Laura's Review Bookshelf

Hard Weekend

2012-05-21T08:53:00.001-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been pretty hard here in the Benson/McCarthy household. And this weekend the Matriarch of the Benson/Fralic clan passed away. Nanny was a beloved woman who was stronger than anyone I could have ever met. We were lucky to have lunch with her last Saturday for Mother's Day, but unfortunately we didn't know that would be the last time.

She will be missed terribly.

I won't be blogging this week so I can help my husband deal with the death of his mom.

Los Angeles Area Event: Lissa Price

2012-05-18T04:25:00.001-04:00

Lissa Price, the fantastic debut author of the equally amazing book Starters will be signing copies at COSTCO on 2901 Los Feliz Blvd, Saturday May 19th from 1pm-3pm. She also mentions that there will be swag as well. Now I just finished this book and if I lived in the LA area I would totally go and buy many copies to give away to friends who are looking for a great story that will keep you guessing until the very end. In fact it still has me guessing! Plus this cover is so amazing and I found out from Lissa herself that there is an short story e-book regarding the cover of this book! I will link to it below. My review of this terrific YA science fiction/dystopian thriller will be forthcoming!
https://www.facebook.com/events/409745855717056/

Links to the Portrait of a Starter:

Google E-Books | Kindle | Nook

Waiting on Wednesday 37

2012-05-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

As usual thank you to Jill at Breaking the Spine for creating this wonderful meme!

First of all it sounds fantastic, the cover is gorgeous and its hubby and wife team, Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant. I'm a huge fan of Grant's Gone series. But this one just sounds interesting. Plus, I had NO clue that Applegate and Grant created the Animorphs series either!

Taken from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, EmmaRose, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible.

While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything... until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely.

This book won't be released until October 2nd, 2012, but I think that they might have galleys at BEA for those of you who will be there. I'm really excited for this one!

Book Review: Insurgent, Veronica Roth

2012-05-15T07:00:00.002-04:00

Reading Level: YA

Hardcover: 525 Pages

Publisher: HarperTeen 5/1/12

Parasols: 4

Insurgent starts off right after Divergent ends. So we a thrown back into the battle ASAP. Tris and Four have managed to take some of the Abnegation faction and bring them to a somewhat safer faction of Amity. But they know that their time there is limited. Erudites and Dauntless are teaming up to eradicate those in the "know".

Tris has lost her family and only has her beloved brother and Tobias (Four's real name) to keep her sane. With Tobias' father with them, things are strained all around. Tris doesn't trust Tobias' dad and she really has no reason to. He's definitely not father of the year. But he knows something and it's something big.

Throughout this journey Tris becomes even stronger than she ever imagined she could be, but she needs to be. There are people out there who would have no problem killing her in a heartbeat. She manages to alienate Tobias with her secrets and has to work all the harder to get him to trust her again. But her trust is shattered when the one person she thought she could rely on during this mess turns out that he's been helping out the other side and her whole world falls apart around her. With her friends and her faction, she has to take back what was taken away.

I love Tris. At times I felt like she had a God complex and that could be annoying. I understand how she had a tough time telling anyone that she killed Will when he was under the influence of the simulation. And she knew that when the news came out that she did kill him, she would be vilified. Keeping it all close to the chest. But her actions alienates the one who loves her. Four tries to understand Tris and is the first to declare his love for her, but she is unable to respond in kind. She goes on to make all sorts of problems when Four has his own problems as well. He finds out that his mother has been ousted from Abnegation by his father because of a marital indiscretion. She is now for all intents and purposes head of the factionless. And they need them to fight this war.

At times this book felt more science fiction-y than dystopian. I have thoughts as to how this will end, but Veronica Roth could completely surprise us and take it into a very different direction. The one thing that I found very hard was the person who turned on Tris. It was heartbreaking and may have even caused a few tears. You never want to be in that situation where the person you love is the one who is bent on destroying you.

With information that the government does not want to get out to the masses, Tris does everything she can to get that information. No one is talking. Marcus knows, but he's not talking. This is where the bulk of the action takes place. Tris is willing to walk into the front door the enemy and do what she can to get to what she needs. But it comes down to Four to help Tris make the decisions that she is to rash to make.

I really inhaled this book in a day via my nook and literally had my breath held during some really intense moments. I love Tris and Four and hope that they are stronger now with the way the second installment ended. We'll have to wait a year for the third, but in that time, I can revisit these characters again and see little bits of information that perhaps I've missed.

The Best Book You're Not Reading (11)

2012-05-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

I'm gonna harken to a classic and a book that will probably show up on a few high school reading lists this summer. Also, because I think it is important book for teens to read. I know this book changed the way I looked at a lot of people in my life. In high school regardless of time period there will always be cliques or the haves and the have nots. It's frustrating for teens who don't quite belong in any group. This book was published in 1967 and I still think it holds up today with all the problems that our teenagers deal with now. Bullying, coming out, making a stand. So the book I present to you is:

I went through and S.E. Hinton phase and read just about everything she wrote and am sad that she hasn't written anything nearly as beautiful and wonderful as this book. Again, I think this book is important even after 45 years. Some books don't age well and are very dated, but I know that I can go back to this book and see myself in some of the characters. Ponyboy, the dreamer, the writer. Johnny, the tragic one and Dallas, the loner. We must all Stay Gold. Even when things seem to be at their worst. If there is a book that you need to read this summer for school, grab this one and dig in. It really is magical.

Book Review: Masque of the Red Death, Bethany Griffin

2012-05-12T09:45:00.001-04:00

Reading Level: YA

Hardcover: 320 Pages

Publisher: HarperTeen 4/24/12

Parasols: 2

To me, this is a hard one to review. I liked it and I didn't like it. Sometimes the story went round and round and I felt like it was giving me whiplash. This book had a problem that it didn't know what genre it wanted to be. Was it steampunk, science fiction, horror, love story, historical fiction? But pretty much you get everything that I just named in this book and unfortunately, it's not done very well.

The first part of the book is just confusing. The prologue tells us about Araby and her family (brother and father) and her mom who has abandoned them. They seem to be in hiding in a basement and cannot go above ground. Okay, check. Something above is dangerous. But that was in the past about 3 or 4 years ago.

Araby and her friend April are heading to the Debauchery Club pretty much to do what the name of the club says. Both seem to be drug addicts. However because of the Red Lung, everyone who can must wear a special masque and they are checked over by the bouncer at the club. Who has taken a liking to Araby.

I enjoyed the relationship that was budding between Will and Araby. Will is a young man (18/19?) who has custody of his two younger siblings who immediate take to Miss Araby. All is well and good. Until April goes missing and her brother Elliott comes into the picture. Elliott is portrayed as a rake and a general villain. But you know what? Griffin doesn't know how to draw out suspense, so you pretty much know that Elliott is just a guy who is misunderstood. He's also the one who has been supplying Araby with her drugs.

The plot is confounded and is hard to follow. Elliott tries his damndest to get Araby to fall in love with him, but her heart is firmly with Will. Sweet wonderful Will.

But what we really need is a villain. And that would be Elliott's uncle who has killed his father, possibly kidnapped April and is controlling his people by allowing them to die. He is also the self-appointed Prince of the area.

The last quarter of the book is so jumbled and rushed and everything seems to pop up conveniently and possibly inconveniently. A new disease has sprung up. (?) Someone who we thought was dead, is not. The person we thought was evil is not and the person we thought was sweet is not, but for a reason. A reason that is overused and should pretty much be banned from young adult books especially when there is nothing leading up to this one thing happening.

I really tried to like this book and the characters, but I just couldn't.

Book Review: The Immortal Rules, Julie Kagawa

2012-05-11T11:10:00.001-04:00

Reading Level: YA

Hardcover: 480 Pages

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 4/24/12

Parasols: 4

Who would have thought that a writer who created a completely believable Iron Fey world could write a dystopian vampire novel? First off, who ever thought of a dystopian vampire story would sell? As saturated as the YA market is with vampires, werewolves and zombies, Julie Kagawa changes the landscape and descends us into a world where vampires are bad and evil and will kill you. There are no sparkly, love-starved vampires in this book. And you know what? I really enjoyed this one.

My only problem with the book was the first quarter. I found it a bit unnecessary to give us Allison's human life. I think this could've been told in a series of flashbacks. The friends in her human life -- Stick, Rat and Lucas -- are peripheral characters that don't really add to the story. Basically we learn that Allison is compassionate and fiercely independent. The story doesn't really take off until Alison is attacked by zombie-like vampires called Rabids, feral vampires.

Once Allison is turned into a vampire (to save her life), she is disgusted that she has become one of them. Something that she has hated all of her life, humans are treated as cattle, pets and playthings of the superior vampires. Caged in a city where they are food and nothing else. The vampire who turned (Kanin) Allison has his on modus operandi and becomes a mentor to the newly-turned Allison.

Allison does everything she can to try to stave off the blood lust that creeps underneath the surface. She refuses to become one of those vampires and informs Kanin that she will and can live a normal, albeit undead, life with humans.

"Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you kill a human being. The question is not if it happen, but when. Do you understand?" -Kanin, The Immortal Rules.

Kanin becomes the mentor to the mentee and teaches Allison everything she needs to know to make it in the world of the undead. Luckily for Allison, she's been turned by a master vampire, so she is considered stronger than most as Kanin explains the hierarchy of the vampire world. Kanin is also a wanted vampire by the king of vampires inside the walled city. And Allison somehow manages to bring them right to their doorstep. With precious few seconds, Kanin tells her how to survive on her own in the wilderness just as he is captured.

The last part of the book has Allison teaming up with a traveling gypsy of humans who are looking for Eden. A place where there are no vampires and they can try to find the cure that has wiped out most of the population. Allison manages to insinuate herself into the group and also manages to find something of a love interest in Zeke. But her secret must be kept or they will turn on her and kill her. This ragtag bunch of people range from little children to demensia-plagued adults. Ruth, a teen about Allison's age, senses something is not right about Allison and vows to find out the truth. Ruth from the beginning has never trusted Allison and is quite jealous when Zeke shows interest in Ally and not Ruth. There really is no love triangle here. Zeke is too naive to see it. However, Ruth does find out about Allison's secret and outs her immediately. Zeke vows to kill Allison and she is ousted from the group.

With Rabids all over the woods and the group being chased by Raiders, Allison secretly follows them until they meet until trouble and she must show herself. Here she manages to save Zeke from abduction, but the others in the group are not so lucky. Throughout all of this Allison's humanity shines through and she is able to put the vampire part of her aside to help a group of humans that need it. This book is jam-packed with excitement and the ending brings the book full circle in regards to Kanin. We only see Kanin in 2/4ths of the book, but his presence is well known to Allison because of a connection a sire has with his protegee.

I wished we had more Kanin because he really was the interesting part of the story. I found Zeke and that crew to be a little bit annoying and too fanatical. Jebbediah Crosse reminded me a bit of Jim Jones leading his followers into their death.

Allison is a great protaganist and I'm excited to see more from Julie in regards to this series.

I'm a going to BEA again this year!

2012-05-10T11:51:00.000-04:00

So I am attending my fourth BEA this year. I get so excited around this time of year because I know that I will be NYC bound (and away from kids, hubby, dog, house, etc) for a glorious 5 days. Of course those 5 days are jam-packed filled with meeting publicists, other bloggers, editors, agents, etc. It's a great place to interact with people in the publishing industry.

One of my favorite people in the world, Elizabeth Law, publisher with Egmont is always a hoot and a half. And she really loves her bloggers. She is very hands on when it comes to meeting with us and talking to us and letting us know what is in the pipeline.

BEA is crazy town. There are usually so many people that lines seem to go on for miles. I waited on Megan McDonald's (JUDY MOODY) line for over an hour. Because my 8 year old told me I was not allowed home until I brought home the latest book.

But the fun part is the parties and celebrations that we as bloggers get invited to. The first year, we were invited to the Geektastic launch party where I got to meet and talk to for quite a while: Holly Black, Libba Bray, Barry Goldberg, Scott Westerfeld, Barry Lyga, Elizabeth Scott, Sara Zarr, Justine Larbalestier, Cassandra Clare. I'm probably missing a few, but we all had a great night. If it was a bit rowdy.

There are some bad aspects to the BEA. People grabbing for books, taking more than one *sigh*, even when the publishing representatives ask you to take only one. That gets a bit frustrating. I can understand if you grabbed another one by mistake (I did that with BUNHEADS, not realizing I'd already had it). I grabbed it on a different day.

I'm going to be reporting on my experience at BEA and hope that you come to the blog to see what goodies I've gotten for giveaways. If any other bloggers are attending BEA let me know so we can 'meet' up on line or something.

Oh and if this is your first time going wear comfortable shoes. The Javits Center is killer on the feet.

Waiting on Wednesday 36

2012-05-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

This just sounds fascinating! I've never read anything by Morgan Rhodes (pseudonym of Michelle Rowen). But the cover has me hooked. I find myself enjoying high fantasy more and more. I hope this one will live up the hype. It will be released Dec 11, 2012 published by Razorbill.

Taken from Goodreads:

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past--and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

Sorry...

2012-05-07T12:42:00.002-04:00

I had a bit of a family emergency this weekend that has completely exhausted me. I'm not sure if I'll be blogging this week. I might just do Waiting on Wednesday.

I will be back and running next week!

Thank you!

Waiting on Wednesday 35

2012-05-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

You know I never, ever credit Jill at Breaking the Spine for creating this meme. So here it is!

A few weeks ago, I was looking to see if this book had already been published. I mean it's been almost two years since the first one came out and I think I read this book at the end of 2010 beginning of 2011. I really thought that I was behind the times. But lo and behold, it's not out until August!

I absolutely devoured the Nevermore and I know that I will totally devour this one. I need to know what is going on with Varens and how will Isobel save him? I've been waiting a very long time for this. Thankfully Kelly Creagh is on twitter and she knows just how much her fans are waiting for this book.

I haven't really seen a blurb or synopsis on this book so really clueless as to how this will play out!

Book Review: The Selection, Kiera Cass

2012-04-30T07:55:00.000-04:00

Reading Level: YA

Hardcover: 327 Pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

Parasols: 4

This book is a dystopian look at a reality show that takes place centuries from now. The United States is no longer and the country (Illea) is now a monarchy. However, when the King's son becomes of age, there is a contest in which all the women in the land can put their name in to try to become the wife and future queen of the country. In the new country people are separated by castes. Ones being the richest and eights being the downtrodden and generally persona non grata.

Our protagonist America Singer (caste 5), has a formidable if annoying mother, an older sister who has left the house with her husband and soon to be expected baby. She has an older brother who has abandoned the family to make his own riches and a younger brother who's skill has not quite made it known. America is known for her voice and her ability to play various musical instruments. With that in her background, she is never without work. However, she has fallen in love with a young man who is one caste below her. That presents a problem because people don't marry down and her mother would crucify her if she knew about it. The love story between America and Aspen is as wholesome as apple pie. Although they would like to take it that one step further, it is against the law.

With the King's son coming of age, the biggest news is that all girls between the ages of sixteen through twenty are strongly urged to fill out a census to become a true daughter of Illea. America doesn't want to fill it out and is forced by her mother. It doesn't help when Aspen suggests that she fill out the form. I really liked the relationship between Aspen and America, I was completely rooting for those two love birds to figure out a way to stay together.

When the news arrives that America is selected to partake of the festivities at the palace, and with Aspen acting cruelly toward her, she does everything she can to forget the one that she loves.

If you've ever seen The Bachelorette, then you'll pretty much understand how this "contest" is played out. The girls are each paraded around the Prince, they each have dates with him and he decides who he wants to spend time with forever. However, America has other plans. She's not happy to be at the castle and on her first night pretty much disobeys orders to not leave the inside of the castle. Becoming claustrophobic and missing Aspen, she tries to run out into the garden for breath of fresh air. However, her act of defiance is slowed by the palace guards. When she is granted access to the gardens by the Prince himself, she manages to somehow insult him and a perhaps ruin her chance at even competing in the Selection.

However after breakfast when the Prince meets with all the girls, and America has apologized properly, he finds himself drawn to her. America strikes up a bargain with the Prince that she will help him navigate the pretty girls if she is allowed some freedoms. I liked the relationship that developed from simple teasing and flirting between Maxon and America. As much as I really want Aspen and America to continue on, I really found myself falling for the Prince. He's not pretentious like most guy would've been, but he can be royal when necessary. He does take several hard lines with America when she does not obey.

Throughout the contest the castle is constantly at siege by people who don't want a monarchy and those who just rebels. Prince Maxon has some brilliant ideas, but is constantly shot down by his father. As America becomes more of a confidante, the two of them develop a relationship that may or may not be love.

With a twist that I never saw coming, it really leaves the story up in the air for the next book which will probably be out sometime next year. Also, the CW has a pilot in the works with Aimee Teegarden as America Singer. William Moseley (of Chronicles of Narnia fame) is Aspen and Ethan Peck (Gregory Peck's grandson) is Prince Maxon. You bet your bitty I'll be watching!

*Note: There will be no The Best Book You're Not Reading today. It will return next Monday.*

How does this sound?

2012-04-29T08:56:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about moving my blog over to wordpress. But I was also thinking of rebranding my blog. I've done Laura's Review Bookshelf now for 4 years and I'm just ready for a new and unique change. I've contacted Lori from Imagination Designs to redo a blog for WP. I'm excited but also very nervous about this. I read through Lori's link she wrote when she switched over and although it calmed me down, it still caused me to question if I'm doing the right thing.

Now I would move everything over from blogger to WP, but I would change my blog title. I've been thinking of some names for a young adult blog. My hubby has NEVER been a fan of Laura's Review Bookshelf. He thinks it's a mouthful. So I came up with Simply YA Books. I've already created a WP blog with that name but am keeping it private until I decide if this is the route that I will definitely go. I'd like to make this a really exciting blog and hopefully garner new friends to it.

So I'm kinda asking my followers what do you think of moving and rebranding? Please let me know in the comments.

I weighed myself today...

2012-04-26T09:04:00.000-04:00

So far I've lost 12 lbs! I've been working out and trying to limit what I eat (ie, via calories). It's been a hard road and lots of ups and downs but I'm finally starting to see the results! I notice my tummy is getting a bit flatter. I haven't measured my waist yet to see if I've lost any inches, I'll do that once I lose 20 lbs .

I was always a skinny minnie thing before I had my youngest daughter (who is now 8). I don't want to get that skinny again, but I'd like to drop enough weight that I feel good about myself. And don't look like I'm 6 months pregnant! :)

Has anyone else here on my blog lost weight or tried? Was it difficult for you as it is for me? I love food!

Sigh

2012-04-25T18:13:00.000-04:00

In the past 24 hours I've been called unhinged (thanks Pam!) and bitter. But I think what I am is sad. Sad that something like plagiarism could be so decisive in the YA blogging community. I find myself appalled that people are using the forgive and forget approach about this. There should be no gray matter in regards to stealing someone else's thoughts or words.

Grit and Glamour

I didn't realize that they've been deluged by the book blogging community. I know Kristi has some strong supporters, but I still feel bad that they've had to endure that. Their work was stolen and they're getting the wrong end of the stick. I think we should all apologize to that blogger for the way things were handled. Honestly it had nothing to do with them.

As The Book Lantern states we can learn something from this. We are under a microscope as bloggers. I try to be honest in my reviews and state that in my policy. I will never write "A How-To" blog, because honestly I have no interest in that. Blogging is personal and you do what you want. I don't need anyone telling me what to do. If I decide to take a political tirade on my blog, well, I will. I won't, but I could.

I know all of this will die down as Kristi is blogging as is status quo. I'm disappointed in her and in myself and a little bit of the blogging community.

I like blogging. I don't blog everyday as I have two daughters, a hubby who travels all the time, a dog, a stepson (on the weekends) and house that I really need to clean.

I hope you still come to my blog and visit my silly little memes on Mondays. Just something to give you an idea what I think is a great book to read when you have nothing else to read. I've been trying to write a review and have been having a hard time with it. I'm gonna hold off and go back to it in a week or so.

I think I've had enough drama online to last me a lifetime.

Waiting on Wednesday 34

2012-04-25T07:12:00.000-04:00

This cover is so gorgeous and I still have to read the first one. But I think that just might be my next read! this one doesn't come out until September 25th so I have some time!

Ahhh

2012-04-24T17:03:00.000-04:00

For someone who does not like to deal in drama, I certainly jumped in head first today. This is not me. Please do not think that I normally do this. Today I was angry and pissed. I don't condone what I did and regret doing it at all. You never hit the person who is already down. Bad on me.

The Best Book You're Not Reading (10)

2012-04-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

I can't believe I'm up to number 10. I really didn't think I'd be able to come up with three books never mind 10! This book is one of the first books that I reviewed ever. I remember reading it and just falling in love with the story, the characters and the author. She is such a fantastic person and was actually living in Singapore before heading back to the US.

This book is told in dive journals and poems. You really get a sense of these two characters and the struggles they go through as the attraction between the two gets heavier. Morrison weaves religion into the story without getting preachy and atheism again without getting preachy. I liked the idea that Leesie has very deep-rooted religious feelings and Michael's only religion was diving. Even after losing his parents in a horrific deep sea accident.

From Goodreads:

Leesie Hunt has many rules: No kissing. No sex. No dating outside the Mormon faith. When Michael Walden, a deep-sea diver who lost his parents in a violent hurricane, arrives in town, Leesie sees someone who needs her. They fall for one another, even though his dreams are tied to the depths of the ocean and hers to salvation above.

Will their intense chemistry be too strong to resist?

Leesie and Michael must make the hardest choice of their lives: whether to follow their beliefs or their hearts.

Readers will be swept away by this tale of forbidden romance told in online chats, Leesie's chapbook poems, and Michael's dive log. It's as steamy as Twilight and just as clean.

Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James

2012-04-19T06:55:00.000-04:00

Reading Level: Published Fan fiction (erotica)

Hardcover: 391 Pages

Publisher: Self-Pubbed, Random House

Parasols: 2

First off I'm going to explain why I gave it two parasols. I think the names of the characters are pretty cool. With that aside, this book was terribly written, horribly plotted and really made me wonder what the hell people see in reading this. I know that I should be a bit more gentle because this was based on Twilight fan fiction, but I've read better fan fiction. I think people are so awed by the sex that they don't look at the whole picture.

The copy I read was from The Coffee House Writers, not quite polished by Random House yet. But from what I heard, they didn't do much. There were grammar mistakes, comma splices and basic sentence structure problems. That's the technical aspects of the story.

Now on to the story. Ana Steele is just graduating college when she offers to interview a high-powered young corporate owner for her sick room mate. Of course, Ana is a klutz, so her first meeting of Christian Grey is on the floor after falling flat on her face. (Shades of Bella.) Christian is quite taken with this nubile youngster and decided pretty much right then and there that he must have her. So he does the stalking thing (Shades of Edward). He shows up at her job (a hardware store) and purchased things that make Ana wonder why he needs rope and other things that everyone knows will be for bondage. He asks Ana out and from there on, Ana's life will change.

First date, he wants her to be his submissive. He will dominate her in every thing and she will accept it. In fact he has a contract! At this point, I would run away and tell him that he's nuts. But not Ana, she's intrigued. Of course she is, her inner goddess, (who sorta is the best part of the books), is hootin' and hollerin'. Needless to say, she has some issues with contract, but doesn't mind losing her virginity to him. To Ana it's mind blowing. To Christian it's vanilla sex. Hey, I like vanilla! It's a great creamy flavor!

So on and on we go, with Christian trying to dominate Ana, yet she manages to dominate him and falls in love with him. It gets better when she gets a job at a small publisher in Seattle and her boss makes a move. Well I think you know that Christian goes off the rails and buys the pub. Christian becomes so obsessed with Ana that it borders on insanity. Finally Ana gives in and allows Christian to do his dom thing and it scares her so much that she decides this is not for her and that is the end of the book.

I had to read the second book because I wanted to know what happened. It was the back and forth as the first one. Honestly the sex in this book was okay, nothing crazy or mind blowing. Women are clamoring for this mommy porn. Maybe it'll give them ideas in the bedroom.

Honestly, I say skip it. The only reason people are buying it is because they want to see what the phenomena is. Yet, it's really not worth it. I only read the first two and I'm not really sure if I need or want to read the third book.

Waiting on Wednesday 33

2012-04-18T08:50:00.000-04:00

I loved Blood Red Road and I'm really looking forward to this one. I want to know what is going on with Saba and Lugh. Does Jack come back and what about the younger sister? These are questions that I want answered! I don't know about you, but I'm excited for this one! Unfortunately, it doesn't come out until October 30th. *sigh*

From Goodreads:

The Tonton have been defeated. Lugh has been rescued.
The heartstone has brought Saba and Jack together.
Now, Saba and her family head west to meet him and start a new life. All should be well.
But shadows of the dead are stalking Saba.
And another kind of shadow is creeping over the dustlands.
Then a messenger shows up.
With news of Jack.

Book Review: Grave Mercy, Robin LeFevers

2012-04-17T07:55:00.000-04:00

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 549 Pages

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 3, 2012

Parasols: 5

From Goodreads:

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

If you haven't heard of this book yet, I highly recommend you go out and buy it, download it for your e-reader or borrow from library. This is a book that I can get behind and give a glowing review on. It has everything one wants in an epic fantasy. Firstly, it's so well written. Secondly, it has a kick-ass heroine. Thirdly, the love story is a slow burn that has you dying for these two to get together.

Ismae Rienne has pretty much never been wanted. Her mother took a poison to purge the fetus from her womb. Her father, knowing that she was marked, wanted nothing to do with her and couldn't wait to sell her off (marry her off?) to a local pig farmer who would readily beat her on their wedding night. It's not until she is whisked away to a secret convent, that she learns what she is. She is death. This convent is not one that you go to pray and have your sins repealed. The sisters at this church are trained assassins.

On her first assassination, she is accosted by a jovial, if yet drunk, lug. During her second assassination, she is found out by a knight of the high court. He wants answers and wants to know why, Ismae is killing off people who could possibly help him find out who wants to hurt Duchess.

After her two assignments, Ismae is sent to watch over Lord Gavriel Duval and see if it is he who would take the duchy away from the sitting princess. What we find is a mousetrap of enormous proportions. Although a bastard, Lord Duval is the Duchess' brother and would see her safely ensconced in her duchy.

Ismae starts to realize that the convent is not all as it seems and must trust her heart in matters of attending to death. Although she doesn't necessarily trust the lord Duval, she knows that he is honest and truthful when it comes to his sister's happiness.

I know that I have to wait a year for the next book in the series, but my goodness, I just could not put this book down. I devoured it and yet, tried to savor it as well. I really think this book will be a huge hit for Ms. Lefevers. Her world building is on point and you get a sense of the time period and the utter chaos that goes on inside the castle walls. You'll love Ismae and all the side characters that are introduced. Everyone is fully well developed. I can't tell you how much I really enjoyed this book and would love to read more like this in the future.

The Best Book You're Not Reading (9)

2012-04-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

I just happened to check amazon for the ranking of this book and was surprised at what I found. It's currently ranked at #1,703,859. That is very low on the list considering this book is absolutely fantastic! If you like a story that is an epic love story or just an epic story, then this one is for you. And if you read this now or in the upcoming weeks, the second book in the series is out at the end of the month, so you can read both books at once! I bet you're wondering what book it is, aren't you? I will add that I am a bit biased because this author is a Massachusetts native and I love pushing local authors! So here ya go:

Starcrossed is the story of Helen Hamilton and Lucas Delos. When Helen first comes across him, the rage inside of her is so great that she literally wants to kill him. It always seems to happen when she sees images of three girls crying. And so, Helen learns that she is a scion and she is the Helen from Trojan War and Lucas is the love of her life, Paris. Yeah, we get the Iliad in a young adult form! I loved this book and it's a meaty piece of work. Josie Angelini knows her Greek history and she deftly weaves Homer's epic poem into a beautiful novel. I think everyone should read this book and fall in love with these characters just like I did. The second book, Dreamless, comes out at the end of April and is just as fantastic as the first one. I hope these characters continue on for a while.

From Goodreads:

Set on the island of Nantucket, STARCROSSED tells the tale of Helen Hamilton, a young woman whose destiny is forever altered when she meets Lucas Delos and tries to kill him in front of her entire high school. Which is terribly inconvenient, not only because Lucas is the most beautiful boy on the island, but also because Helen is so achingly shy she suffers physical pain whenever she is given too much attention.

Making matters worse, Helen is beginning to suspect she’s going crazy. Whenever she’s near Lucas or any member of his family she sees the ghostly apparitions of three women weeping bloody tears, and suffers the burden of an intense and irrational hate. She soon learns that she and Lucas are destined to play the leading roles in a Greek tragedy that the Three Fates insist on repeating over and over again throughout history. Like her namesake, Helen of Troy, she’s destined to start a war by falling in love. But even though Lucas and Helen can see their own star-crossed destiny, they’re still powerfully attracted to each other. Will they give up their personal happiness for the greater good, or risk it all to be together?

Waiting on Wednesday 32

2012-04-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've just finished Jillian Larkin's FLAPPER series, DIVA a few weeks back. And even though I like that series just a bit more, I'm fairly invested in this one as well. I'm a huge fan of Anna's works and love her writing. I think her LUXE series was a plotted a bit tighter than this one, but nonetheless, I'm still excited for this one. Anna has the cover Gods on her side too.

My New Computer and it's mah Birthday!

2012-04-10T07:21:00.000-04:00

My computer finally arrived at 5pm yesterday afternoon. I waited all day for Fedex to arrive and it was painful. I got a box of books from Harper Collins for #rockthedrop before my computer came. So all last night, I was fiddling with it. Adding all my favorite programs and trying to just figure it out because I've never used Windows 7 before. It's quite different from XP. There are things I like and don't like, but I'll get used to it soon enough. Now to get back to #rockthedrop. If any of you are in my local area (Northbridge & Uxbridge), on April 12, I will be leaving books around those towns. I will be tweeting my hints as to where I've left them. I hope that the right people pick up the books, because there are some great books that I'll be leaving. Now to my birthday. ARGH! :)

No Computer

2012-04-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

On Sunday my computer died. Seeing as my birthday is next week, dear hubby Purchased a new one. However, it won't be here until NEXT Wednesday. I will be radio silent until then. But please feel free to comment, I can view blog on Nook and phone. Computerless Laura