Happy Halloween & A Series Spotlight

 

 

　

Some of my favorite things about October is being able to go to a bunch of haunted houses (Fallsburg Haunted House was AMAZING!), watch a ton of scary movies on TV and take my kids trick or treating. And since I love Halloween so much I thought I would do something Halloweeny for the blog.

I have been racking my brain trying to come up with something to do and I finally decided that I would spotlight my FAVORITE SERIES EVER since it involves vampires, ghouls and one book even has a few zombies. The series that I’m talking about is the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost!

I fell in love with this series years ago when I first met Cat and Bones, and I have been a devoted fangirl ever since. The last book in the series comes out in January and I’m devastated to say goodbye, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show why I love this series in hopes that someone else will decide to pick it up and fall in love with BONES this world and BONES these characters it like I did.

Here are just a few reasons why I love this series:

 

Bones – Yes, he has to be number 1! Bones was my first book boyfriend and I will always refer to him as my first ‘book boyfriend’ love. He’s strong, loyal, cocky, sarcastic and he will protect what he loves at all cost. 

 

Cat – Cat is the most kick-ass heroine that I have ever had the pleasure of ‘meeting’. She’s a freaking vampire hunter, how bad ass is that? She also doesn’t take shit from anyone, she’s more likely to knock you on your ass than shake your hand.

 

The Humor – I can’t tell you how many times these books made me laugh out loud. Below are some example of the quotes that tickled me:

 

　

"You called her Kitten? And she let you? She put me in a coma for three days when I called her that! My balls never recovered from her smashing them into my spine!"

 

"What the hell was that?" I gasped. "Premature inflammation," he replied. "Happens sometimes. Very embarrassing. I don’t like to talk about it." 

"I am going to knock the slut out of you. And that should take some doing, you uppity English tramp!"

 

"Lucifer’s bouncing balls, Kitten, not again!" Uh-oh. I squirmed, instinctively also trying to block Tony’s body from his view. As if that made him any less dead. "She was going to stab you," I said in my defense. "Look in her hand!" He was looking at the ground near my feet instead. "Him, too?" I nodded, sheepish. "He jumped me." Bones just stared. "You’re not a woman," he said finally. "You’re the grim reaper with red hair!"

 

The Romance – This is one of those books where you can feel the connection between the two main characters. I’ve read some books where the connection sucked and I couldn’t believe they end up together. Here’s a few more quotes from the books:

　

"If I die, I will wait for you, do you understand? No matter how long. I will watch from beyond to make sure you live every year you have to its fullest, and then we’ll have so much to talk about when I see you again."

 

"Do you think I’m pretty?" I heard myself ask. Something I couldn’t name flashed across his face. "No. I don’t think you’re pretty. I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen."

 

"You think I look like an angel? Well, Kitten, your hands are heaven and your eyes are my home."

 

"There were words for what he meant to me, but if I studied every language ever spoken for the next thousand years, I still wouldn’t find enough of them to describe it."

 

 

　I'll leave you with a Halloweeny video :)
 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

Talk To Me

Have you read these books? If so, what do you think of them? If not, do you think you will give them a try?

 

 

 

Book Review | Contaminated by Em Garner

Format: e-ARC

Source: Netgalley

 

 

Publisher: Egmont USA

Publication Date: July 23, 2013

 

Pages: 336

 

Goodreads | Amazon

After the Contamination—an epidemic caused by the super-trendy diet drink ThinPro that turned ordinary citizens into violent, uncontrollable creatures—the government rounded up the "Connies" to protect the remaining population. Now, two years later, the rehabilitated are being allowed home, complete with shock collars that will either control, or kill, them.

Velvet Ellis has struggled to care for her ten-year-old sister since her parents were taken in the round up. When she finds her mother in one of the "Kennels," Velvet resolves to do whatever it takes to put her family back together. But the danger isn’t over. It’s beginning all over again…

Gritty and grabbing, Velvet is a harrowing, emotionally charged novel for fans of Carrie Ryan and The Walking Dead.



When I first saw this book on Netgalley, I immediately thought zombies and since I’m a huge zombie fan, I requested it. I have to say that this book was not what I was expecting at all, although that could be my fault since I normally don’t read summaries. While this book was good but it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for.

Contaminated starts off with Velvet (Our MC) in a ‘Kennel’ searching for something. When I saw the word ‘kennel’, I immediately thought of dogs. But, I quickly found out that dogs were nowhere near close to what Velvet was searching for and she’s actually searching for her mother who was contaminated.

The contaminated or Connies, are sort of like zombies, only they are not dead and they can’t infect you with their bites. But, they are still very violent and they will take a bite out of you if they get the chance. Also, unlike zombies the Connies can be neutralized to the point where they are considered not dangerous. Once the Connies are neutralized they are sent to the Kennels so that family members can claim them and take them home.

Velvet has been working to take care of her ten year old sister, Opal, since her mom and dad were contaminated. She has been going to the Kennels in hopes of finding her mom since they opened. But once she gets her mom home, she realizes that it’s a lot more work than she was expecting. Velvet is a very strong person, even after her parents were contaminated she pushed on in order to take care of her little sister. Opal is such a sweet girl and I immediately liked her.

 

Overall, Contaminated was a good read that I would recommend to fans of the horror genre, especially those who like the genre but are a little queasy with too much blood or guts. Even though this book started off slow, it picked up about halfway through. I’m interested to see if this is going to be series, especially after that ending.

 

Book Review | Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Series: Pushing the Limits # 3

Format: e-ARC
 

Source: Netgalley
 

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: November 26, 2013

Pages: 474

Goodreads | Amazon

　

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other

*Warning – Contains spoilers from Dare You To*

　

I have been impatiently waiting to get my hands on this book ever since I read Dare You To. I couldn’t wait to read Isaiah’s story and see how everything would work out since he didn’t end up with Beth. I’m happy to say that Crash Into You exceeded my very high expectations, Katie McGarry just keeps getting better, this book is by far my favorite book in this series and that’s saying a lot since I LOVED Pushing the Limits and Dare You To.

I must admit that I didn’t really know what to expect from this book because we didn’t really get to know Isaiah that good in the previous books. We get to know Isaiah a lot better in this story. I knew in the previous that he had been through a lot more than any seventeen year old should, but I didn’t know exactly what had weighed him down until I read this book.

Isaiah is such a strong character, he lets the world see his tough side but behind that exterior, he is actually incredibly caring and loyal. Rachel also puts on a front for her family because she feels like she needs to be someone else and hide who she truly is in order to make her family happy.

I know some people were sad that Isaiah and Beth didn’t end up together but I was glad that they didn’t. And after reading this book I’m even happier, because Isaiah and Rachel are absolutely perfect for each other and Rachel is such a sweetheart. They were exactly what the other person needed.

McGarry is a genius, she knows exactly how to hook you from the very first page and never let you go. I can guarantee that I will read anything she writes, and I’m pretty sure that I will fall in love with it, just as she has made me fall in love with these characters.

 

Waiting on Wednesday (28)

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows us to showcase what books we are eagerly anticipating.

 

My pick this week is:

 

The Treatment by Suzanne Young

 

Expected Publication Date: April 29, 2014

 

 

Can Sloane and James survive the lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end? Find out in this sequel to The Program, which Publishers Weekly called “chilling and suspenseful.”

How do you stop an epidemic?

Sloane and James are on the run after barely surviving the suicide epidemic and The Program. But they’re not out of danger. Huge pieces of their memories are still missing, and although Sloane and James have found their way back to each other, The Program isn’t ready to let them go.

Escaping with a group of troubled rebels, Sloane and James will have to figure out who they can trust, and how to take down The Program. But for as far as they’ve come, there’s still a lot Sloane and James can’t remember. The key to unlocking their past lies with the Treatment—a pill that can bring back forgotten memories, but at a high cost. And there’s only one dose.

Ultimately when the stakes are at their highest, can Sloane and James survive the many lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end?

 

 

 

What book are you waiting on?

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday | Unique Character Names

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

 

This week's topic is: Unique Character Names

 

Here's my list:

 

 

 

 

Book Review | Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent # 2

Format: Hardcover
 

Source: Purchased
 

Publisher: HarperCollins
 

Publication Date: May 1, 2012
 

Pages: 525

Goodreads | Amazon

　

One choice can transform you, or destroy you.

Every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself, while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

 Like I said in my review of Divergent, I read these two books when they first came out. But with the third and final book coming out in a few weeks I decided that I needed to re-read the first two books in this trilogy because I knew that I had forgotten A LOT of what had happened, but I didn’t realize just how much I couldn’t remember until I re-read this book.

Insurgent starts off with Tris, Four and a bunch of other people seeking refuge from the Amity, but it’s clear from the beginning that they won’t be able to stay long. The Amity are all about peace and Tris and Four are about fighting for what is right.

If you read my review of Divergent you know exactly how strong of a character that I thought Tris was. She was still strong in this book, but I felt like she was a little too reckless. She put herself in so many situations in which she could have gotten killed and I think if she would have listened to Four they could have figured out a better way to go about doing things. Four was still the smart, strong and compassionate guy that we met in Divergent and I wish that Tris would have trusted him a little more.

It has been so long since I read this book the first time, I had forgotten some MAJOR things. I mean I read a few things that once again shocked the crap out of me. Like the traitor who had been giving Jeanine all of her information about Tris. And that ending….wow. I can’t believe how much that I had forgotten. I’m so glad that I decided to re-read the first two books before the final one comes out. I think it will make reading Allegiant much more powerful.

Overall, Insurgent is just as fast-paced and action packed as its predecessor. If you are looking for a book that will keep you on your toes, then you should give this trilogy a try. You won’t be disappointed.

 

Sunday Funday | Cast A Harry Potter Spell

 

 

I saw this survey over at Flip That Page and it looked like so much fun that I thought I would give it a try. Be sure to check out Jasmine’s page for all the details if you would like to participate.

 

 

Cast A Spell

　

Reparo

A book that needs some serious fixing. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. When I first saw the cover and read the synopsis for this book, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it so I pre-ordered it from Amazon and waiting anxiously for it to arrive. Then I read it and I was so disappointed. This is one of the worst cases of insta-love that I have ever seen! And this is the first book that I have read where I was constantly wanting to punch the MC.

Lumos

A book that deserves more attention. The Beginning of After (Jennifer Castle). I loved this book, it was just so touching.

Nox

An overhyped book. Twilight (Stephenie Meyer). I enjoyed these books but I feel like it is one of the most hyped up books out there.

Accio

A book you’re anticipating. Up from the Grave (Jeaniene Frost). This is the last book in the Night Huntress series and while I hate to say goodbye, I’m dying to know what happens.

Alohomora

A book you want to be more open about. The Book Thief. I’ve heard such AMAZING things about this book but I’m just not sure that it would be something that I would like. I hope to give it a try one of these days.

Expecto Patronum

A book that made you cry, or at least want to. If I Stay (Gayle Forman). I think I cried throughout the WHOLE book! And I’m not talking about a tear here and there, I’m talking about red eyes, blotchy faced, snotty nose, ugly crying.

Morsmordre

A book you wish to mark as one of your favorites. Pivot Point (Kasie West). I was surprised by how much that I loved this book. I can’t wait to see what happens in Split Second!

Petrificus Totalus

A book you wish to keep forever.  The Fault In Our Stars (John Green) This is one of my favorite books and I'm sure I will reread it plenty of times in my life.  

Protego

An intimidating book you keep putting off. Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin) This books sounds like the type of book that I would really enjoy, but it’s over 800 pages and that scares the shit out of me.

Riddikulus

A book with a deceiving synopsis.  Masque of the Red Death (Bethany Griffin) The synopsis made this book sound AUH-MAZ-ING, however the book was not.

Lacarnum Inflamarae

A book you wish to burn out of your mind completely. The Infinite Moment of Us (Lauren Myracle) I wish I had never picked this book up.

Wingardium Leviosa

A book you wish to reread. Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi) I can’t remember much about this book so hopefully before Ignite Me comes out I will reread Shatter Me and then read Unravel Me.

Avada Kedavra

Worst book EVER. Dead Witch Walking (Kim Harrison). I have never been as bored with a book as I was with this one. Needless to say, this was a DNF.

 

 

Spell's Cast On You

　

　

　

　

Stupefy

A book with a chapter you couldn’t seem to get over.  With All My Soul (Rachel Vincent) Chapter 21.  I just don't even know what to say...

Confundo

A book that generally confused you. The Time Traveler’s Wife. This book had me so confused that I just gave up (I loved the movie though)

Crucio

A book that was a pain to read. City of Bones (Cassandra Clare). This book just had too many details, eventually I got bored and was skimming A LOT.

Episkey

A feel good book that you enjoyed.  My Life Next Door (Huntley Fitzpatrick). This is one of those books that just makes you smile whenever you think about it.

Expelliarmus

A book with a swoon-worthy character. Origin (Jennifer L. Armentrout). Daemon Black, need I say more? No? Didn’t think so :D

Impedimenta

A book that kept you up all night reading. The Program (Suzanne Young). This book took me completely by surprise, I thought that I would enjoy it, but I absolutely fell in love with it.

Silencio

A book that left you speechless after you read it. The Fault in our Stars (John Green) that ending…

Legilimens

A book with well-developed characters. Divergent (Veronica Roth). These are some of the most well-developed characters that I have read. Four, anyone?

Levicorpus

A book that changed your mind about a character from its prequel. I haven’t read any prequels so I’m going to have to cheat on this one a little bit and do characters I have changed my mind about from the first book. Austin in Gold (Talia Vance). When I read Silver I absolutely hated him, but by the end of Gold he captured my heart.

Obliviate

A book with a story you can’t remember. Article 5 (Kristen Simmons) The only thing I can remember about this book was that I loved it. I even bought Breaking Point when it came out but when I tried to read it I couldn’t remember anything about the first book so I had to put it down until I’m able to reread Article 5

Peskipiksi Pesternomi

A boring book that had absolutely no effect on you. Carrier of the Mark (Leigh Fallon) I know a lot of people really enjoyed this book but I just didn’t like it AT ALL.

Reducto

A book that convinced you to reconsider a certain genre. 15 Minutes (Jill Cooper). I have never been big on Time Travel books since I’m very easily confused, but I enjoyed this book so much that I’ve considered trying more Time Travel books.

Rictusempra

A book that made you laugh. First Grave on the Right (Darynda Jones) Charley is so hilarious that I was laughing throughout most of the book.

Sectusempra

A book that may have scarred you for life. I don’t think I’ve came across a book that I feel has scarred me for life…yet.

Tarantallegra

A series finale that made you feel giddy. With All My Soul (Rachel Vincent). This was one of the best endings that I’ve read, I felt like I got the closure that I needed.

Bombarda Maxima

A book that made you explode with the feels. Where She Went (Gayle Forman) Yes, all the feels…

Finite Incantatem

A book you thought you’d dislike, but ended up loving. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins). When I first read the summary for this book I thought ‘ehh, I probably won’t like it’ then I saw it on sale on Kindle and I figured that I may as well give it a go. Needless to say that was a very good decision.


Be sure to leave me a link if you do this survey so I can check it out!

 

Stacking the Shelves (31)

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tygna's Reviews that allows us to showcase what books we got the previous week.

 

Here's my haul

 

 

Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green (Traded)

 

 

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (Kindle for .99)

 

What did you get?

 

 

CBA Discussion | Bookstore, Please!

In the last few months it was announced that my little town was getting its very own mall!

 

 

 

Last week a few of the stores that were going in the mall were announced and I was so disappointed that a Barnes & Noble or Books – A – Million wasn’t on the list. 

 

 

 So, I thought I would create a list of why my little town in Eastern Kentucky needs a B&N or BAM. Yes, I know it’s HIGHLY UNLIKEY that anyone who has a say in what stores go in the mall will ever read this, but a girl can hope, right?

 

The List:

 

Every book blogger DESERVES to have a bookstore no more than 30 minutes from their house. – There is not one good ‘real’ bookstore in my small town, the nearest BAM is 3 hours away in Somerset. I think the mall store decider people need to realize just how inconvenient this is for me.

 

Amazon is slow about sending books – I honestly don’t know what I would do if it wasn’t for Amazon. BUT, it takes SO LONG for the books that I order to come in, especially the ones that I pre-order, I usually don’t get those until weeks after it’s been released. I know that they have the 1 and 2 day shipping but it’s like 20 dollars, I could buy more books with that money!

Wal-Mart’s book selection sucks – In my supercenter Wal-Mart, the book section is not very big and most of what’s there is Adult Romance. The YA sections is just a couple of feet long and it’s always stocked with books that I’ve already read like Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc. They hardly ever have any new books that I’m looking forward to.

My husband might not hate going in to bookstores as much with me – I think that my husband absolutely HATES when he has to go into a bookstore with me. The reason being is that there’s not one close to me so when we are out of town and I find one…I’m in there for hours! Last time we were at a BAM, after about an hour he said that he had to pee but he couldn’t find the bathroom so we needed to leave and go back to his grandma’s house so he could use the bathroom…yeah, I still don’t believe that.

I want to go to an author signing – Whenever I see pictures or stories that bloggers share from author signings, I admit I do get a little jealous. I would love to meet one of my favorite authors and hopefully, one day I will

My library RARELY has any books that I want to read – My library is just like Wal-Mart in the sense that they tend to get the Adult Romance books instead of YA books. Well guess what Library and Wal-Mart, I DON’T like Adult Romance, I want more YA books!

It would be a great place for my kids to work when they get old enough – I know it’s a long way off but…discount??

　

I’m sure that I could come up with a lot more reasons...

 

 

Talk To Me

 

Do you agree with my reasons? Do you live far away from a bookstore and hate it as much as I do?