In My Mailbox! (10)

I got some awesome-looking books this week! Lookit:

Ariel by Steven R. Boyett (I've heard really good things about this book! Can't wait to read it)
Seduced by Shadows by Jessa Slade (Look at THAT COVER)
Instinctive by Cathryn Fox (Dude looks like a mannequin. Just sayin')
Pride (Werecats, book 3) by Rachel Vincent
Prey (Werecats, book 4) by Rachel Vincent
Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block (I so love this cover!)

I has a conundrum though. I have Stray, book 1 in the Werecats series, I got book 3 and 4 this week but I'm missing book 2, Rogue, so I can't read these until I get my paws on Rogue! I have three different series with missing books that I can't read until I have the missing link. Eh.

Anyhoo - those are my new books for this week! Do share what you got and remember to check Kristi's Mr. Linky for the others IMM's!

Review! Tainted by Julie Kenner

Tainted (The Blood Lily Chronicles, book 1)
Julie Kenner
Ace
October 27, 2009
ISBN-10: 0441017843

Lily Carlyle has lied, cheated, and stolen her way through life.

But in death, she'll really get to be bad...

When her little sister is brutalized, a vengeful Lily determines to exact her own justice. She succeeds at the cost of her own life, but as she lies dying, she is given a second chance. Lily can earn her way into Paradise by becoming an assassin for the forces of good.

It's the job Lily believes she can really get into-but she doesn't realize that she may not be able to get out. 

Lily Carlyle is dead. She died when she went to avenged her little sister to the man who brutally raped her. She killed him, but at the cost of her own life. But before she can go to hell; because she's never been a good girl, she's lied, stolen and cheated and there's no doubt in her mind that's where she would end up; she's given a second chance. She can make up for all her sins by fighting for the forces of good and help prevent the Apocalypse. Apparently, she's The One who some prophecy says can fight evil and stop demons from opening the Ninth gate into our world and as such, wreaking even more havoc.

Lily agrees. I mean, what choice is there between being alive fighting or burning in hell? No choice at all, in my opinion. Next thing you know, Lily wakes up in a stranger's body, the body of Alice Purdue, who is apparently a barmaid but way more than just that, as Lily soon finds out, because this Alice is right smack in the middle of the fight between the good guys and the demons.

So now, Lily - or should I say, Alice - has a new life, a new mission: to learn to fight demons and she thinks she's up for the job. What she doesn't know is that things are never black and white, lines will be crossed and her allies might not be her allies after all.

Tainted in the first book in the Blood Lily Chronicles by Julie Kenner and an excellent one, it is! But it's a sneaky one, when you first start reading the book, it's easier to like the story. The prologue, right off the bat, is one of the best I've ever read, and as you read further on, you start really liking the story but there comes a point - it might be a sentence or a scene - where it totally hits you: This story is pure awesome. Tainted totally sneaked up on me. Sure, from the beginning, I was enjoying reading about Lily and her rebirth as fighter, how she feels incredibly sad that she couldn't see her sister, Rose, anymore, and seeing her become stronger was great to read. Yes, she's not perfect, far from it. She has her insecurities about fighting demons, about a lot of things and that's just what makes her Lily. There was a point, and I honestly couldn't tell you when it happened, where I went from liking the story to being invested in what was happening to the characters. I wanted Lily to succeed, to end up with the seriously-hot-but-full-of-rage Deacon, and to save her sister.

Needless to say, I absolutely enjoyed reading Tainted, it's got a consistent plot, full of turns and twists that seriously surprised me and had me at one point very annoyed because I didn't know what to believe, there's a scorching hot chemistry between Lily and Deacon and the evil guys are down-right nasty. The ending is a major cliffhanger and I can't wait to read the next book, Torn, out in December.

Review! The Year of Living Shamelessly by Susanna Carr

The Year of Living Shamelessly

Susanna Carr

NAL Trade

October 6, 2009

ISBN: 0451225163

A red-hot romance of a good girl gone bad-from a winning voice in wickedly fun erotica.

Every year, Katie makes the same New Year's resolution: have an affair with her brother's kinky and wild best friend, Ryder. Every year, she faces the same disappointment. It doesn't help that her good-girl reputation can't stand up to the hot competition, or that Ryder's always seen Katie as just his friend's innocent little sister.

Until Katie makes the first move-and matches him, kink for kink. Because this year, Katie knows what she wants. And she's going to get it.

For years now, Katie Kramer has had a crush on her brother's best friend, Ryder Scott and every year, she makes the same New Year's resolution: To have a wild affair with Ryder that year. Unfortunately, she has been sorely disappointed. Ryder has always seen her as her best friend's little sister and Katie' good girl reputation doesn't hold up to Ryder's super hot ex-girlfriends who always seem to hang around and get in the way. What Katie doesn't know is that Ryder has always had a thing for her but because he loves the Ryder family and Katie, to him, is untouchable, especially because he's got a wild side that few seem able to hold up to, he's never tried anything.

But Katie's totally determined to have him and this year, she's ready to make the first move. Starting by reinventing herself into more of a bad girl with a kinky side since she's heard that that's what Ryder's into and like I said, she's damn determined. But then she finds out that Ryder is soon moving away and she only has one week to show him how good of a bad girl she really is!

The Year of Living Shamelessly is one of the most fun books I've read this year! Katie is seriously out to get Ryder and seeing her trying to be more like the woman he would want was more funny than insulting. She knows what she wants and she was going for it and I can't fault a girl that. While I thought she was a great character, Ryder completely stole the limelight for me. He's been tortured about his attraction to Katie for years and he's finally going away to try to get some distance between them because every day, it's more hard for him to not want to be with her but he also doesn't think he's worth her time, unlike what Katie thinks and she's more than willing to show him.

But it's not all fun and games, things are heating up, both inside and outside the bedroom, and soon enough, Katie and Ryder's attraction might turn into something more. The chemistry between these two is undeniable and comes right off the page, that along makes for a great read, but when coupled with how incredibly funny and charming the characters are, including the secondary ones, this makes The Year of Living Shamelessly a wonderful read.

In My Mailbox! (9)

Another week - Another IMM post! (Hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, by the way) I almost didn't take a picture because my camera sucks and it was driving me nuts! I finally settled for these ones:

Don't stare too long or you'll go cross-eyed. Believe me.

Tainted by Julie Kenner (Whee!)

Take Me for a Ride by Karen Kendall
Covet by J.R. Ward
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

Beautiful Americans by Lucy Silag

 Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole & Gena Showalter (Double wheee! Literally. Heh.)

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Jane in Bloom by Deborah Lytton

Waiting to Score by J.E. Macleod

Paris Pan Takes the Dare by Cynthia Liu

The Season by Sarah Maclean

Pretty happy with my loot; some look down-right awesome, as you will notice by my whee's!

Review! On The Edge by Ilona Andrews

On the Edge (The Edge Series, Book 1)

Ilona Andrews

Ace

September 29, 2009

ISBN-10: 0441017800

The Broken is a place where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is nothing more than a fairy tale.

The Weird is a realm where blueblood aristocrats rule and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, the place between both worlds. A perilous existence indeed, made even more so by a flood of magic-hungry creatures bent on absolute destruction.

Rose Drayton has lived on the Edge her entire life. It lies between two worlds, the Broken, where the most magical place would be Wal-Mart and every one thinks magic belongs in fairy tales and the Weird, where aristocrats rule by the strength of their magic. Only people living in the Edge knows about these two worlds and Rose can easily travel between them because her magic is strong.

She lives a hard life, taking care of her two little brothers, Jack and Georgie, and working an off-the-books job cleaning in the Broken to survive. Rose always dreamed of having a better life but the reality is far worse, they're barely surviving as it is. Then, Declan Camarine shows up at her house one day. He's a blue-blood aristocrat from the Weird and he's determined to have Rose. What he soon finds out is that Rose is no weak little woman looking to be swept off her feet. In fact, ever since Rose started developing her magic, blue-bloods from the Weird has gone to the Edge looking to buy her just for her magic so needless to say, she knows better than to trust Declan.

But when horrible creatures start showing up on the Edge, killing animals and people, Declan and Rose have to work together to find out where these creatures are coming from and destroy them before they destroy the Edge.

Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Andrews' books and I absolutely loved this one. My description honestly doesn't do On the Edge justice. It's an absolutely wonderful read. The world-building is top-notch, not unlike the Kate Daniels books. The characters just come off the page and they're so alive. Rose's brothers, Jack and Georgie, were easily my favorite. I actually felt a bit weird because these two characters completely stole my heart. Rose and Declan are just perfect. Rose doesn't have rose-colored glasses, she's a tough cookie and very smart. Declan's unbelievably alpha but not so much that it's annoying, he definitely has his own story to tell. I honestly can't say enough good things about this new series, the writing is griping, the characters easy to fall in love with and On the Edge will keep your attention from beginning to end. A great new series and I can't wait for the next On the Edge book!

Review! Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen

Lauren Kate

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

December 8, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-385-73893-4

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

Once you get past the amazing cover - it is honestly beautiful; I want a poster of it! - Fallen is a story that will certainly grab you and not let go until the very end. Let me start by saying that I have never been a big fan of predestined lovers, the concept just has never appealed to me and as such, while I was looking forward to reading Fallen, I was a bit wary. I am happy to tell you that all my worries were for naught. Fallen ripped into my gut like a hungry hippo and didn't let go until I had read the very last word, even then I was left with wanting more.

Luce has been sent to Sword & Cross by her parents after something horrible happened to her. She's now surround by strangers in a morose-looking academy in the middle of nowhere, Georgia and needless to say, not very happy about it. When she meets Daniel, she's immediately drawn to him, too bad he makes it more than clear to stay away from him by flipping her off right off the bat.

But Luce can't help herself - there's something about this boy that calls to her and she soon finds herself on a mission to find out more about him, including what makes him be nice to her one second then brush her off the next. What she doesn't know is that it's more than just attraction and she might not survive uncovering his secrets.

Character-wise, two stole the limelight for me. Arriane, the funny psycho girl who from the beginning takes Luce under her wings (no pun intended) and Cam, the dark-haired boy with the hots for Luce. I admit, I quickly developed a full-on crush on Cam. He is awesome!

I have to say that for the first 300something pages, there was very little - if any - explanations on why things were happening. The reader is teased with hints throughout but it's not until the 300ish mark that we actually start to find out the reasons behind some characters' actions and even then, it's just enough to answer some questions. I feel that Fallen is more of a introductory story than anything. It sets the story arc and the characters while giving some slight resolution at the end with an incredible cliffhanger.


With that said, I think Fallen is a very good first book of a series that has the potential to become awesome. The characters were endearing, even when they did something that I didn't like and throughout the whole story, I was on the edge of my seat wanting to read more. I am definitely looking forward to the next book titled Torment, which sadly doesn't come out until September next year.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Hosted by J.Kaye

 

Read this past week: 

 

Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill (Review)  

 

&.. that's it. It was a very sucky week, reading wise. Not because FNB sucked, because hello! It didn't. But because my usual reading mojo disappeared. I am blaming Rachael for this.

 

 

Currently Reading:

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Skin Game by Ava Gray (One word: Heyes. HOT)

 

Reading Next:

 

The Year of Living Shamelessly by Susanna Carr.

I am eagerly awaiting Tainted by Julie Kenner, which I have been swore to start immediately upon arrival. I am also blaming Rachael for this. 

 

And I hope my mojo comes back this week.