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Friday, January 21, 2011

DIVINE BY CHOICE by P.C.Cast


First Published in 2009 by MIRA BOOKS (GB)
Paperback : 377 Pages
ISBN : 978 0 7783 0358 9

Shannon Parker has finally come to terms with life in the mythical world of Partholon. She loves her centaur husband, her connection to the goddess Epona and the pampering that comes with both! She’s almost forgotten her old life on Earth – especially when she discovers she’s pregnant…

Then a sudden burst of power sends her back to Oklahoma. Without magic, Shannon can’t return to Partholon – and so she needs to find help. Trouble is, it might take the form of a man as tempting as her husband. And along the way she’ll discover that being divine by mistake is a lot easier than being divine by choice…

Shannon has started to settle into life in her magical world. She has a husband that adores her, and she adores him right back. He is away tending to the mess left behind from the attack of the Formorians - and she is missing him. Thankfully her trusted friend Alanna is there to guide her, talk with her and do what friends do.

Everything is perfect in Shannon's world - she believes that this world is where she is meant to be - and then suddenly she is ripped away and forward through time to the world she originally left. She is devastated, and with the aid of Clint (who bares a striking resemblance to her husband ClanFinton, the High Shaman Centaur) and the help of her father, they all have to face a battle not expected in their current time - Rhiannon has called on the Dark Side believing that like everything she was ever taught to believe, it would bow down and follow her every command. Shannon must fight her - and teaming with Clint, and the wonder of nature, she is assured that she is the Chosen One and stands against her ... with one aim in mind - getting back to the old world.

I loved it - the story continues in great style - and leaves me reaching for the next book in the series DIVINE BY BLOOD

RATING : 8/10

DIVINE BY MISTAKE by P.C. Cast


First Published in in 2009 (GB) by MIRA Books
Paperback : 571 pages
ISBN : 978 0 7783 0357 2

The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on summer vacation is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she’s treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess…

Somehow Shannon has stepped into another’s role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while there’s an upside – what woman doesn’t like lots of pampering? – it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she’s her double.

Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind…


When I first opened this book, this is what I read on the inside ... something that PC Cast had written to the readers. "I told myself I was going to write The Book I'd Most Want to Read, and that's exactly what I did". I have to say, I thought okay - this is going to be good. I hope it's the book I most want to read to!

The first chapter of the book had me thinking, um hurry up move along, and then it did. With a bang. Changes to everything Shannon had ever known - a whole new world in a whole new time, where she is treated like a princess. And everywhere she looks, all the people close to her mirror people from her life in the 'other world'.

Shannon finds herself very slowly beginning to care about the people around her, and when she is confronted with having to deal with the evil that she visits and sees when the Magic Sleep takes over, she knows that she is bound to this place more than she could ever realise. She is the Chosen One, not Rhiannon who switched places with her.

Read this book- and find yourself transported to a gentler time ... and fall in love with the fantasy that will surround you - especially in your dreams.

RATING : 8/10

NIGHT STAR by Alyson Noel


First Published in 2010 by Martin's Press (US)
Paperback : 302 Pages
ISBN : 978 0 330 52811 - 5

LOVE & HEARTBREAK BELONG TOGETHER

There are some secrets you're better off not knowing.
But once Ever Bloom is given a glimpse of what Damen is keeping from her, she has to find out more - whatever the cost.

Their past together is not what she thinks - and only he remembers everything. Until now, when a vengeful friend lets her in on his secret. And it may just push Ever into someone else's arms ...

This is Book 5 in the Immortals series.

Damon and Ever can still only truly be together in Summerland ... the spell has not been broken, and they continue in their search for a way to break the spell that was placed on them by Roman.

Haven is on a mission to destroy the relationships Ever has with Damon and Jude and goes out of her way to make life a living hell for Ever. She tells Ever that there are secrets Damon is keeping from her that will change the way she feels. Ever searches for answers and stumbles across something that makes her heart heavy and her mind crazy. At this time, Jude is there to support her, unsure why she is keeping her distance from Damon, but also hoping that it could be the start for them as a couple.

Throughout this book - the story takes many twists and turns - Miles is the surprise, coming back from a summer in Paris, with his mind and eyes open and looking pretty hot if he says so himself!

Read this book - you will feel the love and the pain, and at the end, be looking for the next book - there has to be another one!

RATING : 7/10

BLOOD OATH by Christopher Farnsworth


First Published in 2010 by Hodder & Stoughton (GB)
Paperback - 390 pages
ISBN : 978 0 340 99814 4

ONLY ONE MAN CAN SAVE US… AND HE’S ALREADY DEAD.

Zach Barrows is an ambitious young White House staffer whose career takes an unexpected turn when he’s partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the president. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound by a special blood oath, Cade has spent more than 140 years in service to the president, battling nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream.

Immediately Zach and Cade receive their first joint assignment: one that uncovers a shadowy government conspiracy and a plot to attack the Unites States with a gruesome new biological weapon. Zach soon learns that the world is far stranger, and far more dangerous, than he ever imagined . . . and that his partner is the least of his problems..

This book started off more like a spy thriller than a normal Vampire Book that we've read in the past .. and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it grabbed me. The story flowed quite well - as each character was introduced, you were given time to get to know them and have them settle into the story easily. There is a mixture of science fiction, fantasy and mystery mixed in with the supernatural.

This book was great reading - the movement of the old partner to the new - Zach. who actually can't believe that he is now spending every day side by side with a vampire. A real vampire. And when they receive their first assignment, Zach had no idea of what they are walking into and the changes that will happen to him. Because really, he is a snivelling little boy until he is made to grow up and face some realities about the world around him.

Naturally we have the good and bad sides in this book - wouldn't be much of a story if we didn't - and it's interesting watching the way they are dealt with.

This is the first book for Christopher, with the 2nd book in the Series - the President's Vampire to be released in April 2011. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to move away from YA Vampire style of books.

RATING : 8/10

Sunday, January 2, 2011

VAMPIRE ACADEMY FANS ...

*Vampire Academy is being made into a graphic novel!

*Vampire Academy film options have been sold! Read this to learn what's true and what's not--and how you can help get a movie made.

* Want Vampire Academy shirts, jewelry, and more? Click here.

LAST SACRIFICE by Richelle Mead

First Published in 2010
by Penguin Books Australia

Paperback : 594 Pages

ISBN : 9781921518904


Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules.

She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir Princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardian to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose- for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back… and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your life is about saving others, who will save you?

This much awaited final installment in the Vampire Academy series of books does not let you down from start to finish. Rose and Dimitri are on the run, keeping Rose away from Court, while her friends work at proving that she did not kill Queen Tatiana. But as we all know, Rose has a way of letting trouble find her along the way - so she fights Strigoi once more, battles once again with Victor (can she trust him) and gets the last clues which will help prove her innocence, but destroy the heart of one of her closest friends.

Throw in the passion that she sees in Dimitri's face when he looks at her, and meeting up with Adrian in her dreams - she is confused about her feelings. I loved watching the way Rose dealt with it.

This book is brilliant - ties up loose ends, and brings true love together, for a perfect finish to the story.
If you are a Vampire Academy fan - you will love this book - I did.

Rating : 8/10

SISTER by Rosamund Lupton

Published By: Piatkus
Publication Date: September 2nd 2010
ISBN: 9780749942014
Format: Paperback

Nothing can break the bond between sisters …

When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life – and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face.

The police, Beatrice's fiancé and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.

The bond between sisters - is proven unbreakable in this book.

We follow the story of Beatrice jetting back to London, to help try to find her sister who is missing. And when Tess' body is found, it only pushes Beatrice further to squash the prejudiced verdict that she committed suicide. She knew her best, and refuses to believe that her funloving sister would take her own life.

The book is written in a way - that Beatrice has flashbacks to different times and places and the experiences that she shared with Tess, and at one point she feels like she is losing her mind. She's already lost her job back in the US and her fiancé is just one short step from leaving her for good.

But through all the dramas, hurdles and people that cross her path - she does get the answers - which shock her, but also gives her a peace that she would not have been able to find if she had accepted the original findings into Tess' death.

Read this book - you will enjoy it!

Rating : 7/10

HOMECOMING by Sue Ann Bowling

Copyright © 2010
Published by iUniverse Books

Paperback : 317 Pages

ISBN : 978 - 1- 4502 - 1315 - 8

Only a single R'il'nian, Lai, is left alive in the Confederation, and he is mourning his lost Human love, Cloudy. Humans are now running the last R'il'nian planet, Central, which has become both the de facto Capital of the Confederation and the hub of the slave trade in the Confederation.

Snowy, a young slave dancer, has a secret, one his mother told him would lead to his being killed if he were ever found out. He feels the emotions of others. More, he is capable of reading the minds of others, making objects move, and even Healing his own injuries and those of his friends. But he does not dare to tell even his slave friends of his abilities, which are frighteningly similar to those of the R'il'noids, and some of his cruelest masters have been R'il'noids.

Not all of the R'il'noids are monsters. Snowy and his friends are sold to Lai's half-brother, Derik, and when Snowy falls ill Derik is able to recognize the disease as Kharfun syndrome, which leaves Snowy totally paralyzed. Could Snowy himself be R'il'noid? His first response is the firm conviction that he is being lied to, though there isn't much he can do about it when he can't even move.

But beyond the borders of the Confederation is Riya, settled long ago by the R'il'nai. Here Marna is the sole survivor of a planet-wide epidemic, kept alive only by her determination to warn off any other R'il'nai who may find the doomed planet. She was on an isolation satellite studying a different disease when the epidemic started, but now the life-support system of the satellite has broken down. Can she avoid being infected, two centuries after everyone she has ever known has died? Does she even want to?

Lai, Marna and Snowy (now renamed Roi) have the potential to keep the Confederation going without turning it into the R'il'noid dictatorship envisioned by Lai's R'il'noid heir, Zhaim, but they will need all of Derik's help, and everything Roi has learned during his slavery, to succeed against Zhaim's machinations.

I knew absolutely nothing about this book when I got it. Into the first chapter, I felt like there was a possibility this book may just be 'over my head' ... we were introduced to a lot of characters and it was a bit of a struggle to keep them all lined up where they belonged. But, as I kept reading, I found that the characters helped me understand certain aspects that normally would have had me scratching my head.

You will fall in love with Snowy (Roi) - we've all known someone like him, and at times it was hard to remember that he was a teenager. But as a mother, I found that his safety and sanity became very important to me throughout the story.

Other characters - Lai, Marna and Derick all found a place in my heart - I think that Roi brought out elements of these characters that they themselves had (a) buried away deep inside or (b) never believed they possessed.

I found so many aspects of this book rang true for me. It should make us all stop and think - to learn to look after our planet and the people we share it with a lot better.

Thanks also Sue Ann - found something useful in there that I plan to use with my Reiki healing - maybe it's what has been missing for me. All in all, this is a good book. It gets hold of you and you will become totally engrossed in the story and characters and you'll actually be sad when you turn the page to find the story has finished. I would love to see this book made into a movie - it would be really interesting.

The only down side I could find to this book was that I struggled to picture the characters and the locations mentioned - but I am sure that was just me.

Do yourself a favor - READ THIS BOOK!

Rating : 8/10

Happy New Year - Welcome 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Let's hope that 2011 is going to be an amazing year for all of you.

Lots of great stuff planned for this year - looking forward to whatever it throws my way.

I hope that you all had a wonderful NYE and are looking forward to great things.