Review! Crimson & Steam by Liz Maverick

Crimson & Steam (Crimson City series, book #8)
Liz Maverick
Love Spell
December 29, 2009
ISBN: 0505527790

Named for the angels, Los Angeles is a city of demons, a crucible of souls. It is Crimson City. Here vampires and werewolves vie for dominion, humans build soldiers of flesh and steel who seethe with fury. But alongside strife can be love--a love that cares nothing for species or origin. 

Yet, love doesn’t always conquer. Marius and Jill have long been kept apart. Bound by destiny yet forbidden true union, he is vampire; she, human. And a marriage alliance that promises peace for all others shall separate them forever. 

As if peace might be achieved so easily. Darkness is rising: a mysterious plot shall force every inhabitant of Crimson City to take sides. Deliverance exists, but first must come a tale of impossible passion and discovery, of Marius and Jill in a race against time leading back to the city’s paranormal beginnings, to Victorian London, to an era of invention and a world of CRIMSON & STEAM.

Marius, the vampire master of house Dumont has always been about doing the right thing for his people, for his city. Unfortunately, he's in love with a human woman, Jill, but his latest political move include him marrying someone else, more specifically Tatiana Asprey, a werewolf. Jill is enraged and incredibly hurt that he's even considering it, that for years now, she's been waiting for him and now they'll never have a chance.

What neither Marius or Jill know, but will soon find out, is that there are people plotting against them. In fact, there are some who wants them dead and they have to work together to flesh out who it is and stop them before it's too late.

Crimson & Steam is unlike any other book I've ever read. First of all, let me start by saying that it's the eighth book in the Crimson City series and I have not read the previous book. I was a bit wary before I started reading it due to that fact but while at first I was slightly lost, the reader doesn't need all that much backstory to be able to follow this story. I can tentatively say that Crimson & Steam can be a stand-alone novel, however I do recommend you read the previous books!

With that said, I definitely enjoyed reading this story. Maverick has a way with words that you can't help but fall into. It's definitely not a traditional story, there's kind of two plots intertwined that at first, I admit, I was completely lost about because I could not find the connection! But that's what is so fun about Crimson & Steam. As the story progress, the reader founds out more info and the multiple plots become clearer. The characters, even the "bad guy" are completely easy to relate to, the plot unlike any I've read before and all-in-all, after a rocky start, I absolutely enjoyed reading Crimson & Steam.

GIVEAWAY: Fallen by Lauren Kate.

Up for grabs: An ARC of this highly-anticipated novel.

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.

How: Leave a comment. See? I'm easy!

Ends: December 1st.

If you want extra entries, you can do any or all of these things:

+1 Comment on my review.
+2 Become a follower (+3 if you already are! Just let me know in the comments)
+3 If you blog, tweet, link from sidebar, etc. (Let me know where!)

What are you waiting for? GOGOGO.

P.S: Oops. Leave a way for me to contact you if you win!

Books + Mail = Me HAPPY. [In My Mailbox - 12]

 Love both covers!

  Confessions of a Demon by S.L. Wright

What I Wore to Save the World by Maryrose Wood

 That is all.

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

[Quicky] Review: Playing with Fire.

Playing with Fire (Silver Dragons, book 1)
Katie MacAlister
Signet
May 6, 2008 
ISBN-10: 0451223780

Gabriel Tauhou, the leader of the silver dragons, can't take his eyes off May Northcott. Not even when May, who has the unique talent of being able to hide in the shadows, has slipped from everyone else's sight.
 
May, however, has little time for Gabriel - not when she's hiding from the Otherworld law, hunting down a blackmailer, and trying to avoid a demon lord's demands. But her ability to withstand Gabriel's fire marks her as his mate, and he has no intention of letting her disappear into the darkness she seems to prefer.
 

Then May is ordered to steal one of Gabriel's treasures - an immensely important relic of all dragonkin - and he must decide which to protect: his love or his dragons...

I loved this book! I've read most of Katie's books - her Aisling Grey series, Dark Ones, contemporaries (Blow Me Away (Pirates!), Hard Day's Knight! etc) and more - and needless to say, I've enjoyed every single one, I completely fell in love with the characters in Playing with Fire. May and Gabriel is perfect for each other, old favorite characters back, including the awesome Newfie demon, Jim! I'm Team Jim. I wanna take him walkies.

Playing with Fire features Katie's awesome sense of humor, hot steamy lovin', great characters and a really fun plot! It's the first book in the Silver Dragon series and I can't wait to read Up in Smoke, the second book! I highly recommend Playing with Fire, it's such a fun read!

Review! Beautiful Americans.

Beautiful Americans
Lucy Silag
Razorbill
November 12, 2009
ISBN-10: 1595142274
Young Adult.

What happens in Paris...

Secrets--

PJ's deep blue eyes and angelic long blond hair conceal a truth that's anything but. Will her dark past stay where it belongs in the backwoods of Vermont, or haunt her in the city of light?
Passion--

Always the good girl, Olivia plans to twirl her way to the top of the Parisian ballet scene. But that's not supposed to include dancing on a table all night...or stumbling into the arms of the wrong boy.
Lies--

With his emo-trendy bedhead, hilarious comebacks and Southern drawl, Zack could win over anyone. Too bad he's after the only one who's forbidden...
Scandal--
 
All Alex wants from Paris is to nab that berry-red Dior coat and seduce the perfect penny-loafer-wearing boy - and Alex always gets what she wants. But will her scheming pay off? Or is she risking more than she knows...?

Alex, Olivia, Zack and PJ are spending a year at the prestigious Lycée de Monceau in the sparkling city of Paris. This is their chance to sip cafe au lait in Le Marais, throw secret parties in their host families' Versailles-size apartments, and have the time of their lives. But when the secrets they thought they left behind come out, everything could be ruined... [From Goodreads]

Beautiful Americans is the story of four teenagers in Paris and how their paths crossed. I wasn't so sure I was going to like it but I was definitely surprised. Each one - PJ, Olivia, Zack, and Alex - has their own individual characteristics, flaws and of course, secrets they're trying to keep hidden. While I enjoyed reading about PJ's insecurities, Zack's difficulty coming to terms with himself or Alex's attention-grabbing antics, I think Olivia, the ballet dancer from California stole my heart. She's a really strong character and I loved her part of the story.

This story is told in four different points of views, which admittedly, at first can be a bit confusing but as I continued reading, it became easier to differentiate between all four, and keep track of what was going on. Each chapter is titled after which of the four is about so that helps too. The story definitely has that Gossip Girl feel to it, which makes things even more fun!

Beautiful Americans has it all - friendships, romance, secrets - and I really enjoyed reading it. It is the first in a trilogy, followed by Wanderlust and Experienced.

Review! Sins of the Flesh

Sins of the Flesh
Caridad Pineiro
Forever
October 27, 2009
ISBN-10: 0446543837

Caterina Shaw's days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she's been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he's hunting down is far from the vicious killer he's been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she's a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

It took me weeks to be able to sit down and write this review, I just kept putting it off. Rarely, I find a book that I just don't click with, and Sins of the Flesh was one of them. While the blurb sounds great and the cover's pretty awesome, the story fell flat to me, the characters two-dimensional and cartoonish and I just couldn't get into the story.

Caterina Shaw was dying of cancer until she gets into an experimental program to help her at least gain her sight back, maybe even save her life. What she never counted on is finding herself on the run for her life, with new terrifying powers and being accused of murder. Mick Carrera is hired to find her, dead or alive. However, what he founds is a terrified Caterina, not the scary monster who could have murdered that scientist in cold blood. Soon enough, they find themselves attracted to each other but Mick is supposed to bring her in, so hello, hard place and rock, nice to meet ya.

Even my review is lackluster! That's how I felt about this book. I couldn't click with the characters, and that's one of my biggest pet-peeve when reading a book. I need to feel somewhat connected to the characters to be able to care about what happens to them and I just didn't in this case. However, there were parts I enjoyed, like the sexual tension between Mick and Cat and Mick's family dynamics. Unfortunately, the parts I didn't like overshadowed the ones I did. All-in-all, Sins of the Flesh was a miss for me.

In My Mailbox (11)

It was an awesome book week!

Water bottle sneaking in the picture!

Crimson & Steam by Liz Maverick (Actually already read it, my review will be coming soon)
Night Runner by Max Turner
Wings by Aprilyne Pike (I've wanted to get my paws on this one for ages! Finally)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Playing with Fire by Katie MacAlister (Yaaay! Love her books)

 That flipping flash will be the death of me.

Seeing double? You should be! I ended up with two copies of Night Runner (One ARC which I'll keep, and a finished copy), and what does that mean? Giveaway! Hopefully soon.

Your turn!

-- IMM is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.