REVIEW: Jeaniene Frost's DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE

Title: DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Release Date: July 28, 2009
List Price: $7.99
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Avon; Original edition
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061583219
ISBN-13: 978-0061583216


My Ratings

Plot: 5/5
Setting: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Originality of Plot: 5/5
Characters Development: 4.5/5
Ending: 4.5 /5
Cover Art: 5/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 5/5

Overall: 38.5/40 = 96%


First Line

IF HE CATCHES ME, I’M DEAD.

Synopsis

Her deadly dreams leave her in grave danger.

Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.

Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her. She'll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she's ever faced . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.

My Review

Have you ever found something out that makes you question your entire life and the people around you? Cat is dreaming being chased by a sexy, dark, unknown man. Who is he? Does she know him? Why is she dreaming of him? And will he cause her to lose everything? This is what Destined for an Early Grave is all about.

Cat, what can I say about her. She’s physically strong, she’s intelligent, and she’s one lucky women to have Bones. Her biggest downfall, is the fact that she needs to fully trust in Bones. She keeps hiding things from him, and it keeps getting people hurt. She also doesn’t seem to truely believe in how much Bones loves her, and she almost lost him because of it. I understand that she needes to know the truth about the dark strangers, but she needs to trust that both Bones and Mencheres have her best interests at heart.

Bones is one of my favorite literary love interests in ever. He sexy, British, protective, and a total bad-ass. He’s the total package in the Urban Fantasy world. He doesn’t have an annoying bone (yes, pun intended) in is body. The words ‘un-dying devotion’ is thrown around a lot in literature, but I truly believe that sums up how Bones cares for Cat. He is willing to do anything to keep her, and he proves it in this book.

I really enjoyed the love, tension, fight, and passion that these two characters have for each other. It was also great to get to see Vlad again. Vlad’s interactions with Cat always amaze me. He’s a totally different person when she’s around. I’m hoping to see more of him in future books.

This series has quickly become one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series. It had been on my TBR pile for several months. After some urging of a good friends, I picked it up. Boy am I glad I did! The series is smart, funny, and seaming hot!!! Jeaniene writes the most amazing dialogue, that is full of one-liners that make me actually laugh out loud. It’s a definite must read, if you haven’t already.


Night Huntress Series




Author's Websites

http://jeanienefrost.com/
http://twitter.com/jeaniene_frost


Book Trailer

COVER DOPPELGANGER: The Darkest Kiss & Shades of Midnight Audiobooks

This morning I opened up Audible.com to find new releases from Keri Arthur and Lara Adrien. I love both authors, but found it really funny that basically the same photo was used for both covers. Even more funny, they both came from Tantor and were released on the same day. Just one of those things that make you scratch your head. At least, they both look amazing!



Title: The Darkest Kiss
Author: Keri Arthur
Publisher: Tantor
List Price: $24.95
Release Date: 1/10/11








Title: Shades of Midnight
Author: Lara Adrian
Publisher: Tantor
List Price: $24.95
Release Date: 1/10/11

REVIEW & CONTEST: Rachel Vincent's MY SOUL TO STEAL (Soul Screamers bk 4)

Title: MY SOUL TO STEAL (Soul Screamers bk4)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Release Date: January 1, 2011
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN-10: 0373210272
ISBN-13: 978-0373210275



My Ratings

Plot: 5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Originality of Plot: 5/5
Characters Development: 5/5
Ending: 4.5/5
Cover Art: 5/5 (This may be one of my favorite covers of the year)

Overall: 33.5/35 = 95%

Synopsis

YOU WANT MY SOUL AND MY BOYFRIEND?

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

My Review

(Review contains minor spoilers for this book and previous books in this series)
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How can you start to forgive the one you love, when they have done something to violate your trust? That is the question that MY SOUL TO STEAL tries to answer. Was what Nash did to Kaylee in MY SOUL TO KEEP (Soul Screamers Bk3), so unforgivable that she could never get over it or get past it? I found myself thinking along those lines. I was pretty sure I was going to angry with Nash for a while after what he did, but soon as I started reading MY SOUL TO STEAL, I changed my mind. I saw what Nash was willing to go through, and what he was willing to do to regain Kaylee's love and trust. He knew he messed up big time. He admitted he had a problem, and he sought help. He allowed Kaylee to grieve on her own terms. He even let Kaylee behave erratically, and still forgiver her because he felt he deserved it.

I'm very proud that Kaylee is finally starting to stand on her own two feet. I was also extremely happy to see that she had grown and matured over these four books. She's learned to stand up for herself. She didn't just sit back and let Sabine walk all over her. She made better and smarter decisions. She’s stronger emotionally, physically, and she has better control of her abilities. I'm pretty sure the Kaylee from book one would have just backed off, hid in a corner, and let Sabine have Nash back. I do think that she needs to actively start trying to forgive Nash. Her passive behavior won’t help recover their relationship, nor will it helping Nash get better. I believe that she is partially to blame, for Nash’s need to confide in Sabine about his addiction. This may just be the biggest downfall in their relationship.

Speaking of Sabine, I'm still not sure I altogether like her. Unfortunately, I started reading MY SOUL TO STEAL, before I read the FEARLESS novella. After great pressure from two of my bookish besties (you know who you are), I stopped mid-book and read FEARLESS. It really gave me perspective into where Sabine came from and why she behaves the way she does. After that, I didn't hate her to the same degree. She's a creature that is stuck doing what she has to do to survive. I may think that her dream-weaving is absolutely dreadful, but it's what she has to do. I’m trying to hate what she did, not who she is as a person. I do, however, believe that a lot of her spiteful & malicious behaviors was explained in the end of the story. I think I want to hold out final judgment on Sabine for the next book.

As for Tod….I love Tod! I love Tod! I love Tod! My love for him is growing with every book. He's been there for Kaylee through a lot. Every time Kaylee needed someone to talk to or lean on, he was there for her no questions asked. Even though Kaylee’s yet to see it, Tod seems to really care for her. However, I momentarily despised him for his little speech to Kaylee towards the end of the book. (I think I hated him in that "the truth hurt" kind of way) His speech both broke my heart, and brought me to tears.

The only part of this book that kind of let me down was the end. Especially after Tod speech, I wanted some kind of confrontation or resolution for Kaylee and Nash, but we didn't get it. The end was a little to fluffy bunnies, or fluffy puppies in this case ; ). I'm pretty sure IF I DIE (the 5th Soul Screamers book) is going to break my heart all over again! Rachel Vincent has hinted that IF I DIE will be “a real game changer”. I think I should to start buying stock in Kleenex, that or stop reading Rachel's books. I'm pretty sure you guys know what I'm going to choose.


Other Books by This Author

Soul Screamers YA Series:
0.5) My Soul to Lose (2009) (click here to download the prequel for free)
1) My Soul to Take (2009)
2) My Soul To Save (2010)
3) My Soul To Keep (2010)
4) My Soul to Steal (Upcoming Release Date: 1/1/11)

Shifters Series:
1) Stray (2007)
2) Rogue (2008)
3) Pride (2009)
4) Prey (2009)
5) Shift (2010)
6) Alpha (2010)


Websites

Rachel Vincent's Website
Rachel's Discussion Board
Rachel's Twitter


Trailer




Soul Screamers Contest

I'm continuing my Soul Screamers contest from my Top Reads of 2010 post. Enter below for the chance to win one an eBook copy of Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Keep. The contest closes Saturday, January 8, 2010 at midnight. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have FIVE days to respond & claim their prize! Since I'm gifting this eBook through Amazon.com, the winner must be have an amazon.com account set up to receive their prize.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

• In the contest entry box below, please leave your first name/last initial and e-mail address
• List your favorite book of 2010
  
• Follow this blog for bonus 2 points! (button located on right-hand side)
• Follow my twitter for bonus 2 points! (button located on right-hand side)

RULES AND LEGAL DISCLAIMERS:

• I will use random.org to choose the winner.
• Contest is open to readers in the USA only.
• You have FIVE days from the day I e-mail the winners to claim your prize. Failure to contact me result in forfeit of your prize. At that time, I will choose either to re-award the prize to another entrant or not.
• These rules are subject to change or be modified without prior written notice.
  
• Contest is void where prohibited.
• By entering this contest you are agreeing to our terms of entry.

(Scroll down in the box to fill in contest information)

TRAILER: Megan Hart's PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE THINGS

Title: Precious and Fragile Things
Author: Megan Hart
List Price: $13.95
Release Date: December 21, 2010
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira
ISBN-10: 0778329240
ISBN-13: 978-0778329244

Now I'm off to continue reading Precious and Fragile Things. I'm a little over halfway through and I already love it. It's so hard to put down, I just want to stay up all night reading!

My Naughty & Nice Must Reads for 2011 Part 1

Now that 2010 is behind us, it's time for me to look forward into 2011. There are tons and tons of amazing books releases coming out this year. I've put together Part 1 of my Naughty & Nice Must Reads for 2011!

January

• 1st Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Steal (Soul Screamers, Bk 5)
• 1st Megan Hart's Precious and Fragile Things
• 4th P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast's Awakened (House of Night, Bk 8)
• 25th Julie Kagawa's Iron Queen (Iron Queen, Bk 3)
• 25th Robyn Carr's Wild Man Creek (Virgin River, Bk12)
  

February

• 22nd Kim Harrison's Pale Demons (The Hollows, Bk 9)
• 22nd Richelle Mead's Iron Queen (Dark Swan, Bk3)
• 22nd Jeaniene Frost's This Side of the Gave (Night Huntress, Bk 5)
• 22nd Jaye Wells' Green-eyed Demon (Sabina Kane, Bk 3)
• 22nd Robyn Carr's Harvest Moon (Virgin River, Bk13 )
  

March

• 1st Patricia Briggs' River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Bk 6)
• 1st Dakota Cassidy's Accidentally Catty (The Accidental Series, Book 5)
  

April

• 1st Susan Mallery's Already Home
  
• 5th Lauren Dane's Mesmerized (A Phantom Corps Novel)
• 5th Lora Leigh's Navarro's Promise (Breads)
  
• 12th Kelley Armstrong's The Gathering (Darkness Rising, Bk 1)
• 19th Lili St. Crow's Defiance (Strange Angel, bk 3)
• 26th Jennifer Estep's Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, Bk 4)
  

May

• 3rd Jeri Smith-Ready's Shift (YA, Bk 2)
• 3rd Megan Hart, Lauren Dane, Emma Holly, and Bethany Kane's Three to Tango
  
• 4th Rachel Caine's Bite Club (Morganville Vampires, Bk 10)
  
• 31st Ilona Andrews' Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, Bk 5)
  

June

• 7th Laurell K. Hamilton's Hit List (Anita Blake, Bk20)
  
• 7th Karen Chance's Hunt the Moon (Cassie Palmer, Bk 5)
• 22nd Megan Hart's Collide
  
• 28th Carrie Vaughn's Kitty's Big Trouble (Kitty Norville, Bk 9)

I'm pretty sure I've missed a few books. I keep adding new favorite authors all the time, so it's hard to keep up. Stay tuned, I'll be posting Part 2 of My Naughty and Nice Must Reads for 2011 later in the year. Happy reading everyone!!!