Review: Believe by E. Leighanne Grimm-Weever

Thank you to the Goodreads group Shut Up & Read as well as the author for the opportunity to read and review this book

Genre

YA Paranormal Romance

Series

New England Immortals 
(Book 1)

Publication Date

March 2012

Publisher

Self-Published

Available At

Smashwords

Format

Ebook

Andrea Dayla is about to start the next chapter of her life, college, leaving the only familyshe’s ever known behind. It was going to be scary enough being away from home in a strange city but little did she know Hanover had far scarier things in residence; the truth.

For Andrea, vampires were just part of the mythical stories her uncle had told her since as long as she could remember. She didn’t believe they exist until she meets the Brennen’s. Uncle Greg had always painted vampires in a bad light; pure evil more like. Andrea refuses to acknowledge Shane or his family as vile creatures. 
Things were bad enough when she fell in love with Shane, she was mortal but of course it had to get worse. She discovers her family secret, they were immortal vampire hunters. Hunting and killing vampires to protect the humans was who she was, it was what she was made fore. Trouble is that the other part of her is ruled by her love for Shane and his family.
Torn between her love for a vampire and her loyalty to her kind, Andrea will have to make choices that will save a part of herself and destroy others. Too bad that’s not all she has to worry about… She’ll just have to believe!


Review
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars


I've had Believe sitting in my TBR pile for awhile and when I had the opportunity to snatch it up on Shut Up & Read, I did. I was eager to start because what can I say? I'm a sucker for vampires vs. vampire hunters. The ultimate forbidden romance, but I have to admit that I had an extremely hard time getting into the story.


The first half of the story I was just not feeling it at all, so I had to set it aside for awhile and consider if I was going to continue reading or not. I did continue reading, and I can say that the story and the writing did get marginally better, but I still wasn't completely satisfied. 


Believe has a great concept behind it, it's interesting and very complex. . . there's a lot going on with many characters, but that great concept is hidden behind the many, many mistakes.


1. Grammatical errors. There are a lot of misspelled words, missing words, misplaced words, and some formatting issues and other editing errors along those lines. My eyes were constantly stumbling across them and it prevented me from being drawn into the story. One example, Chapter 20 has the first 3 paragraphs in bold text then every other paragraph after that.


2. Inconsistencies. Major downfall for a published work. I can understand one or two that were missed during revisions and editing, but Believe was riddled with them. It was quite frustrating, especially because I'm a details person, so those details stand-out to me and these were blinding me in the eyes. There's tiny inconsistencies and big ones. For example, I'm pretty sure that Shane's eyes are blue, but they were also mentioned as copper and honey then it was mentioned (18% through) that since he's a vampire his eyes change colors. But then, after that information his eyes are only mentioned as blue. Another example, Andrea wakes up at 6:20am for her first day of work, class starts at 7pm that night. She works all day then leaves work to make it to her class, then after class goes back to work and works again. I guess that's not an inconsistency, but isn't it highly unlikely? I mean that would have been a 10+ hour shift to begin with and then add in the other hours that she worked after class. There are other instances like this where it seems the author either forgot previous mentioned information or made it to her convenience to fit the story. The tiny ones have to do with time, placement of objects, name changes (two characters are mentioned with different names, only once each though). Frankly, there are lot and it extremely took away from the story, this was way more bothersome to me than the grammatical errors.


3. Some things are glossed over so if they may be apparent to the writer, they aren't going to be apparent to the reader. A popular example, Andrea begins waiting tables, she has two guys at one table who she refers to as 'ken dolls' (yes because they are rich and attractive, that's another issue that I won't get into. Massive stereotyping.) then she miraculously knows one of them is named Drake. Some reviewers have mentioned this and Grimm-Weever has been kind enough to explain that Andrea has class with him and it was kind of a light-bulb moment when she remembers his name. It doesn't read like that at all and those little moments are scattered throughout the book. I understand this problem, it's one I have issues with myself. It's hard to convey certain thoughts into words, but it should have been apparent with a re-read or the beta reader.


Believe does not read as a final draft, but as a first draft prior to revisions or editing. There is massive potential, but Believe really needs to be cleaned up and looked at again. The plot gets a lot better as you continue to read. I'm under the impression that E. Leighanne Grimm-Weever is in the process of going through each chapter to rectify the spelling mistakes, but those aren't the only issues that need to be fixed, so I hope she's taking time to go through the whole book. To me the inconsistencies are far worse than the grammatical errors, but I really enjoyed the plot, especially the second half of the story.

Review: Nocturnal by Chelsea Cameron

Thank you Chelsea Cameron for the opportunity to review Nocturnal!

Genre

YA Paranormal Romance

Series

Noctalis Chronicles (Book 1)

Publication Date

February 2012

Publisher

DRC Publishing

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Format

Ebook

Seventeen-year-old Ava-Claire Sullivan isn't one for doing the expected. Especially when she finds out her mother's cancer is terminal. After a crying session in the local cemetery where she's attacked by one strange guy and saved by another, she doesn't call the cops. Because those guys definitely weren't your average hooligans. 


And the one who sort-of saved her? Well, he's odd. He doesn't seem to breathe or smile or have anything better to do than wait in the cemetery for Ava to come back. Which she does. Call it morbid curiosity. Even after he warns her that he's dangerous, she can't stop wanting to see him, talk to him, be with him.


There's something about Peter that provides a much-needed escape from her mother's diagnosis and her tenuous relationship with her father. Even her best friends Jamie and Texas don't know what it's like to face death. But Peter does. He already has. He also made a promise a long time ago that could destroy both of them.


When everything in your life is falling apart, what are you willing to give up to hold onto the one thing that could last forever?


Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

"My mind goes to some strange places sometimes."

There are so, so many great aspects to Nocturnal that escalated my reading experience!


One. Chelsea Cameron took the ever popular vampires and spun them into a unique species that captivated me. They are unlike any vampires that I have ever read about and I'm more than interested to learn more about their history.


Two. Ava-Claire Sullivan. Period. She's an amazingly sarcastic, feisty and funny female protagonist that completely entranced me. There are so many lines that I highlighted for many different reasons, but most of all because they struck a chord in me. Chelsea Cameron managed to capture characteristics of a REAL person and portrayed them in a way that brought life to Ava. Here and there I became frustrated with Ava, but this wasn't an author induced flaw, it was more of how Ava chose to handle (or really not handle them) that frustrated me. I actually welcomed the frustration though, because it made Ava even more fleshed-out.

"I just listen and replay the moment when Peter pulled the rug out from under the normal world. Hell, he ripped up the floor of the real world, showing me a basement I didn't know was there, full of creatures I never thought existed."

Three. Tex and Jamie. Simply awesome supporting characters where the loyalty and friendship is palpable. Tex is just something else, she's crazy fun with a somewhat erratic personality but she's so lovable. Tex and Ava fit perfectly together, they are soulmate friends. Chelsea Cameron captured the essence of their deep friendship that they've had since 1st grade. Jamie is also a great character, but he's the more subdued of the three. More serious, but still readers will be falling for him. He's not in Nocturnal a whole lot, but I hope to see more from him in Nightmare (the second book). 


Four. The slow budding romance. It's set at a more natural pace that I greatly appreciated. Peter and Ava appear more intrigued with each other at first and then it starts to evolve into something more.


Five. The snippets that we get from Peter. Am I a male perspective fan? Do you even need me to answer that question? I love being able to get into the male leads head anyway possible. Chelsea Cameron supplied me with that desired male perspective with those little snippets. They successfully added more depth to his character which was needed since he's prone to one-word answers when asked a question. He's quite intriguing despite the one-wordedness and I really want to know more about his life as a Noctalis.


With all that said, I did have some minor issues with some things. There were more than a few grammatical errors, but they honestly never hindered my reading, they were just mild annoyances. Also, there was an inconsistency with a name (not major since she wasn't in the story, just mentioned). Overall, I really enjoyed Nocturnal, more than appreciated the new take on vampires, and am very eager to see where the series will lead. 


Recommended to YA readers who enjoy vampires, want a new breed of vampires, or YA readers who love paranormal romance. Plus, Nightmare (the second book) is already out, so you won't have to wait to continue the adventure!

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for providing me with an e-galley!

Genre
YA Paranormal

Publication Date

April 24th, 2012

Publisher

Harlequin Teen

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Formats

Hard Cover

Ebook

Add it on Goodreads

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.


Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

First, take a gander at the cover, doesn't it make you want to take a peek inside? For me, it instantly drew me in, rendering me incapable of passing The Immortal Rules up.

The bar for YA female protagonists has been risen. To my delight, I've noticed that more and more of them are rising above the whiny brats that you would shake if you could. Allie, the female protagonist in The Immortal Rules, is no exception. She has risen to the top, but let's be honest, she probably hacked her way to the top with her ever-present katana. Yeah, she's a sword wielding bad-ass! In vampire books the reader is usually introduced to a human, but in The Immortal Rules, we get to see the first-hand struggles of a newborn vampire. One that fights against all odds to try to keep her humanity intact, a struggle that was brought to life by the first-person perspective. You all know that I'm a lover of first-person, it allows us to see into a character first-hand. Know what they are thinking and feeling at all times, it lends us an insight that is sometimes lacking in third-person. I am so glad that Julie Kagawa wrote this book in first-person, it wouldn't of had the same drive with anything less.

The Immortal Rules is split into three parts, each part takes on a different tone as the story progresses and little revelations are untangled, leading Allie in a new direction in her life. There isn't a huge amount of mystery, but there is still enough to slide the story along without it coming to a stand still. What pushes this story above is the dystopian/post-apocalyptic setting. The descriptions of the crumbling buildings and overtaking wildlife add the perfect touch of desolation. There's a lot of fighting and blood(duh!), but it never overpowers the story, if anything it pushes it another step forward. The sweet budding romance brought a lighter touch that balanced out the destruction. Sometimes the lighter romances can hinder instead of adding, but that was not the case. It's a slow build, with tantalizing teasers that will have you wishing the next book was already out. Each different aspect was a perfectly chiseled puzzle piece that fit into the bigger picture, bringing forth a vampire tale that will take the YA reading populace by storm.

If you are looking for a vampire book, pick this up. If you like zombie(or zombie-like creatures), pick this up. If you like dystopians with a post-apocalypse twist, pick this up. Just do yourself a favor and pick  up The Immortal Rules. 

Review: Ignite (Midnight Fire #1) by Kaitlyn Davis

 I was lucky enough to get a copy through the Read It & Reap group on Goodreads, and, of course, the author

Publication Date
October 9th, 2011

Publisher
Self-Published

Available At
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Format
Ebook

"With one last look, one final search of the lines of his face for some sign, Kira turned and ran away from the sound of the man she loved laughing in the face of her death."

When Kira Dawson moves to South Carolina, she meets Luke, a blond goofball who quickly becomes her best friend, and Tristan, a mysterious bad boy who sends shivers down her spine. Kira knows they're keeping secrets, but when she discovers Tristan's lust for blood and her own dormant mystical powers, Kira is forced to fight for her life and make the heartbreaking decision between the familiar comfort of friendship and the fiery passion of love.


Review
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars


I love prologues that steep the story in a mysterious, tantalizing tone. A teasing snippet that fuels your hunger for more. That's what Kaitlyn Davis did with the prologue of Ignite.


I found Kira to be likable, she catapulted the story forward by being fiercely determined, smart, witty, and fun. The other characters were just as enjoyable, but I have to say that I was disappointed in Emma's (Kira's friend) character. She had moments where she was superbly excellent, but her parts were mostly dominated by the cliche of the overly talkative friend. I also found a tiny inconsistency with Chloe's (Kira's sister)  age, she was either four or five, both ages were stated once. There was a bit of unrealisticness as Kira's parents were never 'parenting', I understand the reasoning behind it, but she was constantly getting into trouble (ie. after curfew, not coming home), but never once suffered any consequences. 


In the first half of Ignite, I was pulled deeply into the emotions surrounding the three main characters. It seemed, though, that near the end the emotions started to taper off, leaving me lacking, but still intrigued. Ignite is a fairly new take on vampires and conduits (aka really cool vampire slayers). The history was well thought-out and the plot had some unexpectedness to it, but at the end, I again felt that it became a little too predictable. The ending gives the reader a complete end, but the knowledge that there is more to come. There were still a few mysteries that were left unsolved that will most likely come to play a bigger part in the future installments. I'm curious to see where the story will lead. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not going to turn out the way the sneak peek suggests. 


Also, I don't want to be too picky, but even though I LOVE the cover, once reading the story, it doesn't quite fit with Kira and the way I imagined her. I get it, it makes complete sense, but she is described to have strawberry-blonde hair. That is not strawberry-blonde(I would know, I had it until my early twenties. And, yes, it was natural.), I would call it copper. Maybe if the colors were mixed a little bit more, not so chunky? I don't know, but it is still a fabulous, eye-catching cover. 

Review: Shepherd's Moon by Stacy Mantle

I was fortunate to receive this book from the author through a the group Making Connections on Goodreads

Publication Date

October 25th, 2011

Publisher

Self-Published

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

It's taken twelve years to earn the official title of Shepherd but she's now mostly trained, fairly effective, and the first female in over two centuries to hold the position as protector of animals. All animals. . .


The Territorial Council isn't thrilled with her new title of Shepherd, but they don't have any more control over the appointment than they have over her. All they can really do is wait for her to screw something up - which Alex is determined not to do. Everything changes with a chance encounter with a genetically modified Shifter leaves Alex shaken and initiates a quest to locate its maker.

In a desperate bid to save her pack, Alex must infiltrate the Parallax Corporation - an international organization with their hands in everything from biomedical engineering to publishing. They have now expanded their efforts to include terrorism and are attempting to breed the perfect weapon.

Despite years of training and enough money from her live-in pack of misfits to finance a small country, Alex finds herself woefully unprepared to tackle the new threat. To make matters worse, Alex must work with a mysterious man who's been trying to kill her since the day they met. Together with her pack, Alex must learn how to stop the biological cloning and find those responsible for the plan before it really does become a global threat.

Review
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars


I have to say that I enjoyed the characters along with the plot line, but I found quite a few problems that detracted from my reading experience.

As soon as I started reading Shepherd's Moon I instantly felt as if I missed out on the first book of the series. There was just so much backstory and history that was relayed to us as the reader and had a huge part of the story. I also think that by not being able to 'witness' the past events, it lessened the investment into the characters, I wasn't as effected as I should have been. Also, the repetitiveness was extraneous. It seemed that every time Modnik(the were-jaguar) was brought up that we got a recap of the event that took place pre-book.

There is a broad spectrum of Shifters in Shepherd's Moon, as well as other preternatural creatures. It was fun to see all the different ones as they came to play in the story. For instance, there are vampires, Nephilim, different weres like jaguars, coyotes, wolves, horses, hawks, cheetahs. In other words, Stacy Mantle brought a lot of new concepts to the table that I really appreciated.

Alex as the female protagonist was a strong voice, in my opinion. I liked her determination and fierce loyalty to her pack, but I couldn't figure out if she was 20 or 24, I think each age was mentioned once in the book. I also had to keep reminding myself of her age, she reads as an older woman, and it might have been the authors intention because Alex hasn't had an easy life. She's had to grow up quickly to take on certain responsibilities. She seemed to fumble around a lot with her responsibilities and lacked a certain amount of experience, and that's the one thing I found consistent with her age.

I found the plot line extremely intriguing, capable of pulling me in, but incapable of hiding the inconsistencies that were scattered throughout. For instance, Alex tells us that weres aren't born, they are made, but then she has a were-jaguar in her pack that has had multiple births, currently raising two as jaguar cubs because it's easier to raise them as cubs than humans. They were born, right? So maybe Alex meant that they could be born or created? Or are Shifters different than Weres? I don't know, I constantly had my brow furrowed as I tried to decipher some of the things in this book. But, as I said, the plot line is super interesting, it just needs to be polished up for the full affect of a potentially great story to take place. There were also a lot of misplacement's of quotation marks, or lack of. It was a distraction that took away from my reading pleasure, usually I tend to ignore error like that, but it was a little too obvious.

The romance, in my opinion, was non-existent. The guy that I thought would be the perfect match for Alex was too easily dismissed because she could read his mind and they were best friends since they grew up together. I felt that there was a lot of romantic potential that Stacy Mantle could have cashed in on between Billy and Alex. There was a repulsion/attraction thing going on with Tristan, but there was only one moment where he was attractive to ME as the reader. And don't get me wrong, I like romance in my stories, but it's not a necessity that I need to be able to enjoy a good story.

I should be giving this book 2 stars, but I did actually really, really like it. The characters were fun, the plot line drew me in, but it needs to be re-edited by the author so she can polish it up a bit more. If she does that, then I think she will gain more interest because the story and the series has A LOT of potential. I am extremely curious to see where this series will go, so Stacy Mantle can count me in line for the next installment.

Review: Awakening The Nightmare by Lanie Malone

I received this novel from the author(through Making Connections on Goodreads) in exchange for an honest review

In a world filled with preternatural beings, Corrine DeLacy stands alone. For centuries she has hidden her heritage and powers from the rest of the world. Then Nick is forced into her life, Turning it upside down. Standing in her way at every turn, he watches her suspiciously. Circumstances landed them together and now they must fight to save all that they hold dear.

Authors Warning: This book contains content that is not suitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages

Review
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Awakening The Nightmare is an enjoyable story that continues to pique your interest as you continue to read.

The characters each had their own quirks and mannerisms that make them stand out from each other. Some were more delightful, than others, as is the case with most books. Cory and Nick were likable, but I found myself a little more curious about the secondary characters. I'm crossing my fingers that we will see more of them! Cory is a fierce female protagonist that was fun to read about as she battled the physical and emotional struggles. Nick was a refreshing male character, for me, because the roles were reversed as he was the one wearing his heart on his sleeve as Cory ran away from her feelings. It was a nice change. In my opinion, the secondary characters added immensely to the overall feel of the story, making it more rounded out.

Awakening The Nightmare has a little of each preternatural such as vampires, werewolves, other weres, witches, shifters, demons, fae and even ghosts. A lot, I know, but it works for this book. The mysteriousness of Cory and her past help to sustain curiosity, propelling readers to continue forth in the adventure. The history of each species was added in evenly, never bogging down the story. The downfall for me, was that the writing seemed to fall flat. It was simple and plain, which can work for some stories, but I needed more from this book. The descriptions of the scenery were adequate, but everything in between left me wanting for more. I wasn't transported into the story and I so desperately wanted to be. There was a slight predictability, but also some things that were a sneaky surprise.

Overall, this was a fast, fun read. Loose ends were nicely tied up, but with the set-up of possible future stories of this cast left open.

Awakening The Nightmare is currently available at Smashwords