The Lady Most Likely... By Julia Quinn, Eloisa James & Connie Brockway‏

Description:

Hugh Dunne, the Earl of Briarly, needs a wife—so his sister hands him a list of the very best young ladies on the market. And then, because he refuses to tear himself away from the stables where he trains Arabian racehorses, she invites all those ladies to a house party, along with some other bachelors, of course. So who will Hugh choose? The Botticelli-esque, enchanting Gwendolyn? The outspoken, delightful Katherine? If he doesn't work fast, he'll lose those ladies to his closest friends, and then where will he look for a wife? Perhaps, just perhaps, toward a lady who's not on a market at all, and would require a great deal of persuading... (Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

I read  this book while I was at work on call over Christmas holidays.  It very slow but it was turn this year to be on call.  I found this book in the work kitchen, someone left it there for taking.  I was in a mood for historical (or hysterical romances as my friends mom calls them) romance.          

This book is three stories in one, all three stories are written by different authors but in the same setting.  In a way you do not even realise that the story is written by three different authors.

All three stories were sweet and fun reads.  I have to say that second story about Captain Neill Oaks and Miss Katherine Peyton was my favourite.  Other two stories were good as well; they were all fun to read.

Overall this was a fast, entertaining and fun read.  Nothing too serious, but rather very flirtatious.  The three authors that contributed to this book were Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway.  I have read other books by two out of three if these authors.  I never read anything by Connie Brockway, I'll have to check her books out.

If you enjoy reading historical romance, that are fun and entertaining than you might like this fast read.   I give this book 4/5 STARS.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Description:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited? (Goodreads)


My Thoughts:

I've seen this book around other people's blogs but I was not really that in a hurry to read this book.  I new that I wanted to read it but I was sure if I wanted to go out and buy it.  I was kind of lucky that my local library had this book; once I got the book from the library I  basically started to read it right away and finished the book in one setting. 

Anna is an all American girl who ends up in Paris boarding school, American boarding school located in Paris.  I would give anything to go to school abroad.  At the beginning I was not sure if I was going to like Anna that much.  She was very focused on the boy that she likes to the point that she does not want to go to Paris.  We are not talking about moving to a next town or city, we are talking about Paris here.  I thought oh great another teen book where all the girl can think about is boys.  But once I got past the few chapters I begun to like the book, especially when Anna meets the new boy in Paris boarding school.  What I really liked about that was the fact that the two did not fall in love right away, I mean there was attraction between the two.  This was not a simple straight forward romance, it was complex.  Here we have characters who struggle with what they want, or what they think they want.  Characters who are scared of being alone and in order to avoid being alone they do stupid things. 

Anna and the French Kiss was very well written and it was easy and fast to read.  There was a lot of character development and plot moved along smoothly.  I also liked the supporting characters, who were very well written and portrayed.  Overall this was a very god read and i looking forward reading more books by this author.  I give this book 5/5 STARS and I would recommend this book to all the readers out there that like YA romance.  Happy Reading. 


Other books by Stephanie Perkins that would like to read:
*  Lola and the Boy Next Boor
*  Isla and the Happily Ever After (Coming 2012)

Marry Christmas Everyone

Just wanted to wish Merry Christmas to all followers and readers out there.  I hope you are having wonderful time with family and friends over Christmas holidays.  Also I hope that Santa found you this year. 

Tortured Rake by Sarah Morgan‏

Description:

Nathaniel... Icon. Celebrity. Heartthrob.

Underneath the movie star's good looks is a man battling with the demons of his past. No one knows the real Nathaniel, they only see the pin-up, the man he pretends to be. Until one night he is forced to rely on Katie Field, an ordinary young woman from a very different world to Nathaniel's. She may be starstuck but she isn't blinded by the bright lights of fame. Can Nathaniel trust her enough to reveal the man behind the mask? Let the seduction begin...(Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

I requested this book from NetGalley, it is Harlequin and I was in mood for something very cheesy and let’s face it you cannot get cheesier than Harlequin books.

Our male protagonist, Nathaniel Wolfe is a Hollywood movie star, and of course out female protagonist is Katie a little miss nobody. The two meet on the set of a play that Nathaniel is suppose to star in, but things happen and Katie ends up helping him escape from the theatre to avoid paparazzi. The two end up spending time together, Nathaniel is a tortured hero who is acting even when not on stage. Katie is there to make him face his fears. Writing was not too bad, there were a lot of funny moments. Even though I thought that some story parts were ridiculous and overblown but oh well, that’s what it makes it an interesting read. 

Overall this was a alright read, it is predictable and but still I enjoyed reading it. Every once in a while I like to pick up a harlequin romance and read it. no matter how ridiculous I think they are, I still read them. I even have a collection of few favourites on my bookshelf. I give this book 3/5 STARS. Happy Reading.

My Lunatic Life (The Lunatic Life series, #10 by Sharon Sala‏

Description:

She plays for Team Spirit.High school senior Tara Luna's got all the usual teen problems: a new school, her attraction to a hunky guy, feuds with the Mean Girls, being regarded as an oddball outsider-PLUS she has psychic powers, a duo of protective, meddlesome ghosts AND an angry, threatening teen girl ghost who wants Tara to solve her murder-or else. Now you know why she calls this "my lunatic life."Sharon Sala's books repeatedly make the big lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly lists, and she's been nominated for a RITA seven times, which is the romance writer's equivalent of having an Oscar or an Emmy nomination. MY LUNATIC LIFE is the first book in her Lunatic Life series for teen readers (Goodreads).

My Thoughts:

I got this book from NetGalley for a review; it sounded neat and interesting so I thought what the hell the worst thing they can say no access denied to this book. It did take me a while to read this even though it not that long of a book. It was taking me a long time because I just could not get into this book. 

The story line was alright, predictable and not much was going on. Teenage girl , with psychic powers, two ghosts for company and no friends. Oh not to forget that she is an outcast in her new school and there is a boy that she is attracted to her. I felt that the story was very disjointed and rushed and not very believable. Also I had some issues with writing, for example OMG, BFF. When author overuses these I feel like they are trying very hard to get the teen feel to the book. It is kind of funny saying that it was not believable when here I was reading a story about ghosts and psychics. Tara’s characters is hard to describe, she is smart caring, competent, but she is controlled by the ghosts that she sees. Why is it that authors always have ghosts controlling people’s lives rather than people controlling ghosts.

Overall this was a alright read, nothing to get excited about because there is nothing new in this book that I have not read elsewhere. Its predictable, cliché and very disjointed. Would I recommend this books to anyone? No and the reason for this is that this book feels like a first draft and not complete work. So my advice would be edit, edit, edit, because the story has a lot of potential but it needs lot more work and character development. I give this book 1/5 STARS.

Angelfire (Angelfire, #1) by Courtney Allison Moulton

Description:

First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.
When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.
Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember


My Thoughts:

I had my on this book for some time but to tell you the truth I always forget about it when I am at the bookstore.  This time around I remembered to check my local library and they had a copy of this book.  This made me very happy.  It took me several days to read this...unfortunately I have to work and see my friend and family.  Can't keep my nose buried in books all the time... as much as would love to do that. 

On to the review of this book...I have to say that this was alright read and that's just it.  Alright nothing more, nothing less.  I believe that this is the first published work by this author and for the first novel she did a good job.  I just hope that she improves her story telling skills with future books. 

The story line is not original, there are already too many angel books out there.  That is bit disappointing, because I was looking for something different.  Characters were alright, there is some growth and development, but still there is something missing, very one dimensional characters.  I found that there was no chemistry between Will and Ellie...there was no tension between the two.  I kept waiting for the tension build up but it never happened...so the romance part was anticlimactic.  Writing was alright, however I found that the author try to write too teenagery.  I hope that makes sense.  It like the author is trying to make the teenagers in the book too teenagery, cliché.   This author is not the only one that tries to emulate this in YA genre. 

Overall this was an alright read, even with all it's shortcoming i still enjoyed it.  I am a sucker for YA book.  I will probably end up reading the second book in the series which is titled Wings of the Wicked. 
Even though this book resembles all the other angel books out there it was still a good and entertaining read.  I give this book 3/5 STARS - Happy Reading people. 

Angelfire Trilogy:

1. Angelfire
2. Wings of the Wicked Coming February , 2012)
3. Angelfire, #3 (Coming 2013)

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore‏

Description:

Amy Goodnight's family is far from normal. She comes from a line of witches, but tries her best to stay far outside the family business. Her summer gig? Ranch-sitting for her aunt with her wacky but beautiful sister. Only the Goodnight Ranch is even less normal than it normally is. Bodies are being discovered, a ghost is on the prowl, and everywhere she turns, the hot neighbor cowboy is in her face

My Thoughts:

Texas Gothic is the second book that I’ve read by this author; I’ve read Splendor Falls. I have to say that as much as I have enjoyed reading Texas Gothic, it was not my favourite. I liked it and it was good read but I still think that Splendor Falls was the better book. Texas Gothic was not what I expected; I thought it was going to be more gothic as the title states Texas Gothic. Also the story touches on subject of ghosts and I have to say that ghost part of the story does nothing to this book. To me it seemed more like a space filler than anything else. Ghost part of was not well developed or utilised.

Mystery was alright but not the greatest, I think that if the ghost part of the story was dropped and more details were dedicated to the mystery part of the story this would’ve been a great story. 

Characters were good and I really enjoyed reading about them. Amy is an interesting character even though I thought she spends way too much time trying to be normal. But still I liked her, she is spunky, smart, funny and brave. But I have to say that Phin was my favourite character, she was funny and very interesting character; personally I think that Phin would have made much better protagonist of this story. Ben on other hand as a love interest was alright, however I really did not think that there was that much chemistry between Ben and Amy, the story could have been fine without romance. But on other hand I liked the fact that not the whole story revolved around romance between Ben and Amy, but rather it was more like an afterthought. 

Overall this was a good read, nothing to rave about but still cute and worth reading. It you loved Splendor Falls like I did you might find this bit of let-down. But like I already said this is still worth reading.  I give this book 3/5 STARS – Happy Reading

Other book by Rosemary Clement-Moore that I reviewed so far:

Splendor Falls

Silver Phoenix (Kingdom of Xia, #1) by Cindy Pon

Description:

No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed and free, not some stranger's subservient bride banished to the inner quarters.

But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she cannot comprehend. And as pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams isn't only a quest to find her beloved father but a venture with stakes larger than she could have imagined.

Bravery, intelligence, the will to fight and fight hard . . . she will need all of these things. Just as she will need the new and mysterious power growing within her. She will also need help.

It is Chen Yong who finds her partly submerged and barely breathing at the edge of a deep lake. There is something of unspeakable evil trying to drag her under. On a quest of his own, Chen Yong offers that help . . . and perhaps more (Goodreads). 


My Thoughts:

I borrowed this book from a friend, actually I didn't even realise that she had until few weeks ago I went to her house and saw it on her bookshelf.  It took me more than a week to read this book, I kind of got distracted by another book that I was reading at the same time.  However once got back into this book i finished it in two days.  Book was good very good. 

The story line was very interesting and entertaining.  Main protagonist, Ai Ling was brave, kind, smart, good person who wants to help others.  AI Ling set on a adventure, searching for her father who has gone to the Emperor's palace and he has not returned.  She set off onto this adventure and she meets some friends and possible love interest along the way.  She faces many dangers, but also experiences adventure and what it means to be free.  The society that Ai Ling lives in were male oriented, pretty much like any society in out history.  Woman are to stay at home, do what they are told, never speak unless they are spoken to and give birth to children.  Ai Ling is different, she does not want to follow the traditional female role but she wants to be free and think for herself. 

I really enjoyed this book, it was funny, entertaining and fast read.  I am looking forward to reading the second book, Fury of the Phoenix, in the Kingdom of Xia series.  The plot line was well though out and it evolves, there were character growth and development.  Overall this was a very good read and if you have not read this book you should read it.  Also this book has a beautiful cover.  It is kind of nice to see that out main character is Asian.  But I was disappointed to see that cover for book two, half of her face is covered to hide the fact that the character is Asian, which is shame.  I read somewhere that the book might not appeal to readers out there because the main character is not a white Caucasian female.  Which is very sad fact.  Racial discrimination aside, you should pick up this book and read it.  I give this book 5/5 STARS.  Happy reading everyone. 


Kingdom of Xia Series:

1.  Silver Phoenix
2. Fury of the Phoenix

Between by Jessica Warman

Description:

Elizabeth Valchar-pretty, popular, and perfect-wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht, where she'd been celebrating with her six closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, what she finds will change everything she thought she knew about her life, her friends, and everything in between. As Liz begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding her birthday night, she will find that no one around her, least of all Liz herself, was perfect-or innocent. Critically acclaimed author Jessica Warman brings readers along on a roller-coaster ride of a mystery, one that is also a heartbreaking character study, a touching romance, and ultimately a hopeful tale of redemption, love, and letting go (Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

I have to say I was really impressed with this book. I started reading it without knowing what it was about and I haven’t read any reviews on it. However I did see this book around in the bookstores on the displays and so on. Actually I got this book from my local library; I was checking out some book when the libraries told me that there just got a new book ready to be taken upstairs and out on the shelves.

I started to read and at first I really was not sure if I was going to like it. The main protagonist did not appeal me but I kept reading. Elizabeth Valchar (Liz) was a rich spoiled girl, mean, uptight, insecure, irresponsible and just plain a bitch. She is type of a person you hate because she thinks that she is better and more beautiful than anyone else. But underneath all this Liz is insecure and she is fighting anorexia even though she does not realise that but everyone around her can see her wasting away. Anorexia is not the main part of the story, the main part is that Liz wakes up dead after her eighteenth birthday party on her families boat. She drowned. The story is told from Liz’s point of view, she is now ghost who doesn’t remember anything of her life, how she died, what kind of person she was and so on. It seems all the bad things that happened to her or bad things she’s done she cannot remember. Liz is not alone though she meets Alex, guy who used to go to her school but he was killed over a year ago, it was hit and run. Story mainly revolves around Liz and her trying to discover what happened to her, it was very sad. As I was reading the book I thought to myself Liz was a bitch in life but bitch in afterlife as well., but she does get better towards the end. Even though she starts to be remorseful as to what she done and for the first time she realises what kind of person she was or going to be. I mean it takes death for her to realise this. Author made Liz very realistic character, so realistic that I believe that if Liz lived she would have never changed or became a nice person if she was alive.

Liz family was also dysfunctional, no matter how normal they seems on surface. I mean when are parents going to learn that you never give your kids everything that they want. You have to set limits. Or what parent allows their kids to drink and let them do that on a boat without a parental or adult supervision. I am not against drinking or anything like that, but that’s like giving your kid a car keys while they are drunk and letting them drive. I do not know – maybe I am being too critical. It is easy to judge other people after something bad happens. Liz’s mother was a sick person and that affected Liz on every level and she did not even realise this. Some of the scenes between Liz as a child and her mother were very disturbing. Who the hell weights an apple. An apple. So I am not surprised that Liz was the person she was, she was walking disaster. Her father is not blameless either, it appears he was never around, working long hours and when he was around his answer to parenting was money. Give my child everything and anything she asks for. Because that way I do not have to be a responsible parent. But I did feel sorry for him at the end, because no matter how bad at parenting he was – he stilled loved his daughter. I guess one of the lessons is just because you are bad parent does not mean that you love your child any less.

Overall this was very good book, and I think it is among my favourite reads this year. It had a lot drama, some romance, look into how people live. Not all of us perfect, secrets that people hold and hiding bad thing that they have done. If you like YA books you need to read this book it is very good, heck its excellent. I actually will go out buy it for my book collection. But i think I will wait till it’s released in trade paperback. I give this book 5/5 STARS. Happy reading.

Robopocalypse by Daiel H. Wilson

Description:

In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication. In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans – a single mother disconcerted by her daughter’s menacing “smart” toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a ‘pacification unit’ go haywire – but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.

When the Robot War ignites -- at a moment known later as Zero Hour -- humankind will be both decimated and, possibly, for the first time in history, united. Robopocalypse is a brilliantly conceived action-filled epic, a terrifying story with heart-stopping implications for the real technology all around us…and an entertaining and engaging thriller unlike anything else written in years (Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

This is another one of my library finds; I was just wondering through the stacks hoping to finds something interesting to read.  Usually I am not much into sci-fi books but this one didn't seem to bad regardless what the story line was.  I  started to read this book right away and I have to say that it was good and entertaining read.  However I do have to say that I really liked the first half of the book, it was better than the last half of the book.  I read the first half of the book in one sitting and than it started to drag.  With the first half of the book it kept my attention and interest.  However towards the end of the book my attention started to winder and I had to force myself to finish reading it. 

Book was well written.  Storyline was good but there was something lacking especially towards the end.  I think that the ending was not very well done, it was too easy and there was not enough action.  As a reader you really do not see much of what is happening to people across the whole world, even though you know what is happening.  If that any sense.  Story is told from multiple points of view, different people, differetn backgrounds and so on.  But the story centers mainly in US. 

Overall this was an entertaining read, it was easy to read and makes you thing about the life without technology or technology turning on you.  I really liked the story line, even the ending was somewhat anticlimactic, I expected more.  I give this 3/5 STARS and Happy reading. 

On A dark Wing by Jordan Dane‏

Description:

"The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for.
And Death would be my willing teacher."

Five years ago Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she’s the target of Death’s Ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death is with him because of her.

Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets (Goodreads).

My Thoughts:

I got this book from NetGalley for a review and I was kind of excited to read this book. It was not what I expected, I am kind of on fence with this one, one hand I liked it and other I did not.  I found Abbey extremely annoying, she is on self pity path. She blames herself for her mother’s death even though there was no way that she could have prevented that. So her guilt is unfounded and annoying for the most part. It’s annoying because every time she thinks about her mother she goes on the guilt trip.    There are other ways to deal with loss of a loved one, other than guilt.  But none of those feelings are eplored. 

Than we have Abbey’s friend Tanner who is in wheelchair, actually he is her only friend. Abbey is an outcast in school and she is being cyber bullied, actually Tanner too. Bullying part of the book felt like it was just thrown in there for the hell of it, so it can be said oh yeah this also touched on subject of bulling. I am all for making the awareness about bulling, but this does not go along with this book. Let’s face bulling has always been around and it will always be around, it just that the way kids are being bullied that’s changed. 

Overall this was not a bad read, I think it just did not work for me. I just could not connect with the book and its characters. I really did like the ravens and all that (do not want to give to much away). The book was very well written, much better than some other authors out there that I have read. I give this book 2/5 STARS and that is only because I could not connect with the story.

In My Mailbox #7

Weekly meme created by The Story Siren, inspired by Pop Culture Junkie.

Bought:

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch
Surrender by Lee Nickols
Betrayal by Gillian Shields
The Unbecoming of Myra Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Library:

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement Moore
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
The Red Pyramod by Rick Riordan

Ebook (from NEtGalley)

On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane
Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly
Mu Lunatic Life by Sharon Sala

Low Red Moon (Low Red Moon #2) by Ivy Devlin

Description:

The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can't, and there's nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she's ever experienced. When Ben reveals he's a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she's not the only one who can't remember the night her parents died.Part murder mystery, part grief narrative, and part heart-stopping, headlong romance, Low Red Moon is a must-read for teen paranormal fans. As breathless as Twilight and as spooky as Shiver, this is a book to be devoured in one sitting—by an acclaimed YA author making her paranormal debut under the pseudonym Ivy Devlin (Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

So I finished reading Low Red Moon; I had this book on my TBR pile for some time.  Recently I found out that my local library had this book in their collection so I put in hold since it was already checked out by someone else.  Anyways, originally I was planning to buy this book, but only when it came out in trade paperback.  I finished reading this book last week i believe and i have to say I was not impressed at all.  I am glad that I did not buy it. 

There was nothing original about this storyline - it has the Twilight feel to it.  I mean the author uses sentenced such "How old are?"  or "How long have you been seventeen?" "I know what you are."  And where did we hear those two sentences before.  Its not the fact that the author used those lines in her book, it is the story context.  Boy and a girl meet.  Girl thinks that there is something strange about the boy and so on.  Do not get me wrong I loved Twilight books, however Low Red Moon was just not doing itself a favour by trying to emulate almost a same type of storyline. 

Characters development was not well done at all, actually there was no character growth at all.  Avery and Ben are the same at the beginning of the story as they are at the end of the story.  As a reader I felt like Avery was going in circles throughout the whole book, emotionally wise.  Romance between her and Ben was poorly done - there was no chemistry or attraction that I could see.  Plot line was OK at best; it was not very strong or well though out.  Writing was not good - there are a lot of sentences like this: "This is a dream."  "No it is not a dream."  "I wasn't sure if something happened - but something did happen."  Sentences like this or similar went on throughout the whole book.  I have to tell it was very annoying. 

Overall this was not a very good read for me.  It was poorly written, plotline was terrible, character  development was non-existent.  It was very much Twilight like to the point that the author uses same sentence (maybe slight difference) in the same story context as Twilight.  This book is going to be a series, yes another series.  I give this book  1/5 STARS.

Low Red Moon Series:

1. Low Red Moon
2. Moonrise (January 31, 2012)