Review of Chatching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  Here is the blurb.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. 

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. 

Once again I am surprised at how much I enjoyed reading a YA book, I couldn't put it down.  Like The Hunger Games I’m still unsure about its YA status due to the content as I found it to be quite disturbing.  I was intrigued to see how Ms Collins would continue the story in book two and I was surprised by the events that followed, I never expected that the plot would go in the direction that it did.  We see more world building in this book as it is not concentrated on the Arena and we visit some of the other districts too.  There is  still a love triangle going on between Katniss, Peeta and Gale and we are led to believe that Gale is the forerunner for Katniss' affections.  However it is difficult to see this as the reader because there is so little time spent between Katniss and Gale but there so much time spent between Katniss and Peeta that I couldn't help routing for Peeta.  I don't want to go over what happens in the story because I don't want to spoil it for you but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be reading the final book especially after the cliffhanger we are left with.  I would like to give Catching Fire 5 stars.

Review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is set in futuristic post apocalyptic Northern America now known as Panem and tells the story of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen.  Panem is made up of the Capitol a rich flamboyant city that ruthlessly rules the 12 surrounding districts.  Some years previous there was an uprising where the then 13 districts tried to take down the Capitol, the Capitol won and destroyed District 13.  To remind people of this and to keep them under control the Capitol invented the Hunger Games which is a televised event that puts a girl and a boy from ach of the 12 districts between the ages of 12 and 18 into an arena where they kill each other until there is only one left standing.  It is in District 12 a poor mining community where people go hungry that Katniss lives.  The story opens on the day of the reaping, the day where a girl and boy from District 12 will be picked to represent their community in the Hunger Games. 

This book is YA and I don’t read YA ever, but so many people had been raving about this book that I just had to read it before the film came out.  All I can say is WOW I was hooked immediately.  The story is told in the first person by Katniss and I loved her.  The world building is clever and interesting, the plot was excellent and there was a great mix of characters.  I’m not sure if this book should be YA.  The writing style is YA but the concept of the Hunger Games where children kill each other is not YA in my opinion.  Don’t get me wrong I don’t think there was anything particularly gruesome or graphic, maybe it just played more in my mind and it was the things that weren’t written where I thought it was more for adults.  There is one scene where Katniss is waiting to be taken into the arena and she is scared and wondering if she will be dead in an hour’s time that had me nearly in tears and it was this point where I thought it is maybe too much.  Having said all that I truly loved this book and I thought it was great and I am going to give it 5 stars and continue with the next book. 

Vampire for Valentines Winner

Congratulations to Maleti Anggraeni who is the winner of the Vampire for Valentines giveaway.

Teaser Tuesday (20)

Today is Teaser Tuesday which is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading 

Anyone can play along just open the book that you are reading to a random page and share 2 teaser sentances from somewhere on that page.  Please do not post spoilers and make sure you include the title and author of the book so that other TT can add the book to their tbr list if they fancy.

Today my teaser is taken from page 1 of  The Deadliest Bite by Jennifer Rardin.  This is the last book in the Jaz Parks series which I have loved.  Whilst you are here why not enter the Vampire for Valentine giveaway where you can choose from 5 books one of which is the first in the Jaz Parks series, click here for details.  Here is the blurb.

I have two choices. Carve Brude's name into Hell's bile-encrusted gates. Or lose my soul.
After an assassination attempt on Vayl, I find myself pulled into a tangled web that takes the gang to Romania. So how will I save a ghost, rescue a demon, and cheat the Great Taker out of a soul he's slavering for while defeating my nastiest foe yet so that Vayl can, at last, cherish a few precious years with his sons? With careful planning, major violence, and one (hopefully) final trip to Hell.




I'll say one thing about walking around with a rubber band up your asscrack - it helps train you for torture.

"They call them thongs," the girl at Victoria's Secrets had told me, doing her best not to look at me like I'd experienced major brain damage sometime between high school and college.

Thank you for stopping by, if you would like to play along please leave the link to your teaser, or put your teaser in the comments below if you do not have a blog.  Happy reading.

Review of Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

I love the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and Magic Gifts was a gift from Ms Andrews to her fans at Christmas 2011.  Here is the blurb.

Available as FREE download from Ilona Andrews Website for 2 weeks from Christmas Day, this novella takes place at the same time as Andrea’s book, right after MAGIC SLAYS, and the two stories intersect.

A dinner date after a hard day at work sounds heavenly. Of course, when that date is between the Beast Lord and Kate Daniels, things don’t go as planned. Before you know it, undead are running amok, heads are being chopped off, lawyers are deployed and used with extereme prejudice, and drunk vikings are calling people out.

Read at your own risk.

MAGIC GIFTS will appear as a bonus in the back of GUNMETAL MAGIC, Andrea’s book

It was such a treat to get a free book and this is a book not just a couple of pages but 120 of them and it was a great Kate fix as the next book in the Kate Daniels series is not out until 2013.  This book picks up at the end of Magic Slays and tells us about a little adventure between Kate and Curran trying to save the life of a little boy.  It also features the People and their vampires and we are introduced to some Vikings.  There is the usual banter and chemistry between Kate and His Furriness the Beast Lord Curran which is one of the things I love most about this series.  Plus we are also treated to a snippet of the storyline between Andrea and Raphael.  I cannot wait now for their book to be published later this year.

If you are new to the Kate Daniels series I strongly recommend it if you like UF.  Kate is a real kick ass, Curran or da Hotness as he is known in my circle of friends over at Goodreads is well da Hotness, then there is a whole fantastic supporting cast of characters.  The world building is amazing and the plot line that runs through all the books is exciting.  The first book in the series is the weakest and most difficult to read, there is a lot of world building to learn.  Lots of people want to give up on this book Magic Burns but with gentle persuasion they keep reading and then they are hooked especially when they meet Curran and the awesome funny banter that he and Kate have.  Thank you Ms Andrews for this wonderful gift and I would like to give Magic Gifts 4 lion roars.

Review of Kissed By Darkness by Shea MacLeod

Kissed  By Darkness is the first book in a new UF series by Shéa MacLeod here is the blurb.

Danger is always on the menu for Morgan Bailey, a sexy and street-smart bounty hunter, who prowls the dark underworld of Portland, Oregon hunting creatures of the night. Morgan's never met a vampire she couldn't dust or a demon she couldn't kill until she's hired to destroy a new kind of mystical threat: the Sunwalker.

A powerful immortal once believed myth, the Sunwalker carries with him an ancient secret which, if left unchecked, will destroy Morgan's world. Pursued by a passionate Templar Knight and the target of the local vampire clans, an ancient power is awakened within her, unlike anything she's ever known. Morgan must uncover the truth behind her mission and about herself, before the Darkness lurking inside swallows her whole.

Now from that description I thought this book would be right up my street however I have to say it really wasn’t.  I must admit that I didn’t finish the book I read about 30% before admitting defeat.  Morgan Bailey just annoyed me way too much.  Morgan is meant to be a bad ass vampire hunter and the only reason I know this is because she constantly keeps telling us that she is a bad ass vampire hunter.  There was no evidence to actually prove this seeing as she keeps getting attacked by vampires, one who she manages to shoot with her UV gun and the other who gets away.  I was also annoyed by Morgan’s hormones and how she kept telling us how much she fancied her friends cousin Inigo.  I’m surprised Morgan could actually walk with the amount of thigh clenching she does.  Then Morgan meets another vampire who once again gets her libido doing the happy dance, please just get laid already so I don’t have to read about how long it is since you had sex and how his lips were made for sin.  If it weren’t for Morgan I would have probably liked this book.  From what I read the plot seemed good and interesting but I just couldn’t continue reading and I hate not finishing a book.  I would like to say that this book has got lots of high scoring positive reviews and this is just my opinion, however it wasn’t for me and I would like to give Kissed By Darkness 1 fang.

Vampires For Valentines Giveaway Hop

What better way is there to celebrate Valentines Day than by giving away a Vampire....well not a real Vampire but a book about one.  Vampires are my all time favourite supernatural being, they are sexy, dangerous, sexy, cunning and did I mention sexy, so I just had to get involved in this giveaway hop.  Vampires For Valentines Giveaway Hop runs from 12:01am February 10th through to 11:59pm February 16th 2012, and is hosted by Felicity Heaton (Paranormal Romance Author) and Bitten by Paranormal Romance.

My prize is international so long as Book Depository ship to you then you can enter and choose from one of the five books below.  These are some of my all time favourite books which have a hot vampire in them and each one is the first book in a series.  Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter below.  The winner will be posted here on Friday 17 February and will be notified by e-mail also.  Good Luck everyone.

Book 1 - The Sweet Scent of Blood 
Genevieve Taylor is a sidhe - one of the noble fae - and she's unusual even in a London where celebrity vampires, eccentric goblins and scheming lesser fae mix freely with humanity... 
Genny is a rising star at Spellcrackers.com, where she finds the "M" in magic - which can mean anything from mischief to malice to murder. The spellcrackers are run by the Witch Council, whose ancient tenets prohibit any contact with vampires. And that's just fine with Genny, who wants as little to do with the bloodsuckers as possible. 
But when a sinfully sexy vamp is accused of killing his lover, an old debt forces Genny to help prove his innocence, risking her job, her safety - and the exposure of her own dark secrets. Genny soon realizes that she and her client are both unwitting pawns in a centuries-old power struggle. And it's not just her own neck at stake but the lives of all of London's supernatural beings.

Book 2 - Touch The Dark
Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with revenge in mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection.The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire- and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.

Book 3 - Once Bitten Twice Shy
I'm Jaz Parks. My boss is Vayl, born in Romania in 1744. Died there too, at the hand of his vampire wife, Liliana. But that's ancient history. For the moment Vayl works for the C.I.A. doing what he does best--assassination. And I help. You could say I'm an Assistant Assassin. But then I'd have to kick your ass.
Our current assignment seemed easy. Get close to a Miami plastic surgeon named Assan, a charmer with ties to terrorism that run deeper than a buried body. Find out what he's meeting with that can help him and his comrades bring America to her knees. And then close his beady little eyes forever. Why is it that nothing's ever as easy as it seems?

Book 4 - Hunted By The Others
Shiarra Waynest's detective work was dangerous enough when her client base was strictly mortal. But ailing finances have forced her to accept a lucrative case that could save her firm - if it doesn't kill her first. Shiarra has signed on to work for a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact owned by one of New York's most powerful vampires. As soon as Shiarra meets sexy, mesmerizing vamp Alec Royce, she knows her assignment is even more complicated than she thought. With a clandestine anti-Other group trying to recruit her, and magi being eliminated, Shiarra needs back-up and enlists her ex-boyfriend - a werewolf whose non-furry form is disarmingly appealing - and a nerdy mage with surprising talents. But it may not be enough. In a city where the undead roam, magic rules, and even the Others aren't always what they seem, Shiarra has just become the secret weapon in a battle between good and evil - whether she likes it or not.

Book 5 - Some Girls Bite
Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker—and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead. 


Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan "Lord o’ the Manor" Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude—and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan’s attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone’s still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war—and there will be blood.

Review of Wicked Circle by Linda Robertson

Wicked Circle is book 5 in the Persephone Alcmedi series by Linda Robertson.  As this is the fifth book there may be spoilers for books 1 to 4 if you have not read them.  If you like Urban Fantasy then this is the series for you and I strongly recommend these books. Anyway here is the blurb.

The fifth in the exciting urban fantasy series featuring Persephone Alcmedi, a modern-day witch with a sexy werewolf boyfriend. 

Persephone Alcmedi has helped her waerewolf lover Johnny unlock his powers. Now she must come to the aid of Menessos, the vampire overlord she has secretly marked. Beset by a trio of truth-seeking vampire sisters so dangerous their own kind keep them confined in stone, he now needs her more than ever...and she realizes her need for him. Seph has magical promises to fulfill for the waeres, multiple mundane family challenges to meet, vampire politics to confront, both the supernatural males in her life to balance, a dragon to deal with...and then a government investigator shows up to complicate matters.

First off I want to say how much I love this Urban Fantasy series and this book was no exception.  There are three main characters in this series so there is a bit of a love triangle going on.  Persephone or Seph for short is a witch, or to be more precise the Lustrata (big powerful sorceress).  Then there is her gorgeous ex rock star waerewolf boyfriend Johnny who also happens to be the Dom Lupp (leader of all waeres).  Finally we have Menessos who is one of the original vampires and who is now a Master Vampire and leader his haven.  The three of them have joined together to form a triumvirate of power.  Seph has also marked Menessos twice and so she is also his Master but shhh nobody except the three of them know this little secret, well except for Heldridge who tells the leader of all Vampires.  This then sets off a chain of events which the three of them must overcome otherwise it could mean their lives. 

There was a big difference in how this instalment was told.  Previously the stories were told in the first person point of view, from Seph’s viewpoint to be exact but in this book it changes from Seph’s POV to the other characters POV told in the third person.  It took a bit of getting used to but once I did I really enjoyed this change.  It was great to see how Johnny and Menessos felt about Seph and how they saw events from their angle.  By doing this we find out more about Johnny and how he is changing because of his new status as Dom Lupp.  I have to say it is not good change but I applaud Ms Robertson for doing this and I now see him in a totally different light.  Menessos comes across as more of a friendly caring Vampire but I think it also shows his more manipulative nature too.  Demeter who is also known as Nana and Beverley don’t make much of an appearance which was sad as I love Demeter.  But we do get a new character who Seph names Creepy, I can’t wait to find out more about him.  This book didn’t feel like a complete book it takes place over a couple of days and it seemed to be more like Part 1 of a two book plot so be warned there is a cliffhanger.  I really enjoyed it though and would like to give Wicked Circle 5 fangs.