Review | Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire (Love at Stake #16) by Kerrelyn Sparks

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks
Published: December 30, 2014
Publisher: Avon
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 372
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★★☆☆

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
Russell wakes from a coma to find he's become a vampire. Now he has a thirst for revenge. Determined to hunt down the master vampire who turned him, he's used to working alone . . . until he meets Jia. She is after the same vampire for murdering her parents and insists she can help Russell on this mission. Reluctantly, he agrees, and sets up some ground rules:

Rule #1: Their partnership is strictly business. If he holds her a little too close . . . if she looks at him with those exotic eyes . . . well, that has to stop.

Rule #2: He's in charge. Jia isn't used to taking orders and questions every move he makes. So he stops her the only way he knows how.

Rule #3: Don't fall in love. But the kiss that was supposed to quiet her awakens something else in him . . . something forbidden. Because Jia is engaged. To someone else.(from GoodReads)

Review
When I read the first book to Love at Stake, I fell in love. I quickly read every book that was out (at the time, there were only 6). I greatly anticipated the next book and couldn't wait to read it. There were a few books that when I finished I just couldn't figure out why they couldn't have been as good as the previous ones, but I loved the world she had built and the characters in it...until an angel fell from Heaven.

Review | The Way of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks

Author: Brent Weeks
Published: October 2008
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 645
Format: Paperback
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural
Rating: ★★★★☆

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist. For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint. But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.

Review
Yes! Assassins, magic, and secret organizations. I thought all the Japanese names were kind of interesting. Kind of reminded me of a dark version of Naruto.

Durzo and Azoth were awesome characters. Durzo kind of frustrated me until I learned more about his back story. Azoth's development was kind of typical for a story. From streetrat to deadly assassin feared by all. He seemed to learn and adapt so easily that I could wait to see what he would do next.

I felt sorry for the people around Azoth though, for the most part, he gets through things unscathed, but the people around him always seem to get hurt.

The universe created for this story seemed to be well thoughtout and planned. It was very structured and easy to follow. It also made the story more interesting and exciting. I would love to read another story line placed in this universe.

Review | The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle #2) by Patrick Rothfuss

Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Published: March 2011
Publisher: DAW
Pages: 1088
Format: ebook
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Rating: ★★★★★

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
In "The Wise Man's Fear," Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of his family, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived...until Kvothe. Now, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

Review
This book seemed to be on par with the level of adventure and excitement that was in the first book. If it wasn't for the fact that life got too busy for me to continually read, I would have read this just as fast as the first one instead of it taking the week that it did. The story line is finally starting to progress more and become more interesting. Kvothe finally starts to see more of the world rather than just the academy. At the same time, there are some things that are just becoming more and more annoying.

Review | The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Published: April 2008 (2007)
Publisher: DAW
Pages: 722
Format: Paperback
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Rating: ★★★★★

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

Review
I couldn't believe how good this book was! It is the best book I've read since the beginning of the year. I couldn't put it down and ended up reading the whole thing in less than 2 days.

I really liked the opening and was hoping the story was starting from there, so I was a little disappointed when the story actually did start, but it didn't take me long to get into the new storyline. The plot kind of reminds me of Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones. The bulk of the story takes place in a magic school and has some of the intricacy of Game of Thrones along with the adventure and enemies.

Early Review & Book Release | The Angel Stone (Fairwick Chronicles #3) by Juliet Dark

TO BE RELEASED TUESDAY!!
Author: Juliet Dark (pseudonym of Carol Goodman)
Published: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Random House)
Pages: 288
Format: ARC/ebook
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Rating: ★★★★☆

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
For Callie McFay, a half-witch/half-fey professor of folklore and Gothic literature, the fight to save the enchanted town of Fairwick, New York, is far from over. After a hostile takeover by the Grove—a sinister group of witches and their cohorts—many of the local fey have been banished or killed, including Callie’s one true love. And in place of the spirit of tolerance and harmony, the new administration at Fairwick College has fostered an air of danger and distrust.

With her unique magical abilities, Callie is the only one who can rescue her friends from exile and restore order to the school—a task that requires her to find the Angel Stone, a legendary talisman of immense power. Propelled on an extraordinary quest back to seventeenth-century Scotland, Callie risks her life to obtain the stone. Yet when she encounters a sexy incarnation of her lost love, she finds the greater risk is to her heart. As the fate of Fairwick hangs in the balance, Callie must make a wrenching choice: reclaim a chance for eternal passion or save everything she holds dear.

Review
I received this book in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

I loved this book! I was surprised by how much I liked it, especially since I'm not into fairies that much, but it mostly had to do with witches. It was also really easy to follow the story even though I hadn't read the first two books. I hadn't realized this book was part of a series when I requested the egalley. It kind of reminded me of A Discovery of Witches. There were witches and vampires; they were college professors; it had time travel; and of course, they're battling evil.

The writing style was very descriptive. Enough to draw you in but not so overpowering so as to make you bored. For the most part, the story was very seriously written--the college has been taken over, and she's recovering from lost love, but it wasn't dark or dismal.

Book Release | The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo

Synopsis
(from Goodreads)
Dougal Kincaid has something to prove. After being injured in a battle with the Malcontents, he's ready for active duty protecting unsuspecting mortals from these villainous vampires who want to rule the world. But first he has to get control of himself . . . because just the sight of a certain lovely doctor has his injured hand doing some peculiar things, not to mention the sizzling sensation that burns along his dragon tattoo.

Vampires? Vampires?! As a scientist, Leah is having trouble believing that these immortal creatures exist. But there they are, standing in front of her, asking for help in solving a genetic puzzle that can save mankind. There's even one in a sexy kilt! Just one look into Dougal's gorgeous green eyes sets her pulse racing. But can she trust him—and the overwhelming desire that refuses to be ignored?

Tomorrow, Kerrelyn Spark's newest book The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo will finally be for sale! I can't wait to get my hands on it. I tried to get a pre-release copy of it and was denied to my utter frustration. I was able to get her last book the day it was released and was excited to see that her books were back on track, so hopefully this one follows along with that. Books 9, 10, and 11 just didn't seem to be on par with her previous ones. 

Review | A Girl's Guide to Vampires

Author: Katie MacAlister
Published: October 29, 2003
Publisher: Love Spell
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 374
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis
Joy is missing the romance in her life and enlists a friend of hers to help petition the goddess for romance to come her way. Soon after, Joy and her friend Roxy head to the Czech Republic where Joy starts experiencing visions around one of the local guys. Quiet and mysterious, whenever she's around him, she sees blood. Refusing to believe she's going crazy, their relationship progresses, but is this the relationship she had in mind when petitioning the goddess?

Review
I picked this up thinking I hadn't read it before. After about 40 pages in, I realized I had, but decided to read until the end since I couldn't remember much about it. I couldn't even remember if I had liked it. I didn't get into it this time around, but there are a lot of interesting and original elements included in this book. Don't let my 2 star review scare you off too much; give it a try and see how it goes. It just wasn't my type of book.

Review | Affliction (Anita Blake #22)

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Published: July 2, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Format: ebook
Pages: 576
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★★★☆

I was so thrilled to see this was coming out. I checked months ago but forgot the date. I checked a couple days ago and was excited to see that I didn't have long to wait. As soon as it was out, I hurried and got a copy.

The sex has been steadily decreasing in this series much to my delight. Hamilton comes up with some awesome plot lines that are diminished by how much pornographic material is added. I wonder if someone complained about it or if there was some indicator that caused her to decide to decrease its amount.

I was excited that they were going to Micah's home. You don't hear or see much of anyone's home life. You hear back stories of some people, but aside from Jason, no one returns home or sees their family much. You hear every once in a while that Anita's family doesn't approve of something she does, but it's usually a passing comment touched on and left quickly. I would like to see Anita in a setting where she had to return home too.

Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2)

Find Twice Tempted on Goodreads
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★★★★

Just (almost) as good as the first book! Where the first one kind of reminded me of A Discovery of Witches, this one didn't. Leila goes home and is kidnapped by some vampires trying to get at Vlad. Lots of action; lots of relationship issues.

I liked how disconnected Vlad was with human relationship expectations. One because he's lived so long, and I imagine that screws with your ideas and perceptions, and two because of the type of live had had/has that is so much different from the modern human expectations. It mad it more believable that he wasn't exactly human and that he came from another time and place.

The author also tried to show his possessiveness of Leila and wanting her to act like he perceived a woman should, but I don't think she did this that well. Back in Vlad's time, woman didn't count for much. They followed their husbands, did what they were told, and believed what their husband believed. Vlad was almost too modern in his thinking toward woman. He accepted her independence too easily and readily.

Once Burned (Night Prince #1)

Find Once Burned on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★★★★

This book was so much better than I expected it to be. At first, I was a little put off since the main vampire was Vlad "Dracula" and the main female character and her friend vampire were both carnies, but it all turned out ok. Truly.

This book in many ways reminded me of A Discovery of Witches. The main character is kind of kidnapped by the traditional vampire (Yay for traditional vampires. Modern lit is kind of getting away from that. Prime example: Twilight--ew.) The romantic relationship takes time to develop and isn't all like, "Oh my God, you're a vampire? Let me jump your bones!" They end up in the old country in a castle, and the main character has powers but not obnoxiously so. The book just seemed to get better as I continued to read, and I ended up reading it from start to finish without putting it down.

The only thing that was a little weird was when her family came into the picture. It needed to happen, and I liked that it happened, but not much happened. I feel like the father needed to protest more or something. It just all went too smoothly.

The only other thing that I questioned was her sudden disappearance from Florida. At one point in the book, Vlad offers to let her call home on a secure line so that her family doesn't report her missing. She doesn't because she isn't close to her family. Ok, but what about the other carnies? Her and Marty both just kind of disappear. Are none of the other carnies going to become suspicious?

Sunshine

Find Sunshine on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Fantasy
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Thought I'd try this out since so many people seemed to have liked it. I have discovered that I am now not one of those people.

The beginning was pretty good if a bit wordy, but not even a fifth of the way through the book and the main excitement of the beginning had already finished. I was left thinking, "OK, I hope there is more exciting stuff to come." Well there was, kinda.

The author is very wordy and likes to go on a lot of tangents. I found myself speed reading some sections to get through it. The tangents were ofter fluff, boring, or could have been better placed to evolve the story line. The main character would often have something happen to her and think a ton of stuff before reacting when it's obviously a situation where she only hesitated a second or two. I know that you think faster than you talk since most of it isn't in words, but would she really be able to think almost 5 pages of stuff in less than 2 seconds? 

There were also a lot of questions that were left unanswered or vaguely answered. Where did Constantine originally come from? How old is he? (This was kind of answered, but not really.) If Con and Bo are the same age, then why are their abilities so different? (Again, kind of answered, but the answer gave another question: What are the two different "types" of vampires? Is there more than two?)

Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13)

Wow. My first book this month. Life has been super busy, and I kind of went on hiatus. I'm so behind in reading. I need to read 3 books before the end of the month for my book clubs, and I went and read this one instead!

Find Dead Ever After on GoodReads
Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

I was really excited when I stumbled across this book last night. I have been a bit starved for good vampire romance novels and hadn’t realized this had been released. I seem to be caught up on all my favorite series at the moment, and it’s frustrating having to wait for the next book to be released. If you’re like me and starved for more material, check out Kerrelyn Sparks and A Discovery of Witches (Review) if you haven’t already. Two of my favorites!

This book was pretty good and definitely temporarily satisfied my vamp cravings. I feel like Sookie’s tone was different in this book than the others though, but that just could be because it’s been a while since I’ve back-read and it’s being tainted by the horrible setting of True Blood. (Sorry to anyone who likes it. Good for you, enjoy, but I don’t like it.) I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but some of the things she said and did were just slightly un-Sookie like to me. She just seemed too blasé about everything—like she’s gotten used to the situation or is a bit shocked.

The whole thing with Eric wasn’t really done very well. I was finally getting to like him, but for the most part, he was out of the picture in this book. [Show Spoiler] (Though now I understand why.) I kind of felt like Harris was tired of Eric and just wanted him out of the picture. With the way she tied everything up with him and Sookie and Sookie’s new romance and feelings, it gave the sense that she’s trying to bring the whole series to a close.

Shadow of Night (All Souls #2)

Find Shadow of Night on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★☆

(finished April 19th)
Another awesome book! I couldn't put it down. It's been a while since I've read a book as fast as I've read these two.

During the beginning of this book, everyone is still trying to catch Diana. I was still rather confused as to why they were chasing her. Yes, they wanted the manuscript, but it never really said why no one else went after the manuscript themselves after they found out it was at the library. Why didn't they just break into the library and try to steal it? The book was so focused on having to catch Diana than the manuscript itself that it made me suspicious as to the enemies' true objective.

Since I didn't read the book description before reading, I wasn't aware of the time traveling. Typically, I don't really go for the time traveling stories, but this one was absolutely wonderful. Probably because they aren't traveling all over the place and just stayed in one past time.

I really enjoyed the time period Harkness chose. I found it more interesting since I just recently went on a vacation to the outer banks and visited Roanoke Island. If you don't know some of the details of the characters Diana and Matthew meet in the past, I would suggest you do some research on them as you are introduced to them.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls #1)

Find A Discovery of Witches on Goodreads
Genre/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was an amazing book! I couldn't put it down. It only took me about a day to read.

This book is like 3 books in one. The first story is the building romance between Matthew and Diana, the second is the introduction to his family, and the third is the consequence of everything that's happened.

It was refreshing to read a paranormal romance that wasn't shoving magic and vampire behavior down your throat. It was there but well built into the story. The writing style was captivating and made the story addictive. Harkness has a great sense of word flow. In many books, I'll skip the descriptors between quotes or will only read the first line or two of each paragraph for a couple pages because there is so much fluff that isn't relevant. I read every single word of this book. There was very little fluff and every word added to the imagination. The descriptors were descriptive enough to produce an image, but not so confining that it was hard to imagine the image just so.

I love how they first meet in the library. Though this is one time where Harkness' descriptive writing failed for me. I had a hard time picturing Diana's emotions. She was scared of him but was she trembling scared or putting on a confident face? The picture I was getting kept swinging back and forth making me very confused. Later though, there was some clarification into the matter, but not enough to satisfy me. This was the only instance that I found that jilted the flow of the book for me.

A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3)

Find A Storm of Swords on Goodreads

Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy

My Rating: ★★★★★

The best book of the series so far, and the best book I've read so far this year!!

So much has happened it hard to remember it all. There is lots of action, weddings, and betrayals. Many of the character meet there ends throughout the book. Definitely not as long winded as book 2 was.

My favorite characters changed in this book. In book 2, everyone was planning and moving around while Arya and Bran horded much of the action. In this book, all the plans came to fruit or failed while Bran and Arya for the most part moved around. My favorite characters this time around were Sansa and Jon and to a lesser degree Jamie and Tyrion.

The story at the wall builds and breaks during this book. I love how Jon's story finished in this book. I can't wait to see how it's going to turn out in the next one!

So much was going on and so many secrets were reveled that it was hard to put the book down! I can't wait to read the next book, but I'm forcing myself to hold off. With book 6 not due to be published until 2015 and book 7 not until 2019, I really need to pace myself if I want to drag out the enjoyment of this series. I don't see myself holding back for more than a month though. :)

Beauty and the Beast

Find Beauty and the Beast on Goodreads
Get it for free from Archive.org
Genres/Themes: Children's, Classics, Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Not sure why it's rated so low. This is a typical small children's short story. It's a very quick version of the fairy-tale, great for a short bedtime story. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. If you want a full novel version, then I recommend Beauty.

The Hobbit

Find The Hobbit on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Classics, Fantasy 
My Rating: ★★★★☆

This book wasn’t as good as I remembered. Maybe it’s because I’m also reading Game of Thrones which is very action packed, but the story of The Hobbit just kind of…went. It was kind of like: “This happened, then this, oh and this also happened, and that happened, but that’s another story.” It was like a monotonous journal or a documentary. I wasn’t drawn into the story, I was able to recognize the words. Normally when I’m reading a good book, I don’t even realize that I’m reading.

Charmed Life (Chrestomanci #1/#3)

Find Charmed Life on Goodreads
Genre/Themes: Fantasy
My Rating:  ★★★☆☆

Not quite as good as The Lives of Christopher Chant and Conrad's Fate. It was really hard to connect the Christophers of those books with this older Christopher until the very end. It was like he'd lost his free spirit. Cat also frustrated me. I don't see why he couldn't have told Chrestonmanci what was going on. It seemed like the only reason he hadn't was to further the story of the book. Because of that, I found it really hard to read and put down the book a number of times. The ending was very enjoyable though. Although I wish they had stuck it to Gwen. She really deserved it

Conrad's Fate (Chrestomanci #5/#2)

Find Conrad's Fate on Goodreads
Genre/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★☆

To clarify, this is book 5 in the series/published and book 2 in chronological time order.

I'm glad I decided to read this series in chronological order rather than published order. I think there were some things that just made more sense doing it that way. The end was definitely a twist. I didn't expect it. And to some point the twist was almost too much. The end also finished rather suddenly. Everything was solved in the last 15 pages and then a short summation about the future events of the characters. With the rest of the book being so drawn out, it was like the author was given a set amount of pages and then realized she needed to finish the book quickly. If it wasn't for that, I'd have given 5 stars.

The Bite Before Christmas (Argeneau #15.5)

Find The Bite Before Christmas on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★☆☆  

(dropped)
The first story was really good, though I felt sorry for Teddy that he just got a short story rather than a whole novel. I think his story could easily have been extended into a whole novel.

The second story I quit reading rather soon. I'm not entirely sure if the author was trying to follow Sands's character characteristics or if it was just a vampire story, but I read it as being the first. With that mindset, It made me mad that they didn't have a heartbeat, could fly, and could see ghosts. Maybe I'll try rereading it after I haven't read the Argeneau books for a while.