Spider's Bite (An Elemental Assasin Book)
Author: Jennifer Estep
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Pocket (January 26, 2010)
Full Disclosure:  Received from publisher for review


My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 [would read again]

Summary:
Gin is a bad ass. Oh my god. I don't know how else to describe her. When I first started reading Spider's Bite I was convinced I was going to hate it. I was expecting it to follow the same pattern as all the other paranormal romances out there.  I have to say I was pleasently surprised.

Spider's Bite starts out with a bang. Gin kills someone and has to escape. From the get go, this book was high action. There wasn't many parts where it slowed down either. I really felt the urgency that Gin felt, and when something bad happened I felt the emotions as well. The attraction she has to Donovan is electric and I could feel the mixed emotions both characters had about it.

My only complaint with Spider's Bite is that it was stated that Gin was a chef at the Pork Pit a couple of times but she never really worked there. I mean I guess I understand that with her handler dying, she wouldn't really be at work, but to me it was just weird. Also I really hated how Gin would refer to a chance to die as a chance to "get dead" or instead of saying that's how he died it was that's how he "got dead" and that just annoyed me a whole lot.

All in all Spiders Bite was a really good read. I'm glad I picked it up, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and paranormal reading. It really wasn't a romance book, at least it didn't feel that way to me. The romance that was there, wasn't the main focus of the story. The main focus was the fact that someone had double crossed Gin, and she was going to get even.

Shifting Plains
Author: Jean Johnson
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (November 3, 2009)
Full Disclosure: Purchased

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:
Tava is a shifter, but cannot let anyone in the village she resides in know. When her father is brutally murdered leaving her alone in the world, she decides to go out and avenge him. While hunting the band of thieves that murdered her father, Tava encounters a Shifterai warband. Only knowing the horror stories her mother had told her father, Tava is weary of them, and careful to not reveal her true self to them.

Kodan is the leader of the warband, and after watching a shapeshited Tava take down a full grown man, and not recognizing her scent, he wants to know more about her. So when he sees her fighting with one of the men from her village, he strikes up a bargain to bring her with his warband. One way or another, Kodan is determined to show Tava that not all shifters are like the ones her mother warned her about.

I love Jean Johnson, seriously. She is one of my must buy authors. Ever since I read her Sons of Destiny series. And Shifting Plains didn't disappoint. While I didn't fall as in love with these characters as I have her other ones, Shifting Plains had very depth filled characters.

I enjoyed watching Tava blossom from being someone who had to contain her true feelings and thoughts, to someone who could speak freely around her people. It was so amazing. There were a couple of confrontations that I thought could have been drawn out more, but as a whole it was a great read.

Plus some of the scenes between Tava and Kodan, seriously left me wanting to howl at the moon. (HAHA howl at the moon, shape shifters, do you get it!? okay moving on now) This book is not for those who do not enjoy some steamy scenes, not that there were many, and they weren't just randomly thrown in. The sexual scenes fit very well into the story line and weren't abundantly disgusting or graphic. Just the way I like them.

Over all I would recommend this book happily to anyone who had enjoyed her previous novels, or anyone who enjoys a paranormal setting that isn't all about vampires and werewolves.

One Deadly Sin
Author: Annie Solomon
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Forever (May 1, 2009)

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Summary:
Edie Swan, formally Eden Swanford is out for revenge. She returns to her home of Redbud, Tennessee hell bent to make the men she believes responsible for her father's death pay. She starts by sending out black angels to each of the men, hoping that the sight of the black angel will goad them into spilling the beans about what really happened to her father all those years ago. Except that when the men start dying, Edie becomes the number one suspect. Even to herself!

Holt Drennen, the sheriff of Redbud, doesn't suspect Edie at first, all he wants to do is get her in the sack. But after awhile he starts to suspect that Edie knows more than she is letting on. When the previous sheriff of Redbud gets the black angel, Holt and Edie really start to worry. Seeing as how it's Holt's father.

This was a fantastic read, the mystery was enough to keep the pages turning, and after awhile I really seemed to get wrapped up in what was going on. A good read, something that I would recommend to anyone who likes mystery and some romance.

Lipstick Apology
Author: Jennifer Jabaley
Paperback: 321 pages
Publisher: Razorbill (August 6, 2009)

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

My Summary:
I received this book as an ARC from ALA. I was hoping to have finished it earlier, but life got in the way and of course me being the scatter brained person that I am lost the sticky note that had the release date on it.

Emily's parents are dead, and her life is in shambles. A mysterious note scrawled in lipstick by her mother simply reads "Emily please forgive me." It's that note that sends Emily on a journey of self discovery and acceptance.

When she moves to New York with her semi famous Aunt, Emily realizes just how much her life has changed. From public schools to a private school, and of course being uprooted with out your best friend or parents. Emily struggles to fit in, and still manage to grieve.

There were parts of this book that made me want to smack Emily extra hard when dealing with the boys she meets. I love the fact that this book really showed what it's like to be young and going through all the emotions and struggles that Emily had to go through. It also showed how the choices you make can affect you forever.

It is really hard for me to explain this book without giving too much away, because it seemed to me everything hinged on something else. I will say that I couldn't imagine going through everything that Emily went through.

I would gladly recommend this book to young adults and anyone who enjoys stories that make you tear up, and feel real emotion for the characters.

A Hint of Wicked
Author: Jennifer Haymore
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 2009)

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:
First of all let me say that this book was a hot read. I'm talking super steamy. The waves of tension, both sexual and normal that radiated from these characters really could have lit something on fire. While I read this book, I laughed, I cried, I threw things.

Sophie is an amazing heroine. Head strong and dependable. She loves her man ... er men. When she finds out that Garrett is dead, it breaks her. I wish that we could have seen more of how finding out about his death had changed her. Later in the book it comes to light that she had married Tristan. This threw me for a loop when I first read it, I had to go back and re-read the beginning to make sure I didn't miss anything.

That being said, both Garrett and Tristan were pretty awesome themselves. I felt that most times Garrett was a bit too harsh, and too stubborn and honestly for the most part acted like a petulant child. Tristan was extremely loyal, and if he had not stood up for himself and fought back, I almost would have labeled him a door mat. In the end though, he redeems himself. (Ohh mysterious!)

The bad guy in this novel was kind of confusing, but once I realized that I was reading too much into him, he instantly became much easier to understand. I would like to see him make an appearance later on in this series.

Overall a great read. Something I would recommend to anyone who wants a little steam in their life, or is looking for a fast paced romance.

An Expert can be found: On the Author's website, or by clicking HERE

The Boyfriend Game
Author: Stephie Davis
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (March 3, 2009)

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:
Trisha loves soccer, it's the only thing she can think about. She works hard at it and is good because of that. When her coach announces that there will be a chance to make the Varsity team, she knows without a doubt that she wants Varsity more than anything.

Her two best friends, Beth and Sara, are also on the soccer team. Beth really doesn't care about soccer, she's only there to spend time with her friends. Sara on the other hand does care. She's naturally good at it and is one of Trisha's main competitors for the spot on the Varsity team.

Where Sara is naturally good at what Trisha wishes she was good at, Trisha gets all the attention from the boys. A boy named Kirk more than anyone else, Sara likes him, Trisha wants him to get lost and it is a cause of major tension throughout the book.

One night after practice, Beth and Sara go out to the local hangout spot and leave Trisha behind, because she insists that she needs to practice. It is then that she bumps into Graham. The two strike up an unlikely friendship. They start practicing together, and Graham constantly tells her that she's so cool and awesome and amazing and 'not like other girls'. However she starts to crush on him, and it changes everything.

This book was so cute! I smiled and sighed and made little noises throughout the whole thing. Also a plus, is that it's short. It's only 156 pages long, it was a super quick read that was entertaining and endearing.

I would recommend to young girls. It would make a good beach read. Super cute!

No Excerpt available

13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen Johnson
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (September 26, 2006)

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:
Ginny was very close to her aunt. She felt that her aunt was truly the one person who understood her, and made her interesting by association. When Ginny receives a package from her Aunt Peg, who is deceased, she doesn't think anything of it. The package contains 13 blue envelopes.

The first envelope has the four rules that Ginny must follow, along with instructions to only open the envelopes one at a time in order. So she sets off on this journey through England. On her trip she starts to find out more about herself and her beloved aunt.

This book was such a quick read, and it was entertaining as well. Ginny really stood out to me. She was this girl who felt shy and uninteresting, but as her trip starts to really speed up began to feel more self aware and interesting. She made some great friends along the way and even managed to start a whirl wind romance.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt uninteresting, or to anyone looking for just a quick read.

No excerpt was available.

The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even
Author: Julie Kenner
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (APril 3, 2007)

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:
This story is told from the point of view of Elizabeth. She's a junior in high school and has a whole lot going on. Including the fact that now she is a vampire. She goes to try out to be a cheerleader at her school, instead wakes up under the bleachers. She wasn't too sure what had happened until she realizes that suddenly a vampire. Now she has to deal with the fact that she didn't sign up for this! She didn't even want to be a cheerleader. She has to stop the vampires taking over before it's too late. But she can't do it alone. She gets some help from some people that she normally wouldn't be friends with, and realizes that they aren't too bad.

It's hard for me to review this book and tell what happend without giving away too much. It's also one that I read during the read a thon, and honestly didn't stick with me too well. It was a cute book, but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I would recomend it for anyone who likes vampire books, but doesn't want to spend a lot of time reading. It was a very quick book, and didn't drag.

An excerpt is below the break.

Prologue

If he weren't already dead, I swear I would kill Stephen Wills. I mean, the undead jerkwad completely ruined my sixteenth birthday. It's one thing not to get the car my dad promised me, but to be turned into a vampire? I'm sorry, but that's taking bad karma to a whole new level.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Elizabeth Frasier and I'm sixteen years old (dead?). I'm a junior at Waterloo High in Austin, Texas. Or, at least, I was a junior until I woke up dead in a field behind the school. I'm pretty sure that the Austin Independent School District's budget doesn't cover the education of the undead.

Austin, you might be interested to know, has the largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats in the world. I've known that fact for years. More recently, I've learned that Austin has a pretty hefty population of teenage vampires. Coincidence? I think not.

The thing is, I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in cause and effect, set-up and payoff. I've spent almost sixteen years' worth of weekends parked in front of a movie screen, and I know that it's always the stupid coincidences that have the audience groaning and throwing popcorn. But make the stupid coincidence part of a bigger plan, and we're right there on the edge of our seats.

It's like that in life, too. Something might look like a coincidence, but it's probably part of some overall scheme. Just because you don't see the big picture doesn't mean it's not there. And if you don't watch out, you might end up getting burned.

So you see, I should have realized. I should have known. But this is Stephen Wills we're talking about. Hunky, gorgeous, dreamy Stephen Wills. And all I can do is plead temporary insanity.

It started, like so many things in high school, during lunch...


Chapter 1

"Are you going to eat your banana?" Jenny was staring mournfully into the purple Container Store lunch sack that her mom had packed for her that morning.

We were in our usual seats at a small table tucked in the corner of the cafeteria, near the window that overlooked the faculty parking lot. The table sat six. Two chairs had been dragged away for a cluster of boys who had their Gameboys wired together and were getting down and dirty with some game or other.

The other two chairs were empty. I expected they'd stay that way. It's not that Jenny and I weren't popular. (Well, we weren't, but that's not the point.) It's just that we were average. And we'd been snagging this table for ourselves for the last two years. I edit the school newspaper, and Jenny's our weekly columnist, so we usually had articles and pictures spread all over the place.

Jenny also writes The Waterloo Watch, an anonymous blog that's hugely popular. But I'm the only one who knows about that. And since Jenny can't reveal herself as the brains behind The Watch, she's gotten no coolness mileage out of the blog at all.

Which is too bad, really. Because at the moment, the whole school's all hyped up with this Voice of Waterloo contest to pick a guy or a girl who'll be the on-campus reporter for a news segment one of the local television stations is starting.

The Waterloo Watch has been running a poll, but I hardly needed to see it to guess who was in the running. Either Stephen Wills or Tamara McKnight. Why? Because only one month ago they were elected homecoming king and queen. And, honestly, the student body just isn't that imaginative.

Even so, Jenny swears that we have a shot, too. Her theory is that because we control who's in the news, that makes us cooler than the kids in the popular cliques.

"We have the power," she's always saying. "And that makes us sooooo much cooler than Stephen Wills and Tamara McKnight and their whole crowd."

Um, whatever.

It's sort of like the whole tree falling in a forest thing: If you're popular but nobody knows, are you really popular at all?

I'm thinking the answer is no.

I passed Jenny the banana, then shoved my uneaten tuna sandwich back into the sack and crumpled it up. I so wasn't up for food right now.

"So why are you eating my lunch?" I asked, nodding toward her lunch sack. "Nothing good in there?"

"Peanut butter." She made a face. "My mother's sole purpose in life is to torture me. She knows this stuff is loaded with calories. I'll be the size of a blimp if I eat this."

Since Jenny was about as big around as Lindsay Lohan after a fit of bulimia, I wasn't terrible worried about impending blimpiness.

"Trade?" she asked, starting to peel the banana.

I shook my head. "Can't eat. Nervous." I'd missed first and second periods in order to audition for one of the drill team's replacement slots, and I was counting down the minutes until the faculty advisor posted the names of all the girls who were getting a callback.

"I still can't believe you actually auditioned," Jenny said, since I'm not exactly the drill team type even though I've taken dance and gymnastics since I was three years old. "My mom wanted me to, and I told her I wouldn't even consider participating in such a sexist, anti-feminist ritual." Jenny's all about sniffing out and eradicating sexism.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, you know." Just so the record's straight, the drill team hasn't ever been a huge ambition of mine, but right now I'm all about rounding out my transcript. I've got the academic thing down with my grades and three years of AP science and math classes. And I've got the leadership thing down with the school paper. All of which sounds really good if you're chatting with your grandparents, but I knew my application needed more. I needed something on there that proved I didn't have to be the one in charge. Colleges like to see that you're a team player. That's very, very important. All the how-to books say so.

Even my mom (who's a pain about most things) is totally behind my crusade to up my college appeal. My mom's a trial attorney, and her motto is that you can never be too careful or too prepared. Which was why she made me take my SATs early, and then apply to a ton of in-state schools, just so I'd have something lined up if the Shangri-La of higher education turned me down.

Now I've got conditional acceptance letters and one early admission invitation from four schools in Texas. But those are just my back-up plan. My Shangra-La is the Tisch School at NYU (with UCLA and USC running close behind). True, I hadn't informed my parents of the whole Tisch Is Nirvana plan, but that was just a minor oversight. Because no matter how much my parents might be gunning for me to be a doctor or a lawyer, I just didn't see that happening. Instead, I was going to make great movies. I saw myself as the next Stephen Spielberg, but without the scraggly beard and baseball cap. Or the next Coen Brothers, only without the sibling. Or Sophia Coppola. Only with, you know, a plot.

Whatever. The point is, I want to get accepted to Tisch, and that meant I was doing everything—everything—to make sure my application was so stellar that there was no way they could turn me down. (Technically, I think they can now turn me down for being dead. Which sucks. And which is why Stephen Wills was going to pay big time. But while I was waiting for drill team callbacks that day, I was still blissfully alive and unaware of my impending vampiness.)

I needed a perfect college application, and that meant extra-curriculars, and that meant drill team.

Which is why I was totally stressing about whether I'd made the team.

"I hate this," I told Jenny. And I did, too. I always know how I did on tests and stuff. But right then, I had no clue what was going to happen, and it was making my stomach jump around in a really unpleasant way.

"So, are you too nervous to eat anything at all?" Jenny asked, and this time when I looked up she was holding a chocolate cupcake with a single candle. "Happy birthday!"

"Oh, man!" Honestly, I thought I was going to cry. "No one else remembered."

"No one?" Her tone was bland, but I knew she understood. My parents divorced six months ago. You'd think I would have suddenly been their priority, but it hadn't worked out that way. Instead, they just shifted me between Mom's house and Dad's apartment, and tried to pretend like everything was normal. Let me clue you in here: everything was far from normal. Very far.

"Whatever," I said, running my finger over the icing and then sucking it off.

"Maybe they're just waiting until tonight. Your dad said he was getting you a car, right?"

"He hinted heavily." A few months ago, my dad got me a part-time job in the lab of a nearby hospital where he has privileges, and last weekend he came into the lab and dropped some pretty heavy hints. But this was my dad we're talking about—a man who can remember the diagnosis of a patient from fifteen years ago, but can't remember to buy milk—so I knew better than to get my hopes up.

"Hmm," Jenny said.

"Hmm," I agreed. Then I took another fingerful of chocolate.

Jenny looked around the lunchroom, as if expecting my dad to drive a Mini Cooper into the room at any second. "Beth!" she hissed, whipping back so fast her ponytail smacked her in the face. "Ladybell just got here!" Ladybell is the drill team coach and—yes—that's really her name.

My stomach quit doing flips and started doing jazz hands, fluttering so much that I thought I'd barf up the tiny bit of frosting I'd just ingested. This was it, I thought. Fail, and my application's screwed.

Even worse, it would be the first time I'd failed at anything at school.

And honestly, I wasn't really sure I could deal with that.

Secrets of the Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace
Author: Kate Emerson
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Pocket (February 3, 2009)

From the back of the book:
Beautiful. Seductive. Innocent. Jane Popyncourt was brought to the court as ac hild to be ward of the king and a companion to his daughters - the princesses Margaret and Mary. With no money of her own, Jane could not hope for a powerful marriage, or perhaps even a marriage at all. But as she gorws into a lovely young woman, she still receives flattering attention from the virile young men flocking to serve the handsome new king, Henry VIII, who has recently married Catherine of Aragon. Then a dashing French prisoner of war, cousin to the king of France, is brought to London, and Jane finds she cannot help giving some of her heart - and more - to a man she can never marry. But the Tudor court is filled with dangers as well as seductions, and there are mysteries surrounding Jane's birth that have made her deadly enemies. Can she cultivate her beauty and her amorous wiles to guide her along a perilous path and bring her at last to happiness?

Personal Review:
This book was well thought out and researched. Based on the life of the real Joan Poyncourt, this book made me feel as if I was really there, watching what went down, and actually living at the court. Some parts seemed to drag on and on, and there could have been a little more lovin' for my taste, but all in all a good read. It was part pleasure part learning, which is always a good thing. It's kind of hard to describe this book or the plot without copying exactaly what was said on the back of the book. Jane isn't sure what made her mother flee to England, but she's sure that once she finds out she'll feel so much closer to her mother.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

Blood Red
Author: Sharon Page
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Aphrodisia (January 1, 2007)


From the back of the book:

NEVER BEEN BITTEN

Althea Yates is a vampire hunter, skilled with the crossbow and the stake. But she knows nothing of a man’s touch - or how to control the unladylike dreams that haunt her in her sleep. That is when they come, two men of unearthly beauty who ravish her in sweet carnal games , taking her to the precipice of exquisite desire and unimaginable erotic pleasure. It is scandalous. Forbidden. Unholy. For her lovers are not men, but vampires - the very beasts she and her father have sworn to destroy.

It is only a dream … until the elegant carriage arrives at the inn, drawn by four black horses. Until Yannick de Wynter, Earl of Brookshire, alights, silver-eyed determined, and hungry for something she cannot name. And suddenly, Althea is no longer certain whether she has had a dream … or a dangerously erotic premonition.

Personal Review:

This book deals with three-some and there is some m/m relationships. So if those make you squicky then this isn’t the book for you. However, I really liked it. Very well written and a very good story line.

Althea was a bit of a ninny for me. Personally if I had two vampires claiming to be in love with me, and wanting to do wicked yet delightful things with me, I’d be a little creeped out and thoughtful. She seemed to just jump right in. Oh your brother is in bed with me? That’s fine let me let him have his way with me as well. Yannick was a wonderful character, and yet I still fell for Bastien. He seemed to just jump out of the pages at me. Even though I felt that he was a bit of a secondary character, which I suppose he was.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Beg for Mercy
Author: Toni Andrews
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Mira (September 1, 2007)

From the back of the book:

I’ve never been certain I’m human

Oh, the X-rays and blood tests are normal, and most people have no reason to suspect I’m more than I appear to be. But if I tell you to do something? You do it—no ifs, ands or buts.

I call my power the ‘press.’

My name is Mercy Hollings, and if you think that having the power to control people makes my life easy, you’re dead wrong.

Because when I get angry, everyone around me is at risk—Sukey, my friend who has frightening taste in men; my clients, who, ironically, come to me for help; my neighbors, who regard me as a loner; and Sam, a man who wants to know my darkest secret.

I have hurt people in the past, and I don’t want that to happen again. But now a powerful stranger is threatening the new life that I’ve made for myself.

And I’m afraid my anger is taking over.

Personal Review:
I really enjoyed reading this book. Sci-Fi isn’t one of my absolute favorites, but this book held my interest enough for me to finish it, and to make me want to read the rest of the series. I found myself feeling bad for Mercy while reading, just the self imposed isolation she put on herself and everything. It really touched me.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5