Kelley Armstrong - Bitten and Stolen

4 stars

Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Series: Women of the Otherworld (has a total of 13 books)
Female lead character/narrator
Adult content: violence and sex (brutal, gory details and some description of sex)




Having read Kelley Armstrong's series Darkest Powers, I was expecting something similar. So I was surprised of adult main character/narrator. And this adult content. But surprised in a good way. Though this book being this good will mean a lot of money lost. A good book needs to be bought, owned! Unfortunately this one has A LOT of books.

The series protagonist is Elena, a werewolf. Turned into one by her lover Clay. Not at all happy about this Elena has left Clay and left other werewolves to live on her own, to life a normal life. As normal a life a werewolf can. But someone is causing trouble and risking the exposure of werewolves so she returns..

What I especially like about the books is Elena. She is a tough girl, but surely has her uncertainties and weaknesses. Especially her encounters with the so-called mutts. She definitely has a way with words I have never mastered! Also the werewolves as humans are quite described as still quite animalistic. So the characters are quite different to those in other werewolf stories I have read (though the only ones I have read before has also been young adult books).

I am definitely going to keep reading this series. Though I think I am now in the mood for something a little different for a while!



Here´s Darkest Powers for you, mentioned in the beginning:



Read it years ago and REALLY liked it. 


Goodreads:

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost - and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House... before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

BOOK REVIEW - Stealing Breath

Stealing Breath
by Joanne Brothwell
(series: Stealing Breath #1)
Originally published 2012
Published by Crescent Moon Press
Paranormal, Romance

4 stars

Sarah runs the family business as a store manager of a sports equipment store while waiting to start college. She has found she has these abilities, feeling other peoples´ emotions and somehow she succeeds in fighting off a being not quite like man. While struggling to understand herself she finds herself trying to understand this new man in town as well. And his mysterious brother..

Quite a quick read! Something I did not expect was the steamy stuff going on, so a little warning is in place: the book does have adult content, sexual that is. The story got me quite excited, the paranormal plot felt like a mix of paranormal and mythological (not really sure if mythology is the correct word to describe what I mean). A different and new kind of background to a story than any I´ve read before!

This one is yet another series that I need to read more about! And the name, that is just such a good name! A lot of the paranormal going on was really interesting, but most of all I really liked the romance (and the steaminess). I think it was quite close to a five star read, maybe if the paranormal plot woul´ve been put together into a whole a little more clearly it would´ve been exactly that, a five star read. Little things made me just a little lost, but maybe too much revealed would´ve spoiled it and I need to read the second to get the biggerer picture :)

BOOK REVIEW - Torment

Torment
by Lauren Kate
(series: Fallen #2)
Originally published 2010
Published by Doubleday
Romance, Paranormal, YA

4 stars

This is the second book in the Fallen series. It continues pretty much where there first left off. I did not have big expectations for this one, so I was very positively surprised as I got very excited about reading it! In the end I guess not much actually happens in the book and it ends with such a cliffhanger, everything in the story wide open! I would badly need to fill my need for more information what happens to all those old and new characters of the story, but I believe I have to finish some other books first. My advice is, do not read this one if you do not have the next one, Passion, to start right after this one!

In this one I really liked the new characters Shelby and Miles. And the dialogue between Shelby and Luce was fun. A lot is added to the background story of Luce and Daniel, and the angels and demons in general, in this second book, but still there are yet more secrets to discover.  I have no idea what to expect of Passion, but I really do hope I can start reading it soon!!

WHAT KILLS ME TOUR - Author Interview & Review

INTERVIEW - Wynne Channing

Thank you so much to Johanna for hosting me during the What Kills Me book tour at My Miscellaneous Bookshelf!

THE BOOK
Where can you get the book?
Participating e-book stores include: Amazon, B&N, Kobo and iTunes.

Will there be more to this story? Prequel, a second book..?
Yes! Everyone’s been asking and I’m happy to say that What Kills Me is the first book in the series.

Why vampires and something paranormal altogether? And why a teen protagonist?
When I was a little girl, I loved/hated being scared so I read a lot of paranormal novels. Since then, I’ve always wanted to write YA lit.

The book felt more action based than the vampire books I’ve previously read, or at least in a different way.  Did you always see the book being that way or was there room for more of the romance side at some point?
I definitely saw the first book as being an action-adventure. (I’m a kung fu film fan so I was hugely inspired by that genre.) I also wanted the relationship between my heroine Zee, and her only companion, Lucas, to be organic. I wanted them to develop a bond over time and establish a connection. I’m always skeptical of heroines who fall for heroes amidst destruction and chaos. (“I’m going to die any minute now and everyone I love is gone...hey, you’re kind of cute...”) There will plenty of time for Lucas and Zee to continue their relationship in Book Two.

If you could get anyone to read your book, who would it be?
My grandma. (She doesn’t speak English.)

If your book was to be made into a movie, who would you choose to play the leading roles?
Honestly, I have no clue. I love how they appear in my mind. Any suggestions?

THE AUTHOR
On Goodreads What Kills Me is your only book listed in there, but have you written something else before?
What Kills Me is my first published novel!

Did some music inspire you while you wrote the book?
The Matrix soundtracks, 30 Seconds to Mars, or anything angry helps when you’re writing fight scenes and everyone is getting their heads chopped off.

What was the hardest part in writing this book and finishing it?
Writing it wasn’t as hard (it took me six months) as trying to spread the word and market the book.

Did you do everything in the book yourself, or did you have some help?
I had some amazing people help me. Liliana Sanches Davis, a designer based in Lisbon, created the gorgeous cover.  Marie-Lynn Hammond edited my novel and Michael Mandarano rescued me from the nightmare of formatting it.

THE PERSON
How did you end up writing a book?
I’ve been writing stories since before I could spell and I’ve always dreamed of writing a novel. I finally built up the courage to put my first book out there.

What sort of things do you enjoy doing?
In my spare time, I teach and perform Latin dance.

What is your pet peeve?
Big egos.

Your favourite authors/books?
My favourite book is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Do you prefer reading paperback/hardback/ebook? Why?
I’m loving my e-reader. I take it everywhere and get new books instantly!



What Kills Me Links
Goodreads | Wynne Channing’s Website

What Kills Me is now $.99 on Amazon and Smashwords

                                                                   Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes


About the book: An ancient prophecy warns of a girl destined to cause the extinction of the vampire race. So when 17-year-old Axelia falls into a sacred well filled with blood and emerges a vampire, the immortal empire believes she is this legendary destroyer. Hunted by soldiers and mercenaries, Axelia and her reluctant ally, the vampire bladesmith Lucas, must battle to survive. How will she convince the empire that she is just an innocent teenager-turned bloodsucker and not a creature of destruction? And if she cannot, can a vampire who is afraid of bugs summon the courage to fight a nation of immortals?

About Wynne: Wynne Channing is a national newspaper reporter and young adult novelist. Wynne loves telling stories and as a journalist, she has interviewed everyone from Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Jackman to the president of the Maldives and Duchess Sarah Ferguson. The closest she has come to interviewing a vampire is sitting down with True Blood‘s Alexander Skarsgard (he didn’t bite). She briefly considered calling her debut novel “Well” so then everyone would say: “Well written by Wynne Channing.”


                                                                                             Connect with Wynne
     
                                                                             Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

REVIEW

What Kills Me

by Wynne Channing

Originally published 2012

Published by Jet & Jack Press

Paranormal, YA

3 stars

This book is about an ancient prophecy, claiming that a girl is destined to bring an end to the vampire race. The venue is in Italy, where Axelia happens to meet Paolo, who will change her life forever..

So there´s a teen girl. There´s vampires. You know. But! This is a lot more action packed a book than the vampire books I´ve read before! So it is quite different! There is a little bit of romance there, but that is not what the book revolves around. Maybe those two things are the reasons I did not immediately get into it, I need my books to have romance in them. I began the book with not that interested but later I really liked it! There were characters I would like to learn more about, and there´s definitely more to the story that what this book reveals! Now that I know what kind of a book it is, I think I will like it even more if I read it again.

I wish the character Lettie would have had a bigger part in the book, there was something about her that I liked. 

FORSAKEN TOUR: Review

Forsaken

by Kristen Day

(series: Daughters of the Sea #1)

Originally published ?

Published by ?

YA, paranormal

5+ stars

This book is definitely one of my favourites of the year, I find it very hard to wait for the second book! The story is about a 17-year-old Hannah, living with the family Whitmans that has adopted her. When the reader enters the story she is sent to the House of Lorelei to continue her studies in a school for "other kids like her". At Loreilei she finds the guy she has dreamed of for a long time and finds out more about where she comes from.

This book caught my attention immediately and it never left. It was a very quick and enjoyable read! The story really came alive in my mind and totally swept me into it. There was a point in the story when I had a huge stupid grin on my face for over a chapter, almost two. And there was a definitely swoon worthy male character in this one, oh my!

About Kristen Day

Kristen Day is a southern belle at heart with a crazy streak that desperately tries to escape at every opportunity.  She loves all things nostalgic, rustic, and quirky.  She’s been told she sees the world through rose-colored glasses, but she prefers to think of them as kaleidoscope glasses - swirling and morphing reality into something she can digest (who hasn't pretended those pasty lima beans were really kiwi strawberry jelly beans?).

She is the author of the DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA trilogy, which includes FORSAKEN, AWAKEN (Oct 2012), and CHOSEN (Winter 2012).  She loves all books, but really enjoys writing young adult, paranormal romances.  She’s loved to write for as long as she can remember.  Her first published work was her poem RED in second grade (you guessed it - it was a poem about the color red - life altering, right?) that won her 5 gold stars and a spot in her elementary school's poetry book. That's when her addiction to the written word officially began.  She was the only kid in fifth grade that actually enjoyed diagramming sentences. Go ahead and laugh - its okay.

When she’s not writing she’s making jewelry, painting, feeding her addiction to sweet tea, watching the Discovery Channel, or going on random adventures in the mountains of North Carolina with her amazing husband. She was born in Boone, NC and graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Marketing in 2001. 

Author’s Links

Buy Link: Nook
Buy Link: Kindle

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Blog
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BOOK REVIEW - Five

Five
by Christie Rich
(series: Elemental Enmity #1)
Originally published August 10th 2011)
Published by ?
YA, Paranormal, Romance

4 stars

Rayla goes of to college, an secretly not the one her family thinks she´s going to. By doing this she reveals herself to a world she never knew existed, and to men who she never knew were looking for her..and that is how she finds out she isn´t really what she thinks she is.

This book is one of those you want to keep reading to find out more and more. At the end I felt a little confused for so much was happening, at least that is how I felt. I liked that the characters were a little older than usual. I didn´t really want to stop reading when ever I started, I don´t really know what exactly it was that I liked in it, but I really liked it nevertheless! Sometimes I like reading a book even if I feel like I know what is going to happen. This time I liked this book because I really didn´t know what would happen next.

BOOK REVIEW Chasing Fate

Chasing Fate

by Elle J Rossi

(novella)

Originally published 2012

Romance, paranormal

5 stars

This novella is funny, hot and something new..and I LOVED IT! Strange how much someone can put in to 86 pages! It was a really quick read with lovable/likeable characters that had spunk. There were some fun moments and very sad ones. I have to admit it made me tear up. And lets not forget HOTness. I was a little surprised of the descriptiveness of the sexual scenes just because I was not expecting it. It was intense. I want more of Attie and Dru! Which is to say the only thing wrong with this novella..well it was just too damn short! J I hope I will get to read something else by this author.

BOOK REVIEW Beg for Mercy

Beg for Mercy
by Shannon Dermott
(series: Cambion #1)
Originally published 2011
Published by Wicked Truth Publishing
YA, paranormal, romance

5 stars

Mercy is a soon to turn 17-year-old girl. After a little incident she has refused to be interested in any guys. But of course the day comes when she can not resist the temptation anymore..

I might have given it a 4,5 stars if possible, but I really enjoyed this book and it was really good. Sure there were some grammar mistakes, but not enough to really bother me. In the beginning of the book I immediately was interested but was a little expectant of something..and when that something started I could not stop reading. I think this book was a really good example of ya characters in a paranormal plot still staying quite teen in their behaviour. There is quite a lot of romantic drama going on so if you do not like that, this might not be a book for you. There are some hot making out going on as well. Definitely want to read more of this series, I have no idea how things could turn out on the next book which is quite exciting.

BOOK REVIEW Fallen

Fallen

by Lauren Kate

(series: Fallen #1)

Originally published 2009

Published by Corgi Books

YA, paranormal, romance

4 stars

Luce is a teen girl who gets send to a boarding school after an incident..it just happens that the boarding school houses not just humans but something else as well.

This was a reread for me, I read this book few years ago, but I did not remember much about it. So four stars, even though there were parts in the beginning and the end that weren´t getting me really excited, the book in general did. I love love the character Arriane. I like the setting and the whole mix of characters. I liked the romantic moments between different characters. There were some really sweet stuff in there, but also, and quite surprisingly, some quite brutal ones as well. And what I really liked is the way the main character doesn´t just automatically believe everything she sees and hears! I will be reading Torment as soon as I can find the time, that will be a reread as well so I hope to make it quick so I can read the rest of the series that I have not read before.

BOOK REVIEW Switched

Switched                                                                  
by Amanda Hocking
(series: #1 Trylle Trilogy)
Originally published 2012
Published by Tor
YA, paranormal


4 stars


I started the book wondering if I even wanted to keep reading it. Not because it wasn´t good or badly written. No. The thing was that the idea of the story, the paranormal twist was something i had never read of before and I was not sure I was interested. But I decided to give it a chance and it was so worth it!

I do not want to tell you what the book is about, but if you like YA and paranormal but you are bored to the usual types, vampires, weres, angels..give this one a try! Or even if you don´t like YA and paranormal, maybe you´ll enjoy this one because it´s different! And also the cover, ain´t it beautiful! And if you do choose to read this, don´t quit in the beginning, it took me a while to get used to the idea.

I really liked the prologue of this book, it hooked me right away before I started to doubt anything. Took me about 5 chapters to get used to it. The Trylle was strange different for me. And then almost out of nowhere I noticed the book was a really quick read and I could not stop reading and was rooting for some of the characters. When I finished the first book I really wanted to continue to the second book, but didn´t have it with me. There was definitely something quite hot about a couple in this book, and I liked it :)

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