Sunday, December 30, 2012

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

Starting Jan 1, I'm going to be doing the 2013 TBR Pile Challenge that is hosted by Roof Beam Reader. My progress will be chronicled here (or click the link that the top) and I will have reviews of each book that I read. All these books have been sitting on my TBR pile for at least a year, so I imagine it will be hard to finish... but I'll try.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Switched Review

Switched by Amanda Hocking

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…


2.5 out of 5 stars

Switched is the first book in the Trylle Trilogy.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Wicked Business Review

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the-wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth-floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust. Following clues contained in a cryptic nineteenth-century book of sonnets, Lizzy and Diesel tear through Boston catacombs, government buildings, and multimillion-dollar residences, leaving a trail of robbed graves, public disturbances, and spontaneous seduction.


4 out of 5 stars

Wicked Business is the second book in the Lizzy and Diesel series.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Here Review

Here by Denise Grover Swank

Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.

Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.


2 out of 5 stars

Here is the first book in the indie book series On the Otherside.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Dead Girls Detective Agency Review

The Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox

Pop quiz: What would you do if you had to solve your own murder to get anywhere in death?

Maybe if I hadn't slept through my alarm, slammed into Kristin--my high school's reigning mean girl--or stepped in a puddle, destroying my mom's new suede DVF boots (which I borrowed without asking), I wouldn't have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I wouldn't have been pushed in front of that arriving train. But I did, and I was.

When I came to, I was informed by a group of girls that I'm dead. And that because I died under mysterious circumstances, I can't pass straight over to the Other Side. But at least I'm not alone. Meet the Dead Girls Detective Agency: Nancy, Lorna, and Tess--not to mention Edison, the really cute if slightly hostile dead boy. Apparently, the only way out of this limbo is to figure out who killed me, or I'll have to spend eternity playing Nancy Drew. Considering I was fairly invisible in life, who could hate me enough to want me dead? And what if my murderer is someone I never would have suspected?


3 out of 5 stars

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Deadly Little Secret Review

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Until three months ago, everything about sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at an art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes far from ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help – but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something...but he's not the only one with a secret.


2.5 out of 5 stars

Deadly Little Secret is the first book in the Touch series. 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Tale of Two Vampires Review

A Tale of Two Vampires by Katie MacAlister

Iolanthe Tennyson has had a very bad year—due in part to the very bad men in her life. So, she’s accepted her cousin’s invitation to spend the summer in Austria indulging in her photography hobby. There, rumors of a haunted forest draw Iolanthe into the dark woods—and into the eighteenth century…

Nikola Czerny is a cursed man, forced by his half-brothers to live forever as a Dark One. But his miserable existence takes an intriguing turn when a strange, babbling woman is thrown in his path. Iolanthe claims to know Nikola’s daughter—three hundred years in the future. She also knows what fate—in the form of his murderous half-brothers—has in store for him. If only she knew the consequences of changing the past to save one good, impossibly sexy vampire…


4 out of 5 stars

A Tale of Two Vampires is the 10th Dark Ones book.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Velveteen Review

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.


3 out of 5 stars

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Goth Girl Rising Review

Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga

Time is a funny thing in the hospital. In the mental ward. You lose track of it easily. After six months in the Maryland Mental Health Unit, Kyra Sellers, a.k.a. Goth Girl, is going home. Unfortunately, she’s about to find out that while she was away, she lost track of more than time.

Kyra is back in black, feeling good, and ready to make up with the only person who’s ever appreciated her for who she really is.

But then she sees him. Fanboy. Transcended from everything he was into someone she barely recognizes.
And the anger and memories come rushing back.

There’s so much to do to people when you’re angry.
Kyra’s about to get very busy.


2.5 out of 5 stars

Goth Girl Rising is the sequel to The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Anna Dressed in Blood Review

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.


3 out of 5 stars

Anna Dressed in Blood is the first book in the Anna series.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Red-Headed Stepchild Review

Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now.

This time, it's personal.


4 out of 5 stars

Red-Headed Stepchild is the first book in the Sabina Kane series.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Thirteenth Sacrifice Review

The Thirteenth Sacrifice by






Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Level 26: Dark Origins Review

Level 26: Dark Origins by Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski

It is well known among law enforcement personnel that murderers can be categorized on a scale of twenty-five levels of evil, from the naive opportunists starting out at Level 1 to the organized, premeditated torture-murderers who inhabit Level 25.

What almost no one knows, except for the elite unnamed investigations group assigned to hunt down the world's most dangerous killers, a group of men and women accounted for in no official ledger, headed by the brilliant but reluctant operative Steve Dark, is that a new category of killer is in the process of being defined.

Only one man belongs to this group.

His targets:
Anyone.

His methods:
Unlimited.

His alias:
Sqweegel.

His classification:
Level 26.


3.5 out of 5 stars

Dark Origins is the first book in the Level 26 trilogy. It is a Digi-novel with corresponding videos on the website level26.com.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

A Hard Day's Fright Review

A Hard Day's Fright by Casey Daniels

What happened to a teenager named Lucy one night in 1966 after a Beatles concert? She rushed the stage, kissed Paul, started home with her friends, and was never seen again-until cemetery guide and unintentional PI to the dead Pepper Martin sees her as a ghost. Lucy's spirit can't rest in peace until her body is found and buried. But how will Pepper track down a missing corpse after forty-five years?

3.5 out of 5 stars

A Hard Day's Fright is book 7 in the Pepper Martin series

Friday, September 21, 2012

Private Review

Private by Kate Brian

Fifteen-year-old Reed Brennan wins a scholarship to Easton Academy—the golden ticket away from her pill-popping mother and run-of-the-mill suburban life. But when she arrives on the beautiful, tradition-steeped campus of Easton, everyone is just a bit more sophisticated, a bit more gorgeous, and a lot wealthier than she ever thought possible. Reed realizes that even though she has been accepted to Easton, Easton has not accepted her. She feels like she’s on the outside, looking in.

Until she meets the Billings Girls.

They are the most beautiful, intelligent, and intensely confident girls on campus. And they know it. They hold all the power in a world where power is fleeting but means everything. Reed vows to do whatever it takes to be accepted into their inner circle.

Reed uses every part of herself—the good, the bad, the beautiful—to get closer to the Billings Girls. She quickly discovers that inside their secret parties and mountains of attitude, hanging in their designer clothing-packed closets the Billings Girls have skeletons. And they’ll do anything to keep their secrets private.


3 out of 5 stars

Private is the first book in the Private series.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Undead and Undermined Review

Undead and Undermined by MaryJanice Davidson

So this is what being dead feels like. Vampire queen Betsy Taylor has awoken in a Chicago morgue, naked as a corpse. Her last memory is reconciling with her husband, Eric Sinclair, after a time-traveling field trip, including an indirect route to hell (literally), with her sister, Laura. Now she’s Jane Doe #291, wrapped in plastic with a toe tag. Betsy can’t help but wonder, what in hell happened?

Grabbing clean scrubs, Betsy hits the pavement and heads back to her St. Paul mansion to find that her family and friends have been frantically searching for her. And not one of them can explain how she ended up dead and naked - not to mention, in Chicago - until Betsy realizes that she and Laura didn't time-travel alone. What followed them had a wicked agenda: to kill Betsy in a time when she was still young and vulnerable and end her future reign as queen.

But it's not just Betsy's future that's taken an unexpected detour. Everyone in her circle, alive or undead, is feeling the chill. Betsy can't let the unthinkable happen. It would be a day in hell if she did.


3 out of 5 stars

Undead and Undermined is book 10 in the Undead series.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Beautiful Creatures Review

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.


4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Creatures is the first book in the Caster Chronicles series.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Crazy Beautiful Review

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself.

Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don’t scare her. They don’t keep her away. In fact, they don’t make any difference at all to her.

But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering.

Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.


3 out of 5 stars

Friday, September 14, 2012

Shiver Review

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will be left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance.

4 out of 5 stars



Shiver is the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Show #1: Pilot Episode Review

The Show #1: Pilot Episode by Jordan Cooke

Corliss Myers is the kind of girl who watches TV. (Alone. On prom night.) Not the kid who works in TV. So imagine her excitement when her uncle gets her an internship on The 'Bu, the hottest teen beach drama coming soon to television. Not only does the internship get her out of Indianano- place, it also allows her the privilege of observing the making of a sure-to-be hit TV show. Little does Corliss know that her job description is not unlike that of floor nurse on the psych ward. Soon Corliss is administering to the producer's mammoth ego, keeping bed watch on the boozy starlet, and intercepting a burgeoning romance between two of the mega-hot, hormonally compromised leads. Can Corliss hold herself together, or will she, for sanity's sake, say buh-bye to The 'Bu?

Did Not Finish

Pilot Episode is the first book in the The Show series

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Jekel Loves Hyde Review

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents rules; especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father's office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen's sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill's accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything, even Tristen's love just for the thrill of being . . . bad.


2 out of 5 stars

Monday, September 10, 2012

Bitten Review

Bitten by R. L. Stine

You'll love them—to death.

Twin sisters Destiny and Livvy Weller return home from summer vacation with a dark secret . . . and an inhuman desire to drink blood. What have they become? Can they ever turn back? As their deadly secret becomes harder to keep, more questions arise and loyalties are tested. And as one sister descends into darkness, the other must find a way to save her—and herself. Who will live to see the glow of the next full moon? Which sister will survive?

In Dangerous Girls and Dangerous Girls #2: The Taste of Night, published together in Bitten, bestselling author R.L. Stine explores the dark creatures of the night.


3 out of 5 stars 

Bitten is a bind up of Dangerous Girls and Dangerous Girls 2: The Taste of Night, originally published in 2003 and 2004 (according to Wikipedia.)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Prism Review

Prism by Faye Kellerman and Aliza Kellerman

Prism takes us to a slightly alternate universe in which medicine and health care do not exist, and in which sick people are allowed to die without any care. Set in New Mexico and California, the novel features three teens who fall through a cave at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico while on a field trip. They are plunged into a frightening parallel universe--seven weeks in the past, in which their "normal" worlds of family and high school remain the same...except for the fact that no medicine exists and when people die in the street they are picked up and disposed of.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Beneath the Glitter Review

Beneath the Glitter by Elle Fowler and Blair Fowler
 
After their make-up and fashion videos went viral on YouTube, sisters Sophia and Ava London are thrust into the exclusive life of the Los Angeles elite.  Here fabulous parties, air kisses, paparazzi and hot guys all come with the scene. Sophia finds herself torn between a gorgeous bartender and a millionaire playboy, and Ava starts dating an A-list actor.  But as they’re about to discover, the life they’ve always dreamed of comes with a cost.

Beneath the glitter of the Hollywood social scene lies a world of ruthless ambition, vicious gossip…and betrayal.  Someone close to them, someone they trust, is working in the shadows to bring the London sisters falling down. And once the betrayal is complete, Sophia and Ava find themselves knee-deep in a scandal that could take away everything they care about, including the one thing that matters most—each other.


3 out of 5 stars

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Sweet Life #1 Review

The Sweet Life #1 by Francine Pascal
 
The first novella-length episode - The Sweet Life - begins three years after the events of Sweet Valley Confidential; Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are back in Sweet Valley and inseparable once more. Things are looking up for both twins: Elizabeth is a star reporter at the LA Tribune with a popular blog, and Jessica’s PR career is on the fast-track. But while the professional lives of the Wakefield sisters are secure, their personal lives may be in jeopardy. Jessica, now a mother, finds that managing parenthood, marriage, and a job is harder than she expected, while Elizabeth and Bruce must face a scandal that could strengthen their bond…or tear them apart for ever.

Meanwhile, life goes on in Sweet Valley. Families are made, hearts are broken, and…Lila Fowler is a reality TV star? Some things never change.


3 out of 5 stars

The Sweet Life #1 is the first novella in the 6 volume E-serial. It looks like all 6 will be published in October in hardcover, but it is still cheaper to buy them as separate e-books for $2 each.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Paranormalcy Review

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.


So much for normal.


4.5 out of 5 stars
  
Paranormalcy is the first book in the Paranormalcy series

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Lust Review

Lust by Robin Wasserman

Alpha girl Harper is used to getting what she wants,
and that means Adam,
Beth's all-American boytoy.
Blond, boring Beth, who Kane,
the charming playah, secretly wants too.
Miranda thinks Kane is out of her league,
but she wants him all the same.
And then there's the new girl.
Kaia. Who only wants trouble --
and he's definitely on his way.
Want to know more?
Commit

3 out of 5 stars

Lust is the first book in the Seven Deadly Sins series.

Friday, August 31, 2012

The Darkangel Review

The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce
 
Aeriel is kidnapped by the darkangel, a black-winged vampyre of astounding beauty and youth, and taken to his castle keep. There, she must serve his thirteen wives, wraiths whose souls he has stolen away. Aeriel knows she must kill the darkangel before he takes his fourtheenth bride and comes into full power, but she is captivated by his magnificent beauty and intrigued by the spark of goodness she sees inside him.

Will Aeriel risk damning all of himanity to save the darkangel's soul, or can she end his reign of beautiful terror before he finds his final bride? Can Aeriel save the Vampyre's soul?


4 out of 5 stars 

The Darkangel is the first book in the Darkangel trilogy.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Sparks Fly Review

Sparks Fly by Katie MacAlister

Ysolde de Bouchier has a lot on her plate, which isn’t unusual considering her Light Dragon mate Baltic is still at odds with just about everyone, starting with his former guard Thala and her outlaw posse, right down to his dragon god father. Ysolde herself fairs no better, since the First Dragon has her in his sights as well, demanding that she right past wrongs…and her time to do that is quickly running out.

With the help of some familiar friends, Ysolde sets into motion an elaborate plan that will have repercussions throughout the mortal and immortal worlds. But when a member of her family is held hostage, no one is safe from the fire of her rage.


4 our of 5 stars

Sparks Fly is the third book in the Light Dragons series.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Dreaming Anastasia Review

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college--until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams...


3.5 out of 5 stars

Dreaming Anastasia is the first book in this series.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Fallen Angel Review

Fallen Angel by Heather Terrell

Ellie was never particularly good at talking to boys—or anyone other than her best friend and fellow outcast, Ruth. Then she met Michael.

Michael is handsome, charming, sweet. And totally into Ellie. It’s no wonder she is instantly drawn to him. But Michael has a secret. And he knows Ellie is hiding something, too. They’ve both discovered they have powers beyond their imagining. Powers that are otherworldly.

Ellie and Michael are determined to uncover what they are, and how they got this way... together. But the truth has repercussions neither could have imagined. Soon they find themselves center stage in an ancient conflict that threatens to destroy everything they love. And it is no longer clear whether Ellie and Michael will choose the same side.


3 out of 5 stars

Fallen Angel is the first book in the Fallen Angel series.

 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Fury Review

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Sometimes sorry isn't enough....
It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...
Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better--the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.
On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.
In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.
Em and Chase have been chosen.

4 out of 5 stars

Fury is the first book in the Fury series.


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Need Review

Need by Carrie Jones

Pain shoots through my head. Fireworks. Explosions. All inside my brain. The white world goes dark and I know what's about to happen.

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you'd have to fear


3 out of 5 stars

Need is the first book in the Need series.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

As I Wake Review

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.


2.5 out of 5 stars

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Pink Smog Review

Pink Smog by Francesca Lia Block

The girl in the mirror wasn't who I wanted to be, and her life wasn't the one I wanted to have.
Despite how much Louise insists, no one will call her Weetzie. It's her dad's nickname for her, but it won't stay put. Neither will her dad. Charlie left Louise and her mom and he took everything with him: her family, her home--and her understanding of who she's meant to be.
But Los Angeles is a city full of strange angels, and Louise embarks on a journey to sift through the smog of her heartbreak, to grow her own wings, to become Weetzie.

 4 out of 5 stars

Pink Smog is a prequel to Weetzie Bat.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Night Life Review

Night Life by Nancy A. Collins

When vampire heiress Lilith Todd decides she wants a modeling career, she won't let her father stop her - even if he does threaten to cut off her credit cards.

Lilith's rival Cally Monture, is in a different kind of hot water. Her boyfriend, Peter, is a vampire hunter - a sexy, sensitive soul mate who just happens to be sworn to destroy her entire race.

With the Rauhnacht Grand Ball fast approaching, both girls need the same things: a handsome escort and a dress to die for. But in a sea of shifting and dangerous loyalties, there's no telling who will betray them next.


4 out of 5 stars

Night Life is the second book in the Vamps series. I reviewed book one earlier. 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Vamps Review

Vamps by Nancy A. Collins

When the sun goes down, New York's true elite all head to one place: Bathory Academy, where the young ladies of the finest vampire families are trained in shapeshifting and luring their prey. Bathory's reigning queen, Lilith Todd, is the daughter of a powerful vampire businessman, and she knows exactly what she wants from life. She wants to look beautiful for eternity and party till the sun comes up with her gorgeous boyfriend, Jules. And she doesn't want any New Blood upstarts standing in her way. Enter Cally Monture, an unexpected threat from a trash zip code. When their first meeting leads to tragic results, Lilith is hungry for revenge. 

                                    4 out of 5 stars

Vamps is the first book in the Vamps series.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Boys that Bite Review

Boys that Bite by Mari Mancusi

My mom is so going to kill me if she finds out I'm turning into a vampire...

Okay, so technically she can't because I'm immortal. Well, not yet. See, due to the worst case of mistaken identity with my dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth hangout called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for my innocent neck instead of hers. Now, if I don't reverse it in time, Magnus will be my blood mate forever and I'm doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. Believe me, it seriously bites!

After the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, it's up to me, my sister, and Magnus to find the one thing that can solve my problem--the Holy Grail. No joke. I seriously hope I can get out of this on time because, somehow, I scored the hottest prom date in my school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. And I do NOT want to be a vampire for the prom--let alone the rest of eternity.


3 out of 5 stars  

Boys that Bite is the first book in The Blood Coven series. This cover and description are from the version that I have, published in 2006. It does have an updated cover and an updated description for the book, but I chose this one even though it's not current because it more accurately represents what this book is like. If you are annoyed by the way the voice of the character on the back of the book, you will find the inside even more annoying.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Borrowed Heart Review

Borrowed Heart by Linda Lamberson

Evie Sanders is pretty good at heeding that gnawing feeling she gets when trouble rears its head—or at least she used to be. Things change when she meets Quinn Harrison one morning after class. Evie would never do anything intentionally to hurt her long-distance boyfriend or jeopardize their relationship, but she finds it increasingly difficult to resist Quinn. Just when things can’t seem to get any more complicated, Evie is involved in a fatal car accident. Yet, her death marks a new beginning—and her new existence as an immortal. It’s not long before Evie and Quinn’s paths cross again, and she finds herself trying to walk a fine line between bending the rules she must now obey and breaking them.

                                     4 out of 5 stars

Borrowed Heart is the first ebook in the Evie Sanders series by indie author Linda Lamberson.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

My TBR challenge

I have been meaning to start this for a while, but have been putting it off- mostly because I haven't been reading much for about a year. While I was cleaning my house, I decided to organize my bookshelves and I realized just how many books I had in my TBR pile. There are books that I bought years ago that I never read. So, outside of the few books that I already have on reserve (only 3), I'm not going to buy any more books until I get through 100 books on my TBR pile. It seems like a lot, but I cataloged all my books on itrackmine.com and I have over 700 that I haven't read yet. That doesn't even include the ebooks that I have.

Originally, I planned to do this alphabetically... but I realized that I had quite a few books by the same authors and didn't think I could take reading that many books by VC Andrews in a row. At this point, I think my choices are going to be random. As I read, I'm going to at least do a mini review here.