wont cover the main characters too much, go and read the first review, but Daemon remains heart cripplingly swoonworthy, Katy is still heart cripplingly swooning, and the rest of the Blacks remain a stable contstant, adding to the storyline where needs be.

However, we do meet a new character in Onyx and that is Blake Saunders from sunny California. Blake conveniently turns up at school during a rather tumultuous time in the story line and conveniently takes an immediate liking to Katy, Daeman conveniently doesn't trust him, and Blake conveniently ends up confessing his knowledge of the Luxen, the Arum, and the DOD, conveniently offering to help Katy with a few... issues she has going on. Convenient. (really trying not to give away the story line here).

So anyway, that alone should give you a pretty good clue as to how good the storyline for the second instalment in the Lux series is. There is A TON more stuff going on than just that and the whole thing is just an action packed, romance filled, alien orgy. Its great.

There are a few gasp moments that I didn't see coming and a few 'awww come on' moments that I saw a mile off (Will, anyone?). Not that it spoils the flow of things. Armentrout is really good at sneaking in bits of information then distracting you with a completely different direction in the story line that doesnt leave you with a constant of obvious plot points.

Naturally, the relationship between Katy and Daemon progresses and the thing I love about it is that its not like BANG we're in love. Katy, although at times she slips slightly into the I-make-dumbass-decisions type of heroin I dislike, generally seems to have her wits about her and doesn't go diving head first a pool of Daemon. The same applies to him, too. History with his brother's death over his relationship with a human puts Daemons guard up and while you know that ultimately they will confess their undying love for eachother, the journey they take to get there is actually really nice.

Loved Onyx just as much as I loved Obsidian, maybe even more. Another rare (though becoming less rare) 5 out of 5 stars.

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Review - Obsidian (Lux, Book 1), Jennifer Arementrout

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

With a cover like that you can probably guess that Obsidian offers swoon by the bucket-load, danger by the ton, and just about everything else that has YA readers everywhere weak at the knees.

Following Daemon Black and Katy Swartz, Obsidian is less of a typical fantasy love story and more of a -drop-kick-you-in-the-heart, jaw dropping, bare-knuckle kind of whirlwind that'll have you sighing with swoon and taut with tension in equal measure. Oh, and there's aliens. You heard her. Aliens.

The story line for the whole Lux series is awesome and while Armentrout technically calls her extraterrestrial race 'aliens', she writes them in such a way that the idea of little green men wont even cross your mind. The Luxen are beautiful, freaky powerful forces of light who just so happen to have chosen the human form of sexy as hell American teenagers.

The baddies, because there's always baddies, are an equally dangerous alien race called the Arun; forces of darkness. Obsidian is very much the battle of light versus dark and it's actually quite refreshing to read something that keeps it in the family in terms of species. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good vampires vs werewolves, but theres something much more intense about civil war. More deception, more betrayal, and nearly matching abilities, making for some heart pounding fight scenes.

Alien Daemon and human Katy ('Kitten') are both really likable main characters (one more than the other, jus' sayin') and while there is no doubt that the story is based around their will they/wont they relationship, theres enough action to keep things spiced up on the ass kicking front, too. And more importantly, the story line is interesting. So many YA books let the relationship completely dominate the narrative but Obsidian lets the drama surrounding the Luxen race take equal reign.

It's very well written, too. Not too preppy or high school inner-monology, but with just enough teen angst to plant its feet well and truly in the YA genre.

I really enjoyed reading this opening in the Lux series and genuinely can't think of anything I don't like about it. For that reason its getting a rare 5 out of 5. Original, sexy, tense; Perfect YA.

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Review - The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden, Jessica Sorensen

Okay, so Jessica Sorensen is officially my new favourite person in life. I'm not even going to bother posting up a blurb about this book because all you need to know is that you have to go and read it right now.

If you're a fan of NA/contemporary books then there's no doubt in my mind that you will fall completely in love with this story.

I tend to stick to YA fantasy stuff but every now and then I take a break in favour of something a little more mushy, enter Jessica Sorensen. After reading The Secret of Ella & Micha I wasn't too sure how good or different Callie & Kayden's story would be but oh my god.

Its painful, its beautiful, its passionate, its devastating, and while I sometimes struggle to sympathise/empathise with storylines like this, I found myself in complete agony for both of the main characters.

Sorensen is such a beautiful writer and has an amazing way of entwining the main narrative and dialogue of her books with the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Cheesy as it is, she's the kind of writer that really takes you on their journey and I truly felt like there were times I was drowning along with them.

I found myself grinning like an idiot just as much as I felt sorrow, and I'm pretty sure I didn't take a breath for the last few chapters. You know those times when you don't realise that your whole face is contorted with tension, like real ugly style, until you try and stretch out your muscles? That's how the ending of this book made me feel.

With most NA books, or even romance in general, I tend to find that the storyline moves a little too fast paced for me, ala Twilight, when Bella falls in love with Edward after like, a day, but the relationship between Callie and Kayden flowed perfectly. I felt the trust building between the two, even after both of their traumatic pasts, and even found myself revelling in the joy that that kind of relationship would bring two people so hurt.

I know this is less of a review and more of a gushy demand to go and read this book, but seriously, if you like this genre then I bet my house you will love this.

5 out of 5 stars, I'm begging Sorensen for a copy of the second book right now.

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Review - The Secret of Ella & Micha, Jessica Sorensen

Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home.

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.
I don't read too many NA/Contemporary books, and those that I do, I don't tend to review. I don't know why, has just worked out that way. But every now and then I'll come across a book that I adore so much, I have to let you know. This is one of those books.

Firstly, the main thing I love about this book is that its so beautifully written it feels like every chapter could be the end. You know those moments in books where the last paragraph or last sentence is just heartbreaking, and you think "this has got to be the ending, that's too stunning for it not to be". And every time I came across that moment, I let out a sigh of relief when I turned the page and realised I had yet more of Sorensen's gorgeous writing to indulge in.

I won't lie and say that the story line is unpredictable or particularly original but where Sorensen does differ from other typical NA books is that her characters are so strong. Ella and Micha are fantastic protagonists, neither one lacks self-preservation, neither is too whiny or irritating, and the way their personalities brighten when they're interacting is really refreshing for this genre.

I couldn't help but make comparisons to Abbi Glines The Vincent Boys, given the whole hick-town, bad background similarities (this is what I mean by nothing particularly original), and every time I did, Ella & Micha came out on top by a country mile.

The ending was superb and again contributes to how much I loved the strength of the characters. Ella & Micha refuse to be defined by their pasts, and while Ella does have a few wobbles, they're not persistent enough for her to become irritating or for me to lose interest with her as I find I do with a lot of main characters of this genre.

The Secret of Ella & Micha was one of the rare books that I read from start to finish in one sitting, in around 5 hours, and I got up this morning to find that The Forever of Ella & Micha wasn't even out yet! Devastated. So now I'm going to continue to fill my NA craze with The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden (also by Sorensen), purely because if the writing is anywhere near as beautiful as Ella & Micha, I know I'm going to love it.

A solid 4.5/5 for Ella & Micha (a 5 on GoodReads).

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Review - Crushed Seraphim, Debra Anastasia

How does a foul-mouthed angel end up as the last hope for all of Heaven and Earth?

When Seraph Emma is maimed and tossed from Heaven by a rogue angel who's taken charge, she fears she'll never be allowed to return. Tasked with the impossible job of showing the self-loathing (and not even human!) Jason his worth, Emma is sure she's doomed to fail.

Meanwhile, having wormed his way into Heaven, the corrupt Everett has trapped God in Hell and has designs on unleashing evil everywhere. Fortunately, if there's one thing Emma can't do (in addition to minding her language), it's give up. Determined to save Jason and get back to Heaven-even if it means going to Hell-Emma's plan is simple yet impossible: trick the Devil to save God.

What she doesn't count on is the devotion and, well, humanity she finds in Jason; the spirit, hidden compassion, and raw sex appeal within the Devil; and the vulnerability of her own heart. With the help of two unlikely allies, she'll wage the battle for Heaven. But will Emma be sidetracked by a new sort of heaven along the way?

What's truly more dangerous? Falling from Heaven, or falling in love?

There were a few things about this book that I loved, and a few things that didn't quite do it for me. From the blurb above you can guess there's 3 main characters, Emma (Seraph angel), Jason (Half-breed vampire), and Jack (the Devil).

Jack, for me, was the best character, and I'm sure anyone who's read it will agree with me. He's sexy, feisty, funny, and just an all round likable guy, despite the fact that, you know, he's the Devil. Emma is a strong protagonist with a quick wit, a few funny one liners, and a generally kick-ass personality. Jason, on the other hand, was pretty dull. Maybe I expect too much of my vampires but he wasn't bad-ass enough and we don't really learn enough about him for me to particularly care about him.

I found that Emma's enthusiasm died down a bit towards the end of the book, which was a little disappointing, but Jack stayed strong and interesting which was enough to keep me going.

There's some steamy scenes for you romance lovers, as well as a juicy love triangle that keeps you hooked. As with any menage et toi's, a decision must be made, and certain events were sneaky at throwing you off course as to who that would be.

Storyline-wise, it wasn't particularly spectacular and I think a few details were maybe overlooked or things/characters weren't explained enough, making me think for a moment about what was going on (not in a good way, more in a 'huh?' kind of way).

It's worth a read but I wouldn't say it was what I expected. I wanted more kick-ass angels (I don't really think the half-breed vampire race was really needed or fit particularly well) and epic battles, Amy A. Bartol or Laury Falter style, but it was just out of reach with Crushed Seraphim.

I've already bought the second book in this series, Bittersweet Seraphim, so I'll get round to reading it eventually but I'm not picking it up straight away. A solid 3 out of 5.

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Review - Incendiary (Premonition Series, Book 4), Amy A. Bartol

Looking back at my GoodReads it's telling me that I read the last book in this series in September - It feels like forever ago and for the life of me I couldn't remember most of the story so I said to myself that I'd re-read the rest before I started on Incendiary.

But alas, temptation overruled and I started reading it anyway at about 6pm last night. And I am SO glad that I did. Within a few pages I was thrown straight back into the storyline and the characters all came flooding back. I can't remember why I gave the last book (Indebted, book 3) only 3 stars, it was before I started reviewing, but whatever disappointments I had from were were well and truly blown out of the water with Incendiary.

So 8 hours later, at 2.30am this morning I finally finished it and had fatigue not completely demolished me by then I would have reviewed it on the spot. I can't tell you the last time I stayed up stupidly late because I had to finish the book, not being able to physically put it down.

The thing that makes Bartol such an exceptional writer is her panache for dialogue. I've read a lot of books when I thought the descriptions of scenery were great, their twists were unexpected, or the storyline was original, but rarely to I find a book that not only has all of the above, but also has untouchable dialogue, too.

The characters are hilarious and each has their own personality. No one character feels like they were just placed their for convenience and they each have their own subtle storylines, relationships, powers etc. Reed, Evie and Russell are really strong protagonists and I love that Evie isn't the traditional 'woe-is-me- heroin (I've mentioned this a lot before, it pisses me off). Reed's dedication to his role as a Power is unwavering, as is his love for Evie, and Russell's development into a kick-ass angel brings even more humour and witty one liners.

The storyline was fantastic and the introduction of a handful of new characters really sped it along. Xavier, Tau and Anya, again, all have their own purpose, although some of that petered out towards the end of the novel as other things were going on so I'm really looking forward to more of them all in Iniquity.

The action, as always, was fantastic and, of course, the love triangle (well, triangleS - multiple now!) were heart stopping! Oh and speaking of heart stopping, to anyone who's read it - THE END OF CHAPTER 21. OH MY GOD. I nearly died.

What I love about this series is that Bartol is unashamedly happy to admit that there will be more to come. Some authors like to leave one of those cliffhangers where the book technically could be finished, but is also open to a sequel. Not with Bartol. She leaves you believing (hoping) that there is no freaking way this story is over and I am completely convinced that the next book (more Xavier, please!) will have me just as hooked!

Without a doubt my favourite in the series, 5 out of 5. Go and buy it now (well, after you've bought the first 3).

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Review - Julie Kagawa, The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)

I've read so many amazing reviews about this book, and I'm such a big fan of Kagawa's Iron Fey series, that I thought I was going to be in for a real treat with The Immortal Rules.

I wouldn't say I was disappointed, that's far too strong a word, but I think I was slightly mislead by everything I'd previously read about the book and how awesome it supposedly was. I'd probably say that for the first half of the book I was right up there with the gushing masses but then Zeke and the gang came into it and it lost me.

If you've read the book you'll obviously know what I'm talking about so for those of you who haven't, let me start from the beginning. Allison/Allie is a 'street rat' living on the outskirts of a city run by vampires that offer humans a relatively peaceful life in exchange for a blood donation every now and then. (They really, really hate vampires). Out on a food run one night Allie and her gang are attacked and killed by Rabids (wild vampire type creatures). Allie is on the verge of death when a good vamp steps in and offers her immortality, she accepts on the basis that she's been a fighter all of her life and refuses to give up now.

Now, that's the very basic premise, and is also where my issue with the story begins. Allie hates vampires, and I mean, she really hates them, and as such chooses to live a life of poverty and squalor as to avoid having to give a blood donation every month. However, despite being in a situation where all of her friends are dead and she has nothing but starvation to return to, she quickly decides she'd rather be a bloodsucker than take the quick death on offer. Alright...

But I got over that when we started learning more about Kanin and also started the 'how to be a vampire 101' classes with Allie. I began thinking "Alright, this is going to be an old-school, kick-ass vampires type thing" and I was happy. The best part of the book for me was the relationship with Allie and Kanin. Kanin is very much the dark and brooding character who has little patience for Allies reluctance to sever ties with her human life. Kagawa presented a real sense of detachment between the two that you'd expect from people with Allie and Kanin's withdrawn characteristics, but at the same time you could still feel a connection there that made you wonder where the story would take them.

Then we started learning a lot more about who Kanin really was (won't give away any spoilers) and his past and I got even happier, thinking this was going to be an epic vampire free-for-all with some great battle scenes (because we know Kagawa is a pro at those), maybe a bit of romance, who knows?

But instead, Kanin was quickly removed from the story and replaced with Zeke, Jebbadiah, and the rest of the human gang who did nothing but irritate me for the rest of the book. Allie began irritating me too at this point, which I was pretty upset about because I love a no-nonsense heroin, and up until this point, she'd been pretty kick-ass.

Allie had spent the majority of her life detaching herself from her emotions to help her survive psychologically but as soon as she's a vamp, she meets a human boy and a few kids and her life principles suddenly change? I just don't understand it. When Stick rejected her she was heartbroken for all of 5 minutes but something about Zeke is enough to change her mind? I don't buy it.

The actual build up of their relationship wasn't enough for me either. There's an attempt to describe Zeke's uncertainty about his feelings for a vampire, and the same with Allie and her feelings for a human, but there's no depth to it. It was all very Twilight - I shouldn't like him, but maybe I do like him, and now it's been 2 weeks and I'm irrevocably in love with him and want to risk my life trying to help him? Not for me. (Don't get me wrong, I love Twilight, vampires AND werewolves? Score. But the instantaneous love is a downer for me.)

I really, really wanted to love The Immortal Rules, and for the first half I did, but as soon as Zeke came into it and that switch got flipped, it just went downhill really quickly. The whole 'lets find Eden' thing got annoying (28 Days Later, anyone?), Zeke's unquestioning following of Jeb got boring, and characters like Ruth always just piss me off.

For the sake of Kanin and kick-ass Allie I'm going to give it a 3/5. I'll probably read the rest of the series because I think the storyline has strong potential to be something pretty good, and also to make sure Kanin comes back in to it and Zeke stays out of it. Oh, and also because Kagawa's writing style is awesome and no-one can touch her descriptive narratives.

So yeah, overall, it was an interesting book up until the 50% mark, then it turned into a typical YA/vampire type thing. There's gonna have to be something more to book 2 to turn this around for me.

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Review - The Vincent Boys/Brothers, Abbi Glines

I've just read both of these books over the last couple days so I thought it would be good to review the two of them at once and give a bit of a comparison (because one is definitely better than the other).

I don't tend to stray too far from paranormal reads because, frankly, I find most other stuff quite boring, but I loved Abbi Glines' Existence Trilogy and I've heard a lot about The Vincent Boys series so I figured, why not.

The Vincent Boys, the first book in the series, I actually really liked. I found the characters really captivating and I loved the romance between Ashton and Beau from the get go. Its a very typical 'girl loves the bad boy and bad boy loves the girl, and really isn't much of a bad boy' storyline, which is fine (and a reason I tend not to read this kind of book), but predictable, too.

I usually find the main female characters kind of sappy but Ash wasn't like this at all. There wasn't too much of the whole ' Oh my gosh, I'm such a bad person, what shall I do' blah blah. Ash doesn't want to hurt Sawyer, obviously, but that doesn't stop her running to Beau anyway which was somewhat refreshing. I got slightly irritated with all the talk of the 'good girl and bad girl' sides of Ash and how she needed to let her 'bad girl' free but her actions definitely justified it, so I'll let that go.

Overall, The Vincent Boys was quite an exciting read, Beau was a sexy character, Sawyer's sappiness more than helped aid Ash's affair, and Ash was a pretty cool chick in general.

However, the second book of the series, The Vincent Brothers, didn't do it for me at all. I was expecting more of Ash and Beau but when Lana popped up in the narrative I was immediately dubious. Lana and Sawyer are boring characters, it's as simple as that. The storyline was a bit droning too, an extended string of frustrating miscommunications and over exaggerated teen angst.

The only reason I found myself powering through this book is because I was waiting for Ash or Beau to reappear. The first book left a lot of questions unanswered about Sawyer and Beau's father and I felt this should have been much more of Beau's story than Sawyers.

Lana was such a dreary character and everything I just mentioned that I don't like in a heroin. Whiny, self concious, desperate, and just a bit pathetic all round. And all the shit she forgives Sawyer for? She's the kind of person you want to shake and scream 'snap out of it, woman!' at. Sawyers personality and actions changed far too much from the first book, to the point where he could have been a completely new character, and not a particularly likeable one.

I'm trying not to talk too much about the storylines and I don't want to give any spoilers away but I'm guessing that from the end of The Vincent Brothers there's not going to be a third book? (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong). If this is the case then the whole 'father' issue seems irrelevant to me. No questions were answered, it didn't help Sawyer and Beau's relationship and it certainly didn't aid the storyline.

Overall I'd give The Vincent Boys a 3.5/5 and The Vincent Brothers a 2.5/5, purely because Sawyer and Lana bored the hell out of me. I went into this duo with an open mind purely because I think Abbi Glines is fantastic, but unless there's more Dank Walker-esq characters, I won't be reading any more of the romance stuff.

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