Waiting on Wednesday (2) The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

Waiting on Wednesday is a blog post hosted by Breaking The Spine in which bloggers post about up-coming releases they’re dying to read.

My Pick:

The Fox Inheritance (Publication Date: August 30, 2011)

I loved The Adoration of Jenna Fox. It is one of my favorite YA books, and my students devour this book like none other…I had students fighting over this title. And I hate to admit this…but…until recently I had no idea Pearson was turning her story into a series. Word on the street is that Inheritance can stand on it’s own. And luckily, so can Adoration. Stand-alone appeal aside, I loved the first so much I’ll definitely be picking up the second.

Summary from GoodReads

Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. And after a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries.

Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead.

Everyone except Jenna Fox.

What’s your “Waiting” pick this week?

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Passion (Fallen #3) by Lauren Kate *Spoilers*

*Spoiler Alert*

Review

This book was so much better than the second. With Torment I was a ball of frustration. FRUSTRATION. In Passion I finally felt like we were going somewhere. And Kate did that by literally taking the reader (and Luce) through a smorgasbord of Luce’s past lives. While the trip began to answer my main question (what’s the point of this whole romance/kiss/death cycle they’re cursed into) it brought up a whole slue of others…Feel free to comment with your thoughts…

Questions:

1. Does Daniel die each life and become reborn as a new person who is situated to “run into” Luce? or Does he magically change his appearance to match her life each time she is reborn?

Kate had me scratching my head with this one. In the more modern past lives Daniel still seems to be himself, like he’s been alive for all the intervening years straight; without dying. I mean he’s speaking another language and living in another country…but still the guy looks like Daniel, Luce is easily able to recognize him during a bombing in World War 2 and while he’s wounded in an Italian hospital in World War 1. I’m not sure when Daniel stopped looking like Daniel…I think it happened as Kate traced history farther back to the Mayan civilization, China Dynasties, and Egypt thousands of years before Christ. It wouldn’t have been possible to have a blond-haired, violet eyed, Caucasian kid running around thus Daniel had to stop looking like modern Daniel to fit in with the time period. I get why Kate had to do it but it still bugged me and forces me to ask the question above.

2. Anyone else’s head hurt with the physics of it all?

So about halfway through their time travel, both Luce and Daniel begin to slow down and accept the journey. They start to pay attention and learn things from their past to help them with their future. But do they do this by watching what goes down?…Noooo…Luce has to “3-d” with every former Luce she meets. But wait, didn’t she see the movie Butterfly Effect? Hello?! If a butterfly wing can cause a tsunami or some such disaster what about Luce charging into battle as a Chinese King? I suppose the only attempt to condone the travel/changes comes from Roland (in 17th century England) where he explains to Luce that while she’ll never know when she makes the change that changes her curse…she’s already technically run through time and done it already. I suppose this seems plausible to me, though lets remember that my only experience with chaos theory is the Ashton Kutcher film. Educational, I’m sure.

3. Is it really all about the Love? Daniel’s choice? and is there a way out?

I’m gonna side with Satan for a minute here. There were times in this installment where I was beginning to think that ‘Bill’ a.k.a. Satan, was the reader’s voice in the story. Luce, give it up girl…this thing obviously extends far beyond your relationship with Daniel. The question answered for me in this book was that this whole curse thing is holding a lot of people I mean angels in the balance. Daniel choosing a side starts a whole lot of End-of-Times-war-stuff and he’s friends with both sides. My gut is telling me Satan’s Hail Mary play of erasing time may end up bringing everyone together again…Cue the Cam hug at the end…Anyone else surprised by that show of affection? Anyone?

All of my picky questions aside, I really did enjoy this book. I loved learning about their past lives, and their love over the ages. The best thing to come out of all that time travel was Luce’s utter faith in her love for Daniel. Kate already had a decent explanation for their insta-love (soul-mates reborn for each other) but I was so happy to see her back it all up with Luce getting to see the love in action and getting to feel it in her past live’s skin. I feel like Luce is finally equal to Daniel in the love element. Luce has their history in her consciousness as well.

After doing books 2 and 3 back to back I’m super sad to have to wait until Spring 2012 for the final book…Ugh! I want Rapture now!! Cue tantrum, lol.

Rating: 8/10

P.S.

If you can’t get enough of the Fallen Series…Check out Lauren Kate’s blog for her Passion Playlist.

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Waiting on Wednesday (1) The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

Waiting on Wednesday is a blog post hosted by Breaking The Spine in which bloggers post about up-coming releases they’re dying to read.

My Pick:

The Wild Rose (publication date: August 2, 2011)

I simply devoured Donnelly’s first two…The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose…and am currently waiting very impatiently for August to come…

Summary From Library Journal:

As in Donnelly’s The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose, a pair of lovers must survive misunderstandings, betrayals, physical dangers, and emotional upheavals before they find happiness. After a climbing mishap on Kilimanjaro, Seamus Finnegan manages to save Willa Alden’s life, but she loses one of her legs. Embittered and despairing, Willa seeks refuge in Tibet, while Seamus gains fame through polar expeditions. When the novel opens eight years later, in 1914, Europe is poised on the brink of war. Amid social and political ferment, Seamus marries Jennie Wilcott, pregnant with his child. Willa’s return for her father’s funeral results in a passionate affair that ends abruptly when Willa’s brother confronts her. By 1918, Willa is using her photography skills in Arabia to support Tom (T.E.) Lawrence’s spy network, while Seamus commands a navy ship in the Mediterranean. Their paths converge at several points as they survive disasters such as a plane crash, a submarine attack, imprisonment, and torture. Familiar characters from the earlier novels also reappear. VERDICT Donnelly skillfully integrates historical detail while entwining multiple plotlines in a fast-paced narrative. Readers of the earlier books will be especially eager for this volume, which should also earn the author new fans.

What’s your “waiting on” pick this week?

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My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

BookTalk

Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for Kate. Anna gives her health for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At birth Anna gave stem cells at 13 Anna is expected to give a kidney. As this final surgical effort to save Kate is being planned Anna hires a lawyer to sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out.

There seems to be no easy answer, and readers are likely to be sympathetic to all sides of the case. This is a real page-turner and frighteningly thought-provoking. The story shows evidence of thorough research and the unexpected twist at the end will surprise everyone.

Review

It’s been quite a while since I’ve read this book. And I’ll let you know: I really liked it. But it was too long ago actually give my personal reaction in relation to the story. So this isn’t so much of a review as the reasons why I love this book in my library.

I suggest it to my students for their outside reading projects all the time. The writing isn’t amazing, but it reads fast, tackles hot-topic-issues, always makes you cry…and…most importantly…is completely different from the movie!

AhHa! I am an evil Librarian 😉

It forces students to read the book. But, trickery aside, what’s great is that everyone I’ve given this title to has finished the book. Like, really read it, really finished it. And every student has come back to me with a tear in their eye and rave reviews. It’s high school library gold. So the discussion of literary value aside, I’ll take this title for its ability to actually entice students to read…and enjoy it.

This is a sure-fire teen suggestion that they’ll like and be able to write a paper on.

Rating: 8/10

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Going Bovine by Libba Bray

BookTalk

“As a kid, I imagined lots of different scenarios for my life. I would be an astronaut. Maybe a cartoonist. A famous explorer or rock star. Never once did I see myself standing under the window of a house belonging to some druggie named Carbine, waiting for his yard gnome to steal his stash so I could get a cab back to a cheap motel where my friend, a neurotic, death-obsessed dwarf, was waiting for me so we could get on the road to an undefined place and a mysterious Dr. X, who would cure me of mad cow disease and stop a band of dark energy from destroying the universe.” pg. 203

Cameron is a bit of a loner…well, maybe a loser. At 16 he’s floating through life, C+ student, a stoner, and the closest friend he may have is a dwarf he doesn’t know that he likes. Things are about to change. After some muscle twitches and a few visions of toasters bursting into flames Cameron is diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, A.K.A. Mad Cow disease. While in the hospital a punk-rock-princess Angel sends Cameron on a Quixotic journey. With the help of Cameron’s dwarf friend Gonzo, they’re searching for Dr. X. Find the good Dr. and they’ll cure Cameron, find a gift for Gonzo…and save the world…sort of…

Review

Wow, I just finished this book and all I can say is that it was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read. Simultaneously I feel as though…I may not be smart enough to ‘get’ this book…That I should have read Don Quixote…That I really did ‘get’ this book and it was wonderful!…That I should have stopped reading this book 30 pages in…This book made my head hurt…I should probably read this book again…Maybe I should smoke pot then read this book…Maybe I should read it again after reading Don Quixote…I need to YouTube the “Small World” ride…

There, you’re just as confused as me right now…This book was horrible and this book was awesome…

Going Bovine is a controversial book. Yet, it won the Printz. As you can tell I’m a little all over the place when it comes to my reaction to reading it. But if I’m choosing a team…I vote Team-I-Liked-This-Book. It’s a dark tale that mirror’s Quixote’s journey. I’d probably have lots of very literary things to say about the two books’ connections had I ever read Don Quixote…as you can tell from my wildly confusing opening…I haven’t…I’m a bad Librarian.

So that leaves me with the emotional reaction to the book. Know that the book is funny; it’s a dark comedy. Cameron is dying. His wild journey with friends is interspersed with clips from his time in the hospital. The hospital scenes serve as a reality touch-stone, badly needed in this acid-trip of a story. These hits of reality remind the reader that Cameron really is dying. Believe me, once you get sucked into Cameron’s crazy road trip you’ll see the need for the doses of death. You see, Cameron is a person who never really lived in his life and yet is given this chance to have an amazing adventure before his death. As a reader you’ll see Cameron grow and develop in ways your heart will ache to wish he had experience in real life…not just in this dream.

The plot is a crazy blend of philosophy and physics. Displaying messages about everything from how to live your life to the existence of parallel universes. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know that I was smart enough for this book…I think I needed footnotes. Understanding all of the plot points aside, the message of this tale is really to live your life in the moment, take advantage of all it has to offer. I suppose, it’s not really about what your journey is…but that you take it. Not knowing how a Superconducting Super Collider works will not hinder your understanding of the take-away message.

Honestly, I’m still not positive I shouldn’t have read this on some type of illegal substance. Cameron himself spends quite a bit of time high…so it all might have been clearer to me. I’m not revealing any spoilers about the ending. But if you read it and you make it through, you may agree with me that the worth of this tale wasn’t about what actually happened in the story…but instead about the feeling you had when it was over. That you should be happy in whatever life you lead, and that you should live that life to the fullest.

Rating: 9/10

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Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

BookTalk

The Waverly women are an intriguing bunch. Generations of these women are blessed with a touch of magic, and are given the care of an apple tree whose apples will reveal the biggest event in your life. Claire has taken over Waverly house, and its magical garden. She uses its flowers and herbs to run a successful catering business, where the dinner plans go beyond sustenance pairing food with a particular feeling the host wishes to impart. Roses in your cupcakes for love, Honeysuckle wine to see in the dark and reveal hidden truths. But while Claire’s gift has imparted success in her business it serves only to separate her from the community.

Sydney is running back home, back to the garden and magic she’s never embraced. Gifted with the ability to give the perfect hair cut and her daughter’s innate knowledge for where everything belongs. They are on their way to finding a home in Bascom. However, magic will not solve all problems and these women will have to repair their relationship and find strength in their hearts to receive the greatest gift of all…love.

Review

I liked this novel even more than my first read with Allen…The Peach Keeper. Garden Spells was Allen’s first novel and it contains more magical realism than her latest, The Peach Keeper. All of the magic is wonderful. Claire, Sydney, Bay, and even Aunt Evanelle are all gifted with a certain degree of magic. Claire can control the gifts of the family garden to elicit specific feelings in her diners. Sydney can give you a haircut that will change your life. Bay knows where everything belongs, from where the soup spoons go in your kitchen, to the person you’re meant to spend your life with. Although, of all the Waverly women Evanelle was my absolute favorite…she is taken over by an overwhelming need to give people gifts. The gifts are ones you’ll want to keep around as they will prove intimately necessary for you…from a ball of yarn needed a week later to finish a school project, to the condoms you were too embarrassed to use thus resulting in a pregnancy. When Evanelle gives a gift you use it!

The town of Bascom, North Carolina has relegated the Waverly women to the status of Odd-with-a-capital-O…and they wouldn’t be wrong. These women are definitely weird, but in a good way. The sisters in this story are haunted by the memories of their mother. Scarred in different ways by their upbringing, or lack thereof, Claire and Sydney have both run from the connection they need from their ancestral home…and each other. The magic of this story is delightful…like slipping into a cozy chair with a nice cup of coffee…But it simply adds a flourish on top of wonderful story of two women facing their fears and coming into their own.

Save this tale for a quiet morning. It’s a real girl’s book, full of beautiful things and hints of magic we all wish we had in our lives. Plus, at 200 pages, like Addison’s other works, it’s easy to devour in a short span. The problem is…you’ll want it to last for so much longer.

Rating: 8/10

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The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Review:

The layered tales in The Red Garden start as magical stories and culminate in a history of a town full of depth and feeling. It’s wonderful to see how stories from the beginning of the collection end up mentioned less and less realistically, less and less clearly, until they are part of the collective vocabulary of the town. To the modern resident they are ever-present and yet indefinable in their origins. As a reader you’ll begin to remember your own hometown folk stories. The rumors of a whirlpool in the lake, that road you didn’t drive on after midnight, even holding your breath as you biked past a certain house. Reading how Hoffman’s fictional town earned it’s legends you’ll wonder about the origins of your own.

Hoffman’s collection of stories present an extremely realistic view of a town. That being said, Hoffman’s tales do include her ever-present magical realism. A garden that turns all plants red. No matter what color a plant started as, they become blood-red for reasons exposed in the in the titular story. In another we meet a woman who may or may not have originated as a creature of the sea. Yet, while Hoffman’s blatant use of magic is enchanting, for the most part the magic in the stories is sutble…a woman and a bear who have a mother/child-like connection…a Johhny Appleseed who subsists on almost nothing…a woman who always brings you exactly what you need when you need it (like showing up on your doorstep with a basket of tomatoes when the craving hits). It’s truly the every-day magic that makes most of the stories special rather than common place. It’s that little bit of sparkle that makes a well told tale last through the generations.

Beyond the quiet enjoyment of watching a town history grow it’s the love that will keep you reading. Many of the tales follow stories of love lost and love taken. “Owl and Mouse” was one of my favorites, telling of a woman who walked her way into town and found the love of her life. The main character is a woman with her head in the clouds and her love is a blind man looking for the last adventure of his life. They have their day, and the memory of the dog forever. In “The Truth about my Mother” a child recounts the history of her mother as well as the tale of her entrance into the town and the beginnings of her second marriage. The daughter’s view is unique as she is at once a part of the story and yet, relegated to the edges of the town. Finally, my last favorite was “The Monster of Blackwell”. A love story in the theme of Beauty and the Beast with a more realistic ending. This one broke my heart in the best way possible.

This collection is a quiet work meant to be read with a cup of coffee and a comfy chair. Stories can be read singularly, but are best read continuously to build up the feeling of history…as well as remember each story correctly. At times they interlace and because many of the characters are named the same/from the same families, keeping everyone straight does present a problem. As does being aware of the passage of time. Hoffman skips around the years in a generally chronological manner, but heeds no structure to how long the gaps between stories are. Warning to the wise: take a note of the dates that start each story, it’ll help to orient you in time and with the family generations.

Rating: 6/10

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The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

BookTalk

Willa Jackson left her hometown, Walls of Water, infamous. Revealing herself as the Jokester after 4 years of pranks. Willa left high school in handcuffs, unwittingly inspiring more than a few of her classmates to take more risks in their lives. Unfortunately, after failing out of college and the death of her father, Willa remembers her prankster years as nothing more than a warning to embrace the normal and mundane.

Paxton Osgood is picture perfect. The type of woman who does the work of 3 with not one hair out-of-place and matching shoes. The type of woman normal women hate. But Paxton’s life is not as perfect as it seems. At 30 she’s still living with her parents, the love of her life may or may not be gay, and quite frankly, it’s awful lonely being perfectly alone.

It all started with the renovation of The Madam, that beautiful historic mansion on the hill. It was released that day the peach tree came down. The dead body found buried will unearth secrets women spent their lives keeping. Now there’s magic in the wind and love at the door. Willa and Paxton soon find themselves untangling their shared history and luckily, neither will be the same.

Review

This book was not what I was expecting. It sounded good, I thought it was going to be a lite chick mystery. But this book was far more about friendship than suspense. And the mystery is not traditional. Allen uses magical realism to her advantage playing it both to increase the mystery and at the same time tone it down. All the magic swirling through the air is somewhat comforting, giving the plot threads a sense of inevitability. That the secrets need to come out so everyone can breathe a little eaiser…move on with their lives.

But it’s the friendship that’s the strength of this novel. Two women coming together and not just finding themselves, but each other. Willa and Paxton find themselves reconnecting to the larger web of women, helping and supporting one another. Realizing that when times get tough no one has your back like a girlfriend. Because you know the boyfriend is not going to help you with the dead body. Nope, crisis’ like that are strictly reserved for best friends, the girl you can call no questions asked. This book is heartwarming in that way, I found myself pausing to think of how lucky I am to have a group of women that I can hide my dead bodies with…It’s nice to see Willa and Paxton find the same type of friendship for the first time.

With the friendship, the romance, the magic, and the sweet scent of peaches you’ll find that this book is an easy feast for the senses to be finished in one sitting.

Rating: 7/10

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The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

BookTalk

I used to be someone.

Someone named Jenna Fox.

That’s what they tell me. But I am more than a name. More than they tell me. More than the facts and statistics they fill me with. More than the video clips they make me watch.

More. But I’m not sure what…

Jenna Fox is recovering from a serious accident that left her in a coma. Upon waking, she has little or no memory of who she is. She meets her parents, but has no memories of them. Nothing about her surroundings is familiar, and then she learns that her family has relocated to a new area to have a fresh start after her accident. Despite being fed pieces of her life from her parents and watching countless DVDs that captured her life before the coma, she barely recognizes the girl she sees on the screen. As she explores deeper into who she is and flashes of images begin to appear in her mind, she starts to feel that those closest to her are hiding something…something big.

Review

I. Love. This. Book. But more importantly my students…Love. This. Book.

I booktalked The Adoration of Jenna Fox this year and had to immediately purchase 5 more copies of the book. Yes Librarians, you heard that right, 5 new copies rush-ordered via Amazon. Considering I service a library of about 400 students 6 copies of any book is a lot but I needed them…with a wait list. I personally ate it up in one morning simply dying to find out what happened. This book has it all: mystery, suspense, complex relationships, a discussion of a timely topic, and such a satisfying conclusion to it you’ll wish all YA books were so tidy.

 As the booktalk indicates we meet Jenna Fox after a major accident and she remembers nothing of her former life. Jenna spends her days watching video of her life pre-accident in hopes of triggering a real memory. You see, it all seems vaguely realistic…trying to help an amnesic recoup by replaying memories. But the girl on the tape, supported by a loving family, is not the life Jenna is living. Her mother is stressed, her father is living across the country because their family is in hiding, and her Catholic grandmother seems to dislike her. Just as odd, Jenna can recite poetry passages and history textbooks by heart…but doesn’t know if she had friends.

Jenna does begin to remember snatches of her history. For both the reader and Jenna the story her parents have told begins to wear thin. The logic of the story doesn’t fit together as it should. Momentum builds not just to the final reveal of Jenna’s personal story but to the horrific indications of what followed. By this point in the book the climax you’ve been waiting for only serves to bring other character’s stories into play emotionally. You’ll find satisfaction in Jenna’s full remembrance followed swiftly by emotional turmoil for others. It opens a whole other can of worms the author has been prepping you for without your knowledge. The suspense continues to the final pages of the novel. Asking the reader how far they would go to save a life.

This novel tackles medical ethics as well as a family dealing with an unforeseen tragedy and it’s aftermath. What plays out is realistic and emotional. As in real life hindsight is 20/20 and the characters in this book make their decisions out of love for their child. The chapters of the story are short and intermingled with memory breakthroughs that keep the plot running and the reader engaged.

Rating: 10/10

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Oh Trashy Romance…The Black Dagger Brotherhood

I have fallen and I can’t get up. Because of my recent desire for non-YA books and my refusal to pay for new titles I resorted to the wait-list on my nook. I found Dark Lover by J. R. Ward. Then I fell…hard…like, I’m-on-the-bathroom-floor-need-a-button hard. Seriously, 3 books in 3 days hard. I love my trashy romances. They are my candy. Give me a tortured bad boy just waiting to be saved by a good woman and you may not see me for days. I’m too busy reading.

Eventually I’ll come up for air. The predictable plots will finally seem predictable to me. I’ll find myself rushing from plot point to plot point, not savoring the journey, and I’ll move on. But until then you can find me ravenously reading The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

This is by no means a new series…though, its latest title Lover Unleashed (#9) was published in March. The series is a paranormal romance about a group of vampire warriors who are all wondrously wounded by their years of battle and pre-vampire lives. Each are just waiting to be saved by a woman. Other than the emotion-tugging ‘saving’ that happens to each bad boy, what makes this series great is that they find and “bond” to a woman almost instantly in each book. No beating around the bush or wondering who’s going to pair up…it’s love at first sight for these characters. Which means lots of early love scenes…no waiting till page 200 for some action.

But it’s not just the relationships that have me addicted. The author juggles multiple plots within each book. This is one series you have to read in order as story lines for characters develop over the course of multiple books. For example the main characters of book 4 (Lover Revealed) start their connection all the way back in book one. This gives the reader a deeper connection to all the characters involved in the brotherhood…not just the main relationship of each book. Plus, the jumping between story lines always happens at cliff hangers; often smack-dab in the middle of a scene. You’re constantly tearing through pages to see outcomes.

Of the three I’ve read I liked book 3, Lover Awakened, the best. It could be because the particulars of the characters hit me hardest emotionally, but I really think it’s because I knew the characters well from the first two books. I’d suggest this series to any romance addict, or those who enjoy paranormal. It’s refreshing to read a series where I don’t feel as though I’m giving up characters after their book is over. Also, the way Ward continues her plots over multiple books shows a capacity for working with a complex larger picture. It adds a richness that is often lost in large series romances.

Reviews

Book 1: Dark Lover

The Blind King, King of the vampire race, Wrath makes a promise to his brother in arms Darius to help his daughter Beth through her transition to vampire. The problem is, Beth has no idea she’s a vampire. Raised by foster parents as a human she is unaware of her father’s lineage. But Beth is fast approaching her change and Wrath is the only man for the job. When the two meet sparks fly. Beth is entering a world where the vampire race is slowly fading and also fighting a war with the deadly Lessers who are out to kill vampires. The question is, will Wrath and Beth have the strength to lead the waning race and fight for a love that will fulfill them both?

This story picks up quick. Wrath and Beth are instantly attracted and rarely emotionally part from each other. The drama in the relationship is mostly from the outside forces of the Brotherhood and the war with the Lessers. It’s a warm romance that is strong and fun to watch grow.

Rating: 9/10

Book 2: Lover Eternal

Rhage is a beast…literally, cursed by the Scribe Virgin as a youth he carries within him a dragon-like beast that comes out during strong urges…like pain…and passion. Mary Luce is a lonely woman. She works by day, mans a suicide hotline by night and life is about to get a whole lot more depressing…her leukemia is back. But a chance encounter between Rhage and Mary sets off a love that could give them the miracles both have long ago stopped hoping for.

I didn’t love the character of Mary in this book. She was very emotionally withheld and Rhage was so emotionally giving. It was difficult to watch her reject such an attractive and loving man so many times. I was ready to slap some sense into the girl myself long before Rhage shocks her into action. It’s a decent story and one you should read if continuing on with the series…But it was a bit halting at parts because of Mary’s inability to deal with her issues.

Rating: 7/10

Book 3: Lover Awakened

Zsadist is one scary guy. Even the other members of the Brotherhood fear what he is capable of doing. In the words of his twin, Phury, Zsadist is “not just broken, he’s ruined”. After being stolen away as a child to become the abused blood slave of an aristocratic vampire, Zsadist is hardened almost beyond his humanity. Bella is a sheltered vampire who has a taste for the bad boy in Zsadist. But after enduring her own trial of being held hostage she finds that Zsadist is the only soul who can help her through her tragedy. Together they’ll heal and find a passion few are lucky enough to experience.

Loved it…Loved it soooo much. Perfect bad boy. Lots of gruffness on the outside, big wounded man on the inside. And the addition of Bella’s fresh experience with capture helps the two connect on a deeper level. They are saving each other. Neither one is without their ghosts and together they overcome it all. A must-read romance.

Rating: 10/10

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