Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

Published: 21st March 2013
By: Hodder & Stoughton
Source: Publisher for review

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

May be Spoilers for previous books

Pandemonium ended on such a cliffhanger that the wait for Requiem was almost impossible. I would have liked to have it begin right where Pandemonium left off, when Alex makes an appearance, but no, it's a few days later so we've missed the initial reactions. But the tension is heavy between Alex, Lena and Julian. Though I don't think I can blame Alex for the way he feels.

I did feel really sorry for Julian though as I'd also become really fond of him in Pandemonium. Being who he is, going into the camp full of resistant strangers was hard enough without the added conflict. And Lena, is only ally, I feel blows hot and cold towards him.

This was a love triangle that had me all over the place. Usually, I find that I have a clear persuasion towards one of the guys, but both Alex and Julian stole my affections. I admit that I didn't completely love Delirium and Alex was my favourite thing about that book. The ending shocked and upset me and I fervently hoped that he'd be making a re-appearance in Pandemonium. But I, much like Lena, didn't expect to also fall for Julian.

There wasn't many romantic moments in this book but, given the environment, on the move in search of a permanent settlement, and being constantly on alert for being attacked, I wouldn't have expected too many stolen moments. Which I was glad off, because it meant I could enjoy reading without feeling too much apprehension for the guy who wasn't on the receiving end of Lena's affections.

This book has the added POV of Hana, which I honestly wasn't overjoyed about, feeling that I'd just want to keep getting back to Lena and where the action was. But I found myself really enjoying it. It was interesting to see the war from the other side, where she's paired with the cruel and antagonistic new mayor, and also to see how much influential people can get away with. Not only the resistance, but a lot of the cured's are going to suffer more than they are already, under his plans. The cure doesn't appear to have worked properly for Hana and she's aware that her fiancée is wrong and maybe even slightly crazy.

Unfortunately, disappointing is the first word to come to mind when I try to describe the ending of this book. In fact, it doesn't feel like an ending at all. More like it just cut off in the middle. So much left unanswered. Hana, the romance, the resistance, the war......we aren't given any clarity of how things turn out in any of these, just completely open ended, something I really don't like, but I felt it was taken to the extreme here.

As the final book in the series, and I completely enjoyed reading it, hence four stars, the ending was not in the least bit satisfying. An epilogue would have been needed or maybe a novella or something to tidy things up. I definitely feel things need to be tied up in this series.

Add to Goodreads

Purchase: The Book Depository/Amazon

Read more...

Crossfire (Darkride Chronicles #2) by Laura Bradley Rede

Crossfire by Laura Bradley Rede
Published: January 2013

My rating: 4.5 stars

Spoilers for Darkride

I was delighted to be asked by Laura to review Crossfire because I had previously read and loved the first book in the series, Darkride (you can read that review here. The characters go through so much in Darkride and I was anxious to see how things were faring for them.

Crossfire starts off where Darkride finishes, with a gang of three vampirs, two werewolves and one human/thrall on the run, heading away from the hunters and a group of ancient vampires. They are looking for a safe place, and have a name, left by Michael, to go to in case of emergency, but no idea as to who or what they are headed towards.

Cicely has only recently been turned into a vampire, an enluzante, literally undead. Unlike Luke, who is a living, breathing vampire, but is once again immortal now that the curse has been broken. And Ander, the guy/werewolf that she's been in love with for the past few years, and he with her, is finding that hard to deal with. While Cicely is struggling to handle dying, becoming a vampire and losing herself, she is also trying to deal with Anders feelings towards her. She thought that they would be together now that he can control his wolf, she did die for him after all, to save both him and Luke. Luke feels that Cicely should just be with him now, they are both the same, and he hates seeing her pine for Ander.

Whey they arrive at their destination, they meet Naomi Faire, a witch who can charm animals. She's able to help Ander with DJ, who's only a new wolf, as he goes through his first change at the full moon. Spending a lot of time together, Ander and Naomi start to become close and Cicely is feeling jealous and resentful. Luke and Emmie are also spending more time together, all being able to walk in the light while Cicely must remain in the dark. But when someone turns against them, and Emmie is captured, the action really begins.

As a main character, Cicely was always likeable and at the ending of Darkride, I felt really, really sorry for her. While they all suffered their own losses, Cicely's impacted on me most, and in this book too, I was hoping that she was going to find some happiness and her place in this new world.

This series has some fantastic characters. Emmie is a thrall, and is such a sweetheart, you can't help but love her. Ander, a hunter turned werewolf, then taken in by a vampire and his thrall, is strong and protective. Luke, a living vampire, and the other side of the love triangle, is 200 years old, and having been in torper (deathly sleep), for 100 years, is again learning modern ways and speech/saying with some humorous results. Naomi, is new to the series, and in the beginning, I didn't feel I was going to take to her, but she was so nice and kind hearted to everyone, it wasn't possible to dislike her. DJ and Five, two characters that didn't stand out as much as the rest, but play their part in making this awesome story.

This book is written from the POV of Cicely, Ander, Luke and Emmie and is extremely well done. Laura's writing style is enjoyable with no long winded descriptions but enough to let get a feel for it. A great second book in an awesome series.

Add to Goodreads

Buy: Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Read more...

Name Change Giveaway

Well, some of you may have already noticed, and some not lol. But I've recently changed the name of my blog. When I started out, I didn't really have a clue what I was up to, and being completely unimaginative, Paranormal Book Fan was the first thing that came to mind. It was never a name that I was completely happy with so, I finally decided to do something about it.

To celebrate my blog's new name, I'm having a giveaway. It's international, as long as the Book Depository ships to your country. One winner can choose any book of their choice up to a value of €10.

So, good luck to you all :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read more...

Blog Tour: Dark Genesis by Dave Ferraro Excerpt and Giveaway

Ebook: 432 pages
Release Date: 18th March 2013

Alyssa opened her eyes to darkness. And in the first flash of light provided by a gathering storm, she could make out a ring of bodies surrounding her.

With no memory of who she is, Alyssa stumbles into a dark world populated by witches. The witches are powerful, and demonstrate frightening powers, but even more terrifying are the monsters who rule over the land. Vampires, werewolves and other awful creatures of the night have taken over, forcing the witches behind stone walls, afraid to venture outdoors. But Alyssa finds that as she kills certain monsters, memories return to her, memories of a life on Earth, and the boy she left behind.

The quest to collect her memories and piece together the puzzle of what has happened to her is a daunting one, with betrayals and sacrifices every step of the way. But Alyssa is determined to fight for a world that is not her own, destroying powerful monsters along the way, so that she can return home to the boy she is coming to love through the memories she recollects.

__________________________________________________________

Excerpt:

The room suddenly grew brighter, and Alyssa cursed as more lava creatures slipped into the room from the moat below.
“He has an endless source of troops to send against us,” Parker said.
“And troops that we can’t touch,” Vessa added, looking up as The Fire King lifted his hands from his face.
Steam still poured from his face, but fire was already returning to his collar, and if his bared teeth and sizzling eyes were any indication, he was pissed.
Vessa didn’t have a chance to react before The Fire King backhanded her with one of his rock-hard hands, sending her flying from the table and into a wall, sliding down it silently in a heap.
“Vessa!” Parker rushed to her aid, The Fire King pursuing him.
“Ambrosia!” Lace cried.
Ambrosia leapt from her shoulder and began scratching at The Fire King’s head, drawing his attention from their fallen comrade. But the lava creatures were already upon them, circling Vessa and Parker across the room, and moving in on Alyssa and Lace, pushing them back from the table and against the opposite wall.
Lace gasped as one of her feet slipped through the hole in the wall, but Alyssa pulled her back up and steadied her, turning to face their adversaries with a brave face.
The creatures kept advancing, pushing them up against the wall while The Fire King continued to roar behind them like a demon possessed.
Alyssa struck out at one of the creatures with a long knife, but it passed through harmlessly. “Damn it!”
Lace stepped back again and her foot slipped back into the hole like before. She grabbed desperately for Alyssa as she fell through the opening, pulling her along for the descent into the lava.
Alyssa’s mouth opened in a silent scream of horror as she slipped through the hole, falling rapidly toward the roiling lava. Every second that passed felt hotter and hotter, despite the air that rushed by her in her freefall.
She closed her eyes when the heat became unbearable and she knew she was about to slam into the moat. But the moment never came. In fact, it was suddenly extremely cold.
Her eyes flew open and she was surprised to see nothing but white. Squinting, she made out white specks floating past her vision, and when they began to hit her face, she realized that it was snow.
She frowned, looking up at the white skies and noting where they intersected the white snowy plains around her. She turned slowly to the left and saw white mountains, reaching up toward the sky. Quite the contrast from the deserts of The Fire King’s domain.
Wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the cold, Alyssa looked down to see Lace out cold at her feet, a fresh trail of blood slipping from one of her nostrils. She looked rather pretty in the fresh snow, her purple hair spilled out around her head, flurries catching in her eyelashes, but her alarmingly pale skin was only a few shades warmer than her surroundings, which couldn’t be good.
Alyssa looked around them for shelter, wondering where the hell they could be, and noticed something alarming in the opposite direction. While The Fire King’s castle had been black and Gothic and ugly, the castle she saw in the distance here was white and delicate, with fragile-looking spires that reminded her of icicles.
And she knew without a doubt that she was looking at the castle of The Ice Queen.

Add to Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Smashwords

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to check out the rest of the tour here.

Read more...

Blog Tour: My Wolf's Bane by Veronica Blade - Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

Publisher - Crush Publishing, Inc
Publication date - February 1st, 2013
Format - print and ebook
Page count - (appx 365)
Genre - YA Paranormal Romance

Different species. Mortal enemies. It'll never work, but they'll die trying.

Autumn Rossi thought she was a normal teenager. Suddenly, she can outrun every critter in the forest, making her wonder if she’s even human.

When the new guy at school, Zack de Luca, witnesses a questionable scene, he unfairly pins her as stuck-up. He acts like he hates her, yet he keeps bailing her out of trouble. Not only is Zack both insufferable and irresistible, he seems to sniff her anytime he gets close.

As passion flares between them, Autumn isn’t sure which is more dangerous: her psycho ex-boyfriend, or falling for Zack — who’s risking his life just by being near her.

________________________________________________

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's not often that I turn down, or fail to enjoy, a werewolf story. There's just something about this hot, sexy beast, that I'm drawn too. And Zack was no exception. 

Autumn walks out of the room and promptly bumps into a strange, extremely hot guy, only to have her boyfriend Daniel arrive on the scene, act like an arrogant jackass, telling him to keep his hands off his girlfriend, and leaving the new guy, Zack, with the opinion that Autumn is equally as obnoxious. 

Autumn is appalled but let's Daniel lead her away so as not to make anymore of a scene. When she spots Zack at lunch, he looks at her with utter contempt. He appears to hate her, but yet always seems to be around when she needs someone, like when her car breaks down. 

This is totally my type of book. Zack is a wonderful character, who seems to constantly be the knight in shining armour even though its completely against his nature. He continues to help and look out for Autumn, even knowing it could get both of them killed. Autumn and Zack's relationship begins as one of mutual dislike, but when they get pushed together when his cousin starts dating Autumn's friend, things gradually begin to change between them. Zack knows what's coming for Autumn and he wants to be there to help her through it.

When Daniel goes from annoying ex-boyfriend to complete psycho, Zack is the only other person who knows the truth about him and can protect Autumn from him.

This book won't be for everyone. There are the cliches that I know some people don't like. These don't bother me or impact in any way on my enjoyment of the book. In fact, they may actually make me enjoy it more. This is actually quite a sweet little romance, and I think anyone who likes that will enjoy it. 

So, while this book wasn't perfect, I'm not going to nit pick. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

________________________________________________

A nice little excerpt:

I tossed the makeup bag into my backpack, slung it over my shoulder and whipped open the door. Barreling out of the bathroom, I slammed into what felt like a walking boulder. I ricocheted off the human rock and my backpack hit the wall behind me, throwing me off balance and pitching me forward into the hard, linoleum tile.

My palms cushioned my fall, but I winced as pain spiked up my wrists. On all fours, I lifted my chin and peeked through my curtain of dark hair.

He wore a black tee that molded to his wide, muscular shoulders and jeans that fit over powerful legs. Wow. I’d thought my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend was cute, but this guy…

“You okay?” the hottie asked in a sexy, gravelly voice, stretching a hand toward me. His hand wrapped around mine and effortlessly pulled me up, as if I weighed no more than my calculus book. Maybe it was the throbbing in my limbs or the warmth of his hands on my elbows. Or maybe it was his earthy scent invading my senses, but a wave of dizziness hit me and I tipped forward.

His hands shot to my hips to steady me. “Easy there.”

I stared into his deep, green eyes as my palms rested on his hard biceps for support. Lord, he smelled good, like the forest after rain.

My breath hitched.

Add to Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Author Bio:

Veronica Blade lives in Southern California with her husband and children. By day she runs the family business, but each night she slips away to spin her tales. She writes stories about young adults to relive her own childhood and to live vicariously through her characters. Except her heroes and heroines lead far more interesting lives — and they are always way hotter.

Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads/Website

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER: As with any Veronica Blade book, this is a ROMANCE NOVEL, meaning it's romance FIRST and everything else is secondary. Rated PG-13 for sexual situations and mild profanity.

Read more...

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. You know the rules: grab your current read, open to a random page and share a two sentence teaser with us (no spoilers!). Be sure to tell us about the book, so we can add it to our TBR list!

This weeks teaser comes from A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

Never touch what's mine. Sofia Claremont is mine. Whoever harms her answers to me. Understood?

I know an excuse when I hear one. Don't you dare deceive yourself into believing that you're the victim, Derek Novak

Add to Goodreads

Read more...

Stacking the Shelves #27

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, (and filling our kindle) sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process! Hosted by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews

Well, it's time for another Stacking the Shelves. I haven't posted in three weeks, so these are the books I've received over that time. I think I'm doing well holding back on review books, but I still have a lot to catch up on. I'm reading and enjoying Requiem at the moment and hope to get it finished today. I hope you've all had a lovely weekend so far.

You can click on the book title for more information.

Bought: 

 

Everbound  by Brodi Ashton

The Indigo Spell  by Richelle Mead

Gifted:

Neverfall by Brodi Ashton

For review:

   

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake 

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Shadowed (Fated #3) by Sarah Alderson

Thanks to the awesome Eleanor from my local library for gifting me a copy of Neverfall. Thanks to Orchard Books, Hodder & Stoughton, Netgalley and Sarah Alderson.

So, what awesome goodies do you have on show this week. Leave me your links so I can stop by and check them out.

Read more...

The Vampire's Daughter (Of Light and Darkness #1) by Shayne Leighton

The Vampire's Daughter by Shayne Leighton
Published: 28th June 2011
By: Decadent Publishing
Source: Netgalley

My rating: A high 3.5 stars, but not quite 4

This may be one of the more disturbing YA books that I've read but I did really enjoy it and Shayne had no trouble holding my attention from the word go. But it wasn't perfect, and I did have my issues with it. There were some mistakes I noticed, not spelling or grammer, but one thing being said at one stage and then this being completely changed later on. Like at one point, Valek doesn't want Charlotte in the room when he is going to "sleep" because he's most volatile at this time and might attack her, but later, it's ok for her to lie in a coffin with him for this.

The vampire Valek finds Charlotte as an abandoned baby on the streets of Prague, takes her home and raises her like a daughter. Makes him sound like one of the nice, romanticised vampires right? But no, he's actually quite disgusting. As we first meet eighteen year old Charlotte, she is out hunting for a human for Valek, as he's not allowed to pass beyond the walls of the occult, she isn't noticed as no humans are supposed to be on the inside.

She's also developing quite an un-daughterly like crush on Valek, which he eventually comes to return. Quite disturbing!! But, I feel these characters changed completely under the strenuous circumstances that they find themselves in, and as we don't really see much interaction as parent and child, I had to keep reminding myself of this. I couldn't really invest in the whole romance between them, but I could of course, understand how they would love each other. But then predicaments that Charlotte finds herself in because of Valek, leaves me questioning that love.

Charlotte, unsurprisingly, is not like other eighteen year old girls, having been raised by a vampire, and not being too bothered by him drinking human blood, killing humans, and keeping bodies in the freezer, maybe the inappropriate relationship is not surprising under these circumstances. But, he's the man who raised her, protected her, and comforted her when she was upset. She knows the way she feels about him is wrong, but she can't help her feelings.

Valek is a nasty type vampire. He needs blood daily or the monster arises, he has claws as hands and when he sleeps during the day, he actually dies and becomes corpse like. I can't see the attraction, but I enjoyed him as a character, and as weird as it was, I eventually found myself rooting for them, when an even more dangerous arrangement is put in their way.

I enjoyed the world building. There's all kinds of supernaturals in these books, but they all live under the rule of Wizards. Aiden, one of Charlotte's closest friends, is a wizard, and I found myself really liking him. Things really take a twist around him, but I won't say anymore, don't want to give too much away. There's quite a few interesting secondary characters who add to this story. It has a lot of action and living on the edge, a fast paced page turner.

I didn't like the cover for this book, but after reading it, it's actually quite fitting. And while I did have a few problems with this book, I still enjoyed this story overall and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Add to Goodreadds

Buy the book: Amazon/The Book Depository

Read more...

Blood-Kissed Sky by J.A. London

Blood-Kissed Sky by J.A. London
Published: 26th December 2012
By: Harperteen
Source: Bought

My rating: 4.5 stars

Blood Kissed Sky is the second book in the Darkness Before Dawn series and it definitely was a fantastic sequel. I was disappointed to realise that Victor was going to be absent for a lot of this book, while Dawn goes to Los Angeles. And while I did really miss him, we got to see glimpses of him through dreams, and there was a lot going on with Dawn in LA to keep me glued to the pages.

Dawn heads to LA, a city that is completely free of vampires, to find out how they are dealing with the Thirst. Also, that's where Sin said he came from, and while he may have been lying, Dawn hopes he wasn't and that she can also find out more about him and his day walkers. What she discovers in LA is truly terrifying.

The attack on the teenagers at the Blood Drive in Darkness Before Dawn, is now being dubbed "Hell Night" and the terrible events of that night have taken their toll and I felt we see changes in the characters due to this. Dawn is tougher, and Michael and Tegan, realising the full extent of the danger now, appealed to me much more when they weren't constantly trying to talk Dawn into doing stupid, dangerous things. And Victor, in his role as the Lord of the Denver Vampires, is discovering that the position is more difficult than he previously thought, and it seems he may be harder on the humans than Dawn thought he was going to be.

Questions I'd been pondering in the last book were answered here, and the twist at the end, wasn't completely unexpected. I'm really looking forward to After Daybreak where I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. I'm expecting a lot of action and anticipation and hopefully, lots of Victor too. With a release date for June, we don't have too long to wait. Thankfully, this hasn't been a long drawn out series.

Add to Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon/The Book Depository

Read more...