Friday 30 November 2012

Slumber by Samantha Young

Molded by a tragic childhood, nineteen-year-old Rogan finds it extremely difficult to trust people. Now Haydyn, her best friend and the one person she does trust, is dying and only Rogan can save her.

Setting off on a journey to retrieve the plant that will cure Haydyn and subsequently the ills that will befall them all if she dies, Rogan is stuck in close quarters with a protector she distrusts above all others. 

Wolfe Stovia.

The son of the man who destroyed Rogan’s family.

At a constant battle of wills with the handsome Captain of the Guard, Rogan just knows this adventure together will be fraught with tension. She never imagined, however, that the quest would be so dangerous… not least of all when she finds herself falling for a man she could have sworn was her no.1 enemy…

Mature YA fantasy romance (for older readers).



I don't think I have ever been more annoyed at myself (in a good way). If I remember correctly i looked at this book after reading Sam's Lunamorte series but thought it wasn't something i would enjoy, so didn't bother buying it. Then i was looking for something to read, saw it on Amazon and thought 'what the hell' you've never been disappointed by Samantha Young before. Well...I have no idea what i was thinking the first time around, as this is exactly the type of book i look to buy.
I loved all the characters in this story and they were all very well written. 
Taken as a child for her power to be able to find anything anyone asks for, Rogan's story starts of a very sad one and for someone who has been through so much at such a young age, Rogan is very brave and strong and has dealt with the life she was forced into very well, even growing to care for the people at the palace. Rogan lives in a time where woman don't have as many rights, freedom of speech and choices. This doesn't stop her however, and she speaks her mind whether people like it or not (they generally tend not to). Especially when it comes to a certain Captain of the Guard, Rogan hates the man and doesn't hide her feelings towards him either, yet in every way she has met her match this time.  
Wolfe Stovia's father was the one who came and took Rogan as a child, destroying her family forever. Even with his father long dead Rogan holds a special hatred for the Captain and believes him to be just like his father, even believing he is waiting to take his revenge on Rogan for his fathers death. 
When Rogan's best friend Haydyn slips into a sleep that will soon claim her life, Rogan has no other option than to travel with Captain Wolfe and the Royal Guard to try and find a cure for Haydyn. 
The arguments between Captain Wolfe and Rogan were brilliant! At times i really did feel sorry for all those guards having to travel with them, because at times i just wanted someone to lock the two of them in a room together until they realized their feelings for one another. Perhaps even bang their heads together just for pay back ;)
On their journey to save Haydyn, Rogan gets herself into trouble over and over again by continually disobeying the orders of the Captain (poor man!) forcing him to come and rescue her. The mission begins to teach Rogan more about herself and that you can leave the past in the past without forgetting where she came from and the family she lost. 
The closer she gets the Wolfe the more she thinks she misjudged him all along. But can she forget who his father is and learn to trust him? Could she possibly love him?
Rogan and Wolfe take the main love story but there is another one played out lightly in the background between Haydyn and Matai - her personal guard. Their ending is left unclear as Matai is too low in rank to marry Haydyn, so she is left with the choice whether to marry for love or duty. 

I really enjoyed this book. A part of me angry that i refused to put it down and now it is finished :( 

Although, saying that. I feel the way Samantha ended the story there is defiantly room for a sequel (please, please, please!). After Haydyn wakes up she has also changed and some might question whether for the good or not. 

I have never bought a Samantha Young book and thought it was a disappointment and Slumber didn't just keep my expectations but blasted them all through the roof. 

Great job Sam!!!

5/5







Saturday 24 November 2012

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

I finally got to this book after adding it to my wish list about two months ago, and it was well worth the wait. 

This is the first book I have read from Jeaniene Frost, but it defiantly won't be the last. 

Before getting to the review here is the summary of the book:

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all--but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him - a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.


The reason I left it so long before buying the book was because it was marked at almost £5 which i wasn't sure I was willing to pay. Then I got an email from amazon saying it had dropped to £1.99 and there was no hesitation in me buying it. Which i am glad i did. 

I loved the character of Leila as she wasn't your normal "why is this happening to me" female character. She very much accepted her fate and dealt with it the best she could. 
I also loved the fact that while everyone one feared Vlad, Leila didn't hold back when it came to telling him exactly what she thought of him. 
Even when she is kidnapped she uses her powers and makes own plan so she can escape from them, instead of just hoping someone was going to come along and save her. 
She is very head strong as well. If someone, usually Vlad, tells her to do something and she thinks it isn't right or she can do more to help, then she will. 

Vlad is the Prince of Darkness, he's strict, loyal to those loyal to him, and incredibly HOT! Which has nothing to do with the fact that he has the power to harness fire. Seriously he should come with a warning.
He knows Leila wants him and is very vocal in that knowledge. His ego should be a turn off but if anything it just makes you like him more. He does't like being disobeyed or challenged, which is something he has to learn to deal with more than once when Leila is with him. 

Marty is a dwarf vampire that Leila has a performance routine with at the carnival they perform in. After losing his daughter he becomes the father figure in Leila's life, since Leila and her family are practically estranged due to her unusual powers, and the death of her mother. Though he isn't in the story a great deal, his character is still very important in regards to the decisions Leila makes regarding her circumstances. 

This book was VERY well written, and to be honest after the books I have been reading recently that little plus point was like a God send. 

It was unpredictable and kept you on your toes, even when I thought I knew what was going to happen, it turned out to be something completely different. 

This has to be in my top three of best reads this year!  

Can't wait until March 2013 to read the sequel. Already have it pre-ordered! Yay!

Rating 5/5




Monday 19 November 2012

The Crush by C.A Williams

Recently I have been reading a lot of paranormal books and decided a change was needed so I bought "The Crush" I had been eyeing this book over the last couple of months and decided just to go for it.

Please note there is swearing in this review as i am quoting some things from the book.


First off here's a short summary of what the book is about:

17 year old Wynn Wakefield feels an instant connection to Grier Daniels after moving back to the small town in Alabama where her mom grew up to finish out her senior year. But Grier is taken by the Queen Bee of the school, Lexie Brockett, who already has their wedding all planned out after graduation to become the wife of the star quarterback and her claws instantly come out when Wynn shows up. But Wynns not looking for a fight with the mess she just escaped from, boys are the last thing on her mind.

The Crush is a new adult book with some mature themes that are more suitable for 17+


One thing that confused me straight away was the descriptions Wynn gives of her mother and step father. She portrays her mother as being very proper and strict, mentioning she is not allowed to eat on the couch and also says her mother would have a "shitfest" as she is not sitting like a proper southern gal. 
Wynn then describes her step dad as someone who dotes on her, always offering to pay for things and buying her a brand new fancy car for passing her test.
However, in the first few pages of the book i feel these descriptions are completely reversed. Without giving anything away you find out pretty quickly that her step dad is horrible and her mother is very loving and dotes upon Wynn, where as in my head i had envisioned her as being very strict from the description of her. 

Circumstances make Wynn and her mother move back to Alabama where her mother was brought up. Once there she has to enroll at the local school, helps out at her families diner and falls head over heels for Grier Daniels who is already taken by the queen of the school, someone Wynn defiantly doesn't want to get on the wrong side of. 


I felt some parts of the story were unbelievable, Wynn has trust issues and doesn't like people touching her due to a tragedy that happened in her life. This doesn't stop her from getting a little touchy touchy with Grier on the beach though, which I felt was a little out of character for her. I get C.A Williams was trying to begin a romantic relationship with the two characters, but i felt like this happened to quickly. Especially since they weren't even dating at this point. 


Wynn's past doesn't stay hidden forever though and someone who she hoped never to see again turns up and puts her life through hell again, just when she thought she was getting back on her feet. 


The worst thing for me in a book is mistakes, which i am sure every other reader out there agrees with. There was a part in the book where C.A Williams refers to the wrong character, which made me re-read the paragraph a few times before i realized it was an error. Also spelling at points was very poor. At times I felt the story moved to fast and then at other parts it seemed to drag. I feel if it was structured better it would have made a huge difference to the story.

Over all it was an OK read, but nothing that I am going to remember in a few months time. 




2.5-3/5








Tuesday 6 November 2012

Perfect Chemistry Review Simone Elkeles

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. So you can imagine my excitement when it reached the top of my wish list.

But first of all, a description of the book.

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created "perfect" life is about to unravel before her eyes. Forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, Brittany finds herself having to protect everything she's worked so hard for - her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend and, most importantly, the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But the closer Alex and Brittany get to each other the more they realise that sometimes appearances can be deceptive and that you have to look beneath the surface to discover the truth.

One of the things I loved most about this book, was that you got to see the story from both Brittany and Alex's point of view.  Before when i have read this type of layout, the story lacks surprise, however, the way Simone Elkeles has written it is superb and keeps you wanting to read more.

The first character we are introduced to is Brittany Ellis. To people on the outside, her life looks like a perfected barbie movie. She has the big house, the flash car and all the designer clothes a girl could want and Brittany works hard to make sure people keep on believing that. In truth she is being suffocated by pressure from her parents - her mother more so- to be perfect. Having an older sister who relies constantly on help from others due to her disability puts pressure on Brittany to be the perfect daughter her parents long for.
Fate isn't about to let that happen, and intervenes by causing Brittany to almost crash into the High School bad boy Alejandro "Alex" Fuentes (seriously how hot does that name sound?)
After his friend bets him that he can't sleep with the high school princess, and then getting paired with her as a chemistry partner, Alex finds himself spending a lot more time with Brittany and seeing she isn't the perfect girl she pretends to be, but one that is in fact hiding who she truly is.
He realizes he is falling for her but still doesn't think he is worthy of her. She is the top of the social ladder and he is in a local gang just to keep his family safe.
Whereas her life problem is to be perfect, his is to stay alive.

I cannot recommend this book enough. There were some good funny moments, teary moments and even some romance moments that made me blush!

So do yourself a favor and go read this book! :)

Rating : 4/5