YA Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Review: Glass Houses
Series: Morganville Vampires – Book 1
Author: Rachel Caine
No of Pages: 239
Release Date: 3 October 2006

WELCOME TO MORGANVILLE TEXAS. DON’T STAY OUT AFTER DARK.

It’s a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows – one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn’t have the right connections – to the undead who run the town.

When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

My Thoughts:

I had high hopes for Glass Houses, but it didn’t really live up to my expectations.

Claire is a nerd, she’s sixteen and already in college. She moves to Morganville which is the closest college she is willing to go to that’s near her home, because she also wants to escape her parents, but what teen doesn’t?

When she gets to Morganville though Claire is faced with more than just being top of the class; extreme bullying, violent abuse and vampires are added to her list of worries. Claire can never seem to catch a break. One thing after another after another seems to be going on and it’s only until she moves into the Glass House that she finally is able to make a few friends that things can start to mildly resemble normality.

Claire for me wasn’t very interesting. Trouble follows her everywhere she goes it seems and at the start I felt sorry for her but it got old really quickly to the point where I was thinking “not again”. Caine wrote some cringe worthy stuff when it came to the extent of the bullying Claire faced at the hands of the cheerleaders.

Eve was probably my favourite character in the entire novel, purely because she was the rocker chick that didn’t want anyone to know she cared. She is the epitome of cool because she has a heart to go with her smarts.

Glass Houses also introduces us to some traditional vampires, and by traditional I mean blood-sucking, evil, human controlling fiends. These vampires are very similar to the mafia, expecting protection money so the humans can feel safe.

What detracted from Glass Houses for me was the intense bullying situation. Claire was nearly set on fire in the back of a van at one stage and no one does anything! A few school girls held her down as someone held a lighter to her clothes. Who does that? What kind of people are these? It was infuriating for me to visualise not because of the situation, but what kind of teenage girls would set someone on fire and not face any repercussions? What was the response to this atrocious act? That Claire needs to stay out of her way. She was pushed down a flight of stairs and laughed at, not helped because of the fear of this teenage girl. Even her over-protective parents who came rushing to see her when she didn’t answer their phone call just dismissed it.

For me Monica had too much power. It was more than just Queen Bee she was getting away with things that are illegal. Beating people is illegal, soliciting hit-men is illegal, ordering policemen to shoot people is illegal, and arson is illegal. Not just mean, but against the law and she was just getting away with it. It was unrealistic and it annoyed me that it was the only thing interesting about this book but also the most far-fetched.

I think I will continue this series, just to see where it goes and to find out what happens after the major cliff-hanger at the end, but I am not going in with high-hopes.

3/5

Top Review: June 2011 Adult - Jackie from My Ever Expanding Library

Congratulations go to Jackie at My Ever Expanding Library for being this months adult Top Reviewer.
 Check out her blog here and show your support.
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Hardback
235 x 159mm
320 pages
ISBN 9780441018642
04 May 2010
Ace trade paper
18 - AND UP

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry...

So, I was trying to figure out ways to do this review without having spoilers, but as you can see from the publisher's synopsis above...well, the biggest one for me is already in it.

I read Dead Until Dark last year but was trying to pace my reading with my viewing of the HBO series TrueBlood (though I haven't gotten to Living Dead in Dallas yet.) There seems to be a fairly close correlation between the two yet enough differences that I, personally, wouldn't give up on either one.

My first impression of Dead in the Family was that it seemed to be a much larger book than any of the previous ones. As I started reading it, I found after about 30+ pages, a page entitled "Chapter 1", so I scratched my head, thinking "What?" and flipped back through to see if I'd missed something. Nope, didn't say "Prologue" or anything like that, it just mentioned a general date time frame. Once I caught on to this I realized it was just a bridge of sorts between the last book to this one. Sookie was needing some recovery time, but this format also served as a way for the reader who hadn't read the previous book (like myself) to catch up to speed.

What I love about this series is that there is a languid quality to Harris' writing that you feel totally invested in the Bon Temps/Louisiana laid back lifestyle. But it has such a sensual feel also, that you are completely engrossed and really don't want to put the book down, even when Sookie's performing mundane tasks.The chemistry between Sookie and Eric is fantastic (I'm totally team Eric, lol) and their moments together are definitely enough to leave a girl weak in the knees!

Harris maintains such an intricate world of vampires, weres and other "two-natured" types, including their hierarchies and politics, that I'm in awe she keeps it all straight and can clearly bring her ideas across to the reader fluidly. She also builds in other previous storylines without making them tedious in the process. I very much enjoy when she brings a figure from history as someone that's been turned (ie. "Bubba" from previous books). This time, the new name involved had me thinking..."geez, that sounds so familiar?!" As the story of this person was explained, I was impressed with how the author handled it while tossing in a little history lesson (this has always been a story that I found beautiful yet sad and ultimately tragic.)

I really can't say enough about Charlaine Harris' wonderful characters, settings, writing style, etc. They are light reads, really, but at the same time offer some depth in emotion, history, and Southern waitressing. Dead in the Family is another winning offering in the Sookie Stackhouse series and if you haven't started reading these books, summer is the perfect time to work on it. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

June YA Read: ANY book from the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Cain

Once again you have the choice of any book you like from the Morganville Vampires series.

For June's YA read feel free to read and review ANY book from the series.

Review Deadline: 30th June 2011

(Don't forget to add a BWB banner somewhere in the review to be considered for the Top Reviewer)

June Adult Read: ANY book from the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

So we've all heard of it, and quite a few of us have seen the TV show (True Blood) the series of course is the Sookie Stackhouse series or alternatively the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris.

Have you read all of the books yet? Need to catch up? Well here's your chance.

For June's Adult read feel free to read and review ANY book from the series.

Review Deadline: 15th June 2011

(Don't forget to add a BWB banner somewhere in the review to be considered for the Top Reviewer)

 

Leave a link to your review in the comments and I will add it to the page.

Adult Review: Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Review: Dead to the World
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 4
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 321
Release Date: 3 May 2005

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. She’s pretty. She does her job well. But she has only a few close friends, because not everyone appreciates Sookie’s gift: she can read minds. That’s not exactly every man's idea of date bait - unless they’re undead; vampires and the like can be tough to read. And that’s just the kind of guy Sookie’s been looking for. Maybe that’s why, when she comes across a naked vampire on the way home from work, she doesn’t just drive on by. He hasn’t got a clue who he is, but Sookie has: Eric looks just as scary and sexy – and dead – as the day she met him. But now he has amnesia, he’s sweet, vulnerable, and in need of Sookie’s help – because whoever took his memory now wants his life.

Sookie’s investigation into what’s going on leads her into a battle between witches vampires and werewolves. But there could be even greater danger – to Sookie’s heart – because the kinder, gentler Eric is very hard to resist.

My Thoughts:

Another dive into the world of Sookie Stackhouse, and now that Bill is out of the way, it’s getting interesting.

Sookie once again is just getting better, taking Eric in after he suffers amnesia to help keep him safe to me is just so good for her and her growth in this society. Sookie still remembers her place in the supernatural society, but she also is starting to come into her own. Things aren’t quite as scary anymore and when Sookie finds out about witches actually existing she doesn’t freak out like she would have in earlier books.

Eric is just getting hotter as far as I’m concerned. Suffering from amnesia at the hands of the witches Eric has forgotten that he is a 1,000 year old Viking vampire that people bow to and cower in fear from as soon as he enters a room. Eric’s tender side in Dead to the World made me fall even more in love with him than before, because it proves that he’s not just an evil overlord, but that he may have a sliver of humanity left.

Eric is a little bit of an odd character for me, I don’t want him to be gentle; I want him to be hard hitting, evil and funny. But in Dead to the World, his tender side was just so perfect; it didn’t even seem like Eric. So although I missed witty Eric, I absolutely loved gentle Eric and although it fits him I can’t see the two sides of him ever reconciling into one being and if I had to choose it would definitely be evil Eric.

Alcide and his wolves also play a major part again in this book and with the addition of Alcide it once again adds more of a plot mover to the story.

I was so glad that Bill barely made an appearance in Dead to the World, as in Club Dead because I really don’t like him. Sookie doesn’t need the distraction that Bill causes and I am hoping that the series continues on this broader path of the extended set of characters.

Dead to the World also introduces witches, which for me wasn’t that big a deal. They seemed more like the hippy Wiccans rather than full blown cackling witches for most of the story. They made for an interesting dilemma for Sookie to deal with though.

Dead to the World was yet another excellent instalment in this fabulous series.

4/5

Vote for July's YA title

These are the selections for the July adult titles, all descriptions are from Goodreads. Feel free to vote using the side bars or the comments section below.

13 to Life by Shannon Delany


Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing.  Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town.  It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…

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Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz 

When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires.The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated blue bloods of American society.

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a popular girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think, but she wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger?

Could those vampire legends really be true? Steeped in vampire lore and set against the glittery backdrop of New York City, Blue Bloods will be devoured by Melissa de la Cruz's legion fans.

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Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

I slowly opened my eyes. The sun speared its first bright rays of golden orange into the sky and I leapt from the cliff, with the sorrowful knowledge that no matter what the outcome, at least part of me would die that day...

Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Violet’s idea of perfection. But why does he seem so reluctant to be anything more than a friend?

After he gives her the world’s most incredible kiss – and then abandons her on her front doorstep – Violet is determined to get some answers. But nothing could have prepared her for Lincoln’s explanation: he is Grigori – part angel and part human – and Violet is his eternal partner.

Without warning, Violet’s world is turned upside down. She never believed in God, let alone angels. But there’s no denying the strange changes in her body ... and her feelings for Lincoln. Suddenly, she can’t stand to be around him. Luckily, Phoenix, an exiled angel, has come into her life. He’s intense and enigmatic, but at least he never lied to her.

As Violet gets caught up in an ancient battle between dark and light, she must choose her path. The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...

  

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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

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Bianca wants to escape.

She's been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He's not the "Evernight type" either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

"I couldn't stand it if they took it out on you," he tells Bianca, "and eventually they would."

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

Vote for July's Adult title

I hope everyone has been having a lovely June so far. Half way through the year already, but all is well when you have books!

So here are the selections for the July adult titles, all descriptions are from Goodreads. Feel free to vote using the side bars or the comments section below.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they'll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I'm not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.

Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.

She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself ... and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

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Shadowfae by Erica Hayes


Steal souls.

Live in hell.

Never die.

In a city infested with psychotic fairies and run by sadistic vampire mafiosi, life as a soul-sucking succubus rarely involves lacy lingerie, hot guys or great sex.

Instead, Jade must spend her nights seducing gangsters and murderers, or simpering as a trophy girl for hell's minions.

So when she discovers a forbidden ritual that promises to break hell's thrall and set her free, she's got nothing to lose, even if it involves seducing the four most repellent souls in town.
But when you're cheating hell, there's always a catch...

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Stray by Rachel Vincent 


There are only eight breeding female werecats left . . .
And I'm one of them. I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.
Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.
I'd been warned about Strays -- werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.
This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back . . . for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever -- and whoever -- I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays -- 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them . . .

 

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Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

In the hot-blooded vein of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake saga and Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series, Karen Chance's debut novel is a contemporary dark fantasy revolving around a gutsy female protagonist with supernatural abilities that blends mystery and romance with hair-raising horror.

Cassie Palmer, a powerful clairvoyant who works part-time at an Atlanta club reading Tarot cards, is finding it difficult to escape her past. Orphaned at a young age and brought up by the undead, Cassie has the ability to communicate with the spirit realm, and her powers were abused time and time again by a ruthless master vampire named Tony. It's been three years since Cassie -- a self-described "ghost magnet" -- has been free of the centuries-old bloodsucker, but now he's back and eager to reclaim his human possession. Forced to turn to the Senate (a group of "really old vamps" who make laws for the supernatural community) for protection, Cassie is thrown into a complex conflict where control of the entire supernatural world is at stake. Rasputin (yes, the Mad Monk himself), a power-hungry vampire, is killing off the Senate members one by one. Aided by some impressive allies -- including Dracula's older brother, Mircea -- Cassie must use everything in her paranormal arsenal to fight the encroaching evil -- and somehow stay alive

Fans of authors like Hamilton, Harrison, Kelley Armstrong, and Charlaine Harris will undoubtedly enjoy this fast-paced, blood-sucking romp through the supernatural underworld -- yet another noteworthy addition to the ever-growing subgenre of fantasy/romance/mystery hybrids. Paul Goat Allen.

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Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

 

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….

We're Back!

Blogs With Bite is back peeps.

A few things have changed but we're going back to basics.

Vote on the books you would most like to read. Read the books. Review the books. Post the review and link to BWB. Then we can all read each others reviews, discuss our perspectives and congradulate the top reviewer.

We do it twice a month, once for YA, once for Adult, and then we do it all over again the next month.

What do we get out of this you may ask? Exposure, new books, broadened horizons and some (hopefully) insightful discussions about what we're reading.

So this month, we don't have a single review book for YA and Adult because I haven't got all of your great suggestions yet (so please submit your review suggestions on the tab at the top of the page!). So I am letting you choose whichever book you like from the Sookie Stackhouse series and the Morganville Vampires series to read and review.

Remember that during any month, if you have previously read and reviewed the book, please feel free to post it in the comments section of that review page and I will add it to that list - no matter how old it is!

So please, feel free to vote, review and have fun!

Blogs With Bite is returning!

Blogs With Bite is not dead yet bloggerinos!

Parajunkee and the gang have handed over to me and Blogs With Bite will be back officially as of 1st of June!

Tell your friends!

Shutting Down

As you can probably tell from months of neglect, Blog with Bite is no longer going to be maintained by the girls anymore. We just don't have the time to manage two blogs.

If anyone is interested in carrying the torch, email me.

Uprising Book Review

A gruesome ritual murder has stained the Oxfordshire countryside. It's just the first incident in a chain of events awakening Detective Inspector Joel Solomon to his worst nightmare-and a dreadful omen of things to come. Because Joel has a secret: he believes in vampires.

Alex Bishop is an agent of the Vampire Intelligence Agency. She's tasked with enforcing the laws of the global Vampire Federation, and hunting rogue members of her race. A tough job made tougher when the Federation comes under attack by traditionalist vampires. They have a stake in old-school terror-and in an uprising as violent as it is widespread.
Now it's plunging Alex and Joel into a deadly war between the living and the unloving-and against a horrifying tradition given new life by the blood of the innocent.( goodreads.com)


I tried to read this book but it was slow moving , and lots of details , that this book didn't need to be that long. I stopped half way through out the book.


I loved the Location , and truly love reading different kind of vampire stories but this book I was able to put it down and read other books.

The time it took for Alex and Joel to meet was too long , and drawn out. I didn't feel any of the attraction between them. This book did remind me of movie Underworld and I love watching this movie.

I didn't finish this book because of those reasons, you might like this book but I didn't.

DNF= Did Not Finish

Thanks to the publisher & author  for the book and this is my Honest Review

Immortalis: Hunter and Prey Book Tour

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She’s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum’s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she’s missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.

If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she’ll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan’s support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum’s new threat.

Book Information

ISBN: ISBN-13: 9780984419654
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Rising Sign Books
Publication Date: December 2010
Paperback , 300pp
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

About Katie Salidas

Author of the hot new Urban Fantasy series, Immortalis, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she’s dreamed up fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires at an early age, she devoured every book, featuring those mysterious, blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find. She claims that, of all the monsters out there, vampires had always been the most interesting.

It was only natural that a love of reading about vampires, and a love of writing turned into a desire to write her own stories.

A Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin, Katie loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories.

Find Katie Salidas at www.risingsignbooks.com

Blog
http://myimmortalstories.blogspot.com/

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/ksalidas?ref=profile

Facebook Author Fansite
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Salidas-Author/214780936916

Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/katelv

Brightly Woven

I have had this in my to read pile, and during this vacation I finally read, this book is a little gem of a book.


Sydelle lives in the desert with her family. She get asked to go with North Wayland to the capital to stop a war from happening. Sydelle is a weaver of fabrics and makes beautiful tapestries for the people in her town.


She dislikes North so much , and learns more about the wizards and magic that she wasn't even aware of in her world. Sydelle is also one of kind, and prays to goddess. There along the way they both learn about each other, and help each other with their problems. He has a curse, and she has some issues that she didn't know about it til she met North.

North has family issues , and loved his friend who will stand by til the end. I enjoyed this book very much , and love the cover of it. North has a wit, and he is so funny with Sydelle . I stayed up very late to finish this book.


Best Lines: He's just like a stallion. Wild and kicking on the outside, but a heart soft as satin on the inside. Just waiting for the right girl to break him in


Well, have you ever thought of bathing?' I asked, turning away. 'No one wants to hire a wizard who smells worse than their outhouse. And who knows what creatures are living in that hair?"


There is only Kissing through out the book.


Book Review=B

Won this book and this is my Honest Review

January Group Reads!

The votes are in, and here are the books we'll be reading together for Blog With Bite in January:

We'll be doing the review linkup the same way we did in December- reviews for both books should be linked up by January 31st.  This is a great opportunity to draw some attention to previous reviews that you've already written, too, so if you've read and reviewed these books already, don't fret! Link up instead!

When a Mullo Loves a Woman-Freatured Reviewer @My 5 Monkeys

Pearl is a student at College . There have been some murders happening around the town.  She has been seeing a mysterious man following her. When her boyfriend cancels on her she wanders around near a club and finds a book shop. At this shop she finds a necklace, and book.

Celeste is her room mate , and has some secrets from her too.

A Mullo is Psychic vampire who steals a Gypsy's power. Pearl is part gypsy and learns more about her mother.

This story takes place in the Monterrey Bay, and with all the locations. I remembered being down in that area with my family.

Celeste and Pearl hold a seance and Mr. M is there video recording the whole event. While there Pearl has another vision while having her necklace nearby. Pearl is able to into the past and learn more about her mother.

Pearl doesn't know much of her family history, and slowly comes to term with her destiny and knowing more about herself. Peal has an on /off again relationship with Evan . He plays a bigger role than what I thought.

I loved Adam and how the relationship slowly grew from him being Mr. Mysterious to more than a friend. He has been watching over her for some time. They are able to communicate telepathically . Adam doesn't want to fall in love with Pearl.

Best Line: Have you ever met someone for the first time, but in your heart you feel as if you have met them before.

Pearl and Celeste figure out who has been hurting their friends and save the day.

This was an interesting story , but I found sad that Pearl didn't know about her family history or her mother. Pearl learned some history from Adam, who has some secrets too. It seemed easy that her room mate knew about Mullo and magic. All the friends trying to figure out who was killing the students, reminded me of the scooby gang. I liked the story.




Book Review =C
BWB 2/4

Thanks to the author for the story and this is my Honest review

HBIC Review: Yours, Mine and Howls by Kinsey Holley

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Paranormal Element: Werewolves
Stalk the Author: Web | Twitter
eBook provided by author

PJVs QUICKIE POV:
I was sucked right into Holley's latest shifter filled masterpiece. From the start I was engrossed in Ally and maybe became a little obsessed. It was great. I can't wait to read more of this series!


REVIEW:
At the young age of 18, Allison finds herself in a trailer park in Lake Charles, Louisiana, alone, except for a five year werewolf named Dylan that she tends regularly for her inept cousin. As the boy sleeps in her room a fight breaks out between her cousin and her husband and it leads to her cousins death and the man barging into Ally's trailer...and ending her life. From there Ally's life is never the same.

Thirteen years later, Ally is in charge of an almost grown Alpha werewolf and has two Beta wolves along for the ride. She has to do something about Dylan and soon...and she also has to do something about a little tussle she got into with a man half her size that she happened to leave near death. Too many questions and too little time lead Ally to Colorado an Alpha Werewolf with a new pack and a lot of extra baggage. She plans on not liking him, she plans on leaving as soon as she can work up the nerve, but one look at Mr. Alpha Werewolf, Cade, Ally's insides turn to butter and her self-resolve melts away. Yet, with both of them lugging around enough emotional baggage to keep Southwest busy for days, can they dump it all to form some semblance of a relationship, or will testosterone and tough chick syndrome dash any hope of them being together?

I expected a great read from Kinsey Holley, after reading her novella Kiss & Kin, but I have to say, I think this one exceeded my expectations. It was the small things that made this into a very entertaining read. It was the description of Ally & Cade's reactions that just seemed so real. It was the cute behavior by Cade's child, Becca. I thought it was adorable that she believed she was a cat. It was the subtle play and hints of the world - without lengthy descriptions of hows and whys. The story assumed you already knew this, that you were a part of this world already and gave you enough information to figure it out yourself, but didn't narrate at you like you needed to be introduced to the world. It was subtle and made me feel like I was even more a part of the story. Ms. Holley can definitely tell a story and I'll be delighted when more of her work is released. Can't wait.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Adult content, descriptive sexual encounters. Fans of shifters and paranormal romance fans should enjoy. Could be a good transition novel because, while it is about werewolves the paranormal elements are that intense.

4/4 BWB rating

1/20 books

HBIC Review: Yours, Mine and Howls (Emily @ What Book is That?)

Title: Yours, Mine and Howls
Author: Kinsey W. Holley
Page Count: 402 pages (Word document format)
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: Samhain
Copy for review provided by the author in anticipation of an honest review.

50 words or less: Whenever you're having a bad day, just remember: you're not in charge of raising an orphaned alpha werewolf, you haven't died and been resurrected into a female werewolf who can't shift, your daughter doesn't think she's a cat, and nobody you know is secretly a few centuries old.  It. Could. Be. Worse.

Yours, Mine and Howls is a fun book with an interesting story, fun characters who don't always do what you'd expect them to do, a romance that comes to a slow boil, and enough adventure and family drama to grab your attention and hold on for dear life.  While there were definitely some parts of the story that were smoother than others, as a whole this was a thoroughly enjoyable book that was an excellent way to spend an evening after work.

Easily my two favorite elements of this story were a) the role that the hero's daughter, Becca, played in the starring couple coming together, and b) the interesting take on the role of the alpha and what that means for a relationship.  Lots of books include the element of the snarly, bossy alpha but not all of them take the tack that such an individual might be, shall we say, a complete pain in the butt to live with.

As a heroine, Ally is certainly made of strong stuff.  She's not afraid to take on responsibility; if anything, she has trouble letting other people be responsible for themselves when the time comes.  She takes on the task of raising Dylan, a young wereworlf orphaned by a horrifying instance of domestic violence, and keeps her small pack of four together until it becomes apparent that she can't provide the guidance Dylan needs.

Enter our hero, stage left.  Cade, Rocky Mountian Pack Alpha and owner of a successful horse ranch, agrees to take Dylan on as a ward and to help grow into a productive, happy young man instead of a derelict or a lunatic.  Cade didn't realize that the foster mother in the situation was Ally, strong woman and hottie extraordinaire.

Cade has a lot on his plate- raising his four year old daughter, Becca (yes, the one who thinks she's a cat,) running a business, keeping his pack together, and struggling for legitimacy from a hierarchy that doesn't take well to newcomers.  Finding out that Ally is his mate is the last thing he needs, but it's the key to solving all of his problems (including his Mommy issues- yikes!) and watching him unravel his emotional tangle made for a very entertaining read.

This is where the part about addressing the role of the alpha comes in.  Cade is a great leader and a powerful man with a tremendous amount of responsibility, as well as lofty goals and high hopes for the future.  This means that there are times that he can be, for lack of a better phrase, a righteous douche bag.  Ally takes it in stride, though- she doesn't freak out, she doesn't swear a blood oath of revenge, she doesn't even punch him in his overbearing forehead.  No, she calmly and quietly goes about her business, executing her plans as if all the drama didn't happen.  This doesn't resolve the issues, naturally, and these two do end up having to talk things out like adults, but it goes to show that neither of them is going to take this relationship lying down, and neither of them is willing to be steamrollered by the other.

My criticism of the story has to do with the way things wrapped up at the end.  So much of the book was devoted to the blossoming relationship between the main characters that the resolution to the story- the role of the fae, the role of Becca's semi-estranged grandmother, the role of Declan, the annoyingly smug Irish wolf, and the side plot involving Aaron's father, all kind of came out of nowhere to careen towards an ending.  When it was all over, a ton of elements and plot lines had been introduced and resolved, but I wasn't able to articulate what had actually happened, besides the happily ever after.

Beyond that, though, this was a really fun, spicy pepper of a book.  I'm pleased to read that there will be more books starring this cast of characters as there were a number of interesting secondary characters scattered throughout the book.  You can count me in for reading future installments for sure.

Overall Grade: A-
BWB Rating: 3/4

Welcome Kinsey Holley to BWB! {Guest Post}

When I decided I wanted to write a werewolf romance a few years ago, I only had one character and one idea to start with.

The character was a young woman I’d been carrying around in my head for a while. (What? No, believe me—this is totally normal for a writer.) She gave her life for a little boy she loved very much, by throwing herself in front of his drunk and violent werewolf stepfather.

The stepfather killed her, and it changed her whole life.

The idea was that, in my world, werewolves are out and living openly among humans. They’re fully assimilated into American society (the situation varies in other countries). There are no female werewolves, so werewolves marry human women, have kids—some werewolves, some not—and raise their families among humans.

And my werewolves would not be borderline psychopaths forever on the cusp of bloody rampages. I figured, if they’d managed to live and evolve alongside us in secret for millennia, legends and superstitions being the only hint of their existence, then they must have been good at passing for human, right? Which meant they could control themselves. Granted, alphas were more prone to violence than betas, but still—they couldn’t go around ripping chunks of flesh out of everyone who looked at them cross-eyed. People would have noticed a long time ago.

So once I had my heroine and my werewolves, I just had to write the story. It only took me two years and many nights on my sisters-in-law’s porches drinking wine or, when I got really stuck, margaritas, and asking them plaintively: But how did she die? What’s the big secret Cade’s mother was hiding? And what’s the deal with Declan?

They never told me—they always made me figure it out for myself. But they were good for feedback and constructive criticism, and the alcohol and food were always welcome.

Along the way I got frustrated and started looking for an excuse to stop. So when Samhain put out a call for a shapeshifting anthology, I thought why not, I’ve already got this cool world built, and Cade’s not doing what I want him to, so let’s put this aside and try a novella.

Kiss and Kin sort of fell out of my head. It came to me so much more easily than Rocky Mountain Howl, which is what Yours, Mine and Howls was called for two years before my editor decided it wasn’t romance-y enough.

And Kiss and Kin got published, and it sold very well for a first book and got good reviews. And that gave me the boost I needed to finish Yours, Mine and Howls.

It’s a little darker than Kiss and Kin. The characters are tangentially related to characters in Kiss and Kin, but the latter don’t make any appearances.

I don’t think it will take me two years to write the next book in the Werewolves in Love series. I’ve already got another novella, Ready to Run, scheduled for August release (Nick Wargman and his assistant TJ are in it).

I’ve just started writing Seth’s story—you’ll meet him in Yours, Mine and Howls. He’s a quiet one, but there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Dec will get his own story, as will Michael.

And, yes, Nick and TJ too…

I really (really, really) hope you like Yours, Mine and Howls.

If you’d like to know the story of Cade’s nanny troubles, briefly alluded to in the book, you can go here and read Yours, Mine and Howls: The Nanny Years, for free.

Lastly, and most importantly, I’d like to thank Blog with Bite for highlighting Yours, Mine and Howls this month. I really appreciate it.

###

Kinsey Holley lives in Houston Texas, where a lot of people know about her Secret Romance Writer Identity. Hopefully those people don’t include her mother or the folks she goes to church with. She’s married to the Hub, mommy to the Diva, and works part time as a law librarian.

Kinsey takes her mail at kinseywholley@live.com, lives at www.kinseyholley.com and http://ninenaughtynovelists.blogspot.com, and hangs out way too much at

Twitter (@kinseyholley).

Pop round and say hi sometime.

Happy 2011! Vote for January's Young Adult Title!

You know the drill- new month, new books to choose from for our group review!  The competition will be fierce among the contenders, as this month, we're offering the nominees from the Goodreads Choice Awards as options for both the adult and young adult titles!  In the event that the book that was nominated was not the first book in the series, we've substituted the first book in the appropriate series for folks who want to start at the beginning.  It's going to be a tough call with this round of voting, I think. Regardless, as always, vote for the book that you personally want to read and review and be ready to link up your reviews for all to read and enjoy!  As always, cover shots go to Amazon for purchasing ease, descriptions are from Goodreads. Vote vote vote!

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan- Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?
Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.
Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.
Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first audio book in The Heroes of Olympus series.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness- Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.

But Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.

Or are there?

Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.

Which is impossible.

Prentisstown has been lying to him.

And now he's going to have to run...

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett- "Another world is colliding with this one," said the toad. "All the monsters are coming back."

"Why?" said Tiffany.

"There's no one to stop them."

There was silence for a moment.

Then Tiffany said, "There's me."

Armed only with a frying pan and her common sense, Tiffany Aching, a young witch-to-be, is all that stands between the monsters of Fairyland and the warm, green Chalk country that is her home. Forced into Fairyland to seek her kidnaped brother, Tiffany allies herself with the Chalk's local Nac Mac Feegle -- aka the Wee Free Men -- a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men who are as fierce as they are funny. Together they battle through an eerie and ever-shifting landscape, fighting brutal flying fairies, dream-spinning dromes, and grimhounds -- black dogs with eyes of fire and teeth of razors -- before ultimately confronting the Queen of the Elves, absolute ruler of a world in which reality intertwines with nightmare. And in the final showdown, Tiffany must face her cruel power alone....

In a riveting narrative that is equal parts suspense and humor, Carnegie Medalist Terry Pratchett returns to his internationally popular Discworld with a breathtaking tale certain to leave fans, new and old, enthralled.

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken- Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry.

Intrinsical by Lani Woodland- Sixteen-year-old Yara Silva has always known that ghosts walk alongside the living. Her grandma, like the other females in her family, is a Waker, someone who can see and communicate with ghosts. Yara grew up watching her grandmother taunted and scorned for this unusual ability and doesn't want that to be her future. She has been dreading the day when she too would see ghosts, and is relieved that the usually dominant Waker gene seems to have skipped her, letting her live a normal teenage life. However, all that changes for Yara on her first day at her elite boarding school when she discovers the gene was only lying dormant. She witnesses a dark mist attack Brent, a handsome fellow student, and rushes to his rescue. Her act of heroism draws the mist's attention, and the dark spirit begins stalking her. Yara finds herself entrenched in a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening not only her life, but the lives of her closest friends as well. Yara soon realizes that the past she was trying to put behind her isn't going to go quietly.