Review - MacRieve - By: Kresley Cole

Title: Macrieve
Author: Kresley Cole
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: July 2nd, 2013
Series: Immortals After Dark #13
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Synopsis via Goodreads

In this pulse-pounding Immortals After Dark tale, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole delves into the darkest mysteries and deepest passions of Clan MacRieve. . .

A Beast In Torment

Uilleam MacRieve believed he’d laid to rest the ghosts of his boyhood. But when a brutal torture revives those ancient agonies and destroys his Lykae instinct, the proud Scot craves the oblivion of death. Until he finds her—a young human so full of spirit and courage that she pulls him back from the brink.

A Beauty In Chains

Seized for the auction block, Chloe Todd is forced to enter a terrifying new world of monsters and lore as a bound slave. When offered up to creatures of the dark, she fears she won’t last the night. Until she’s claimed by him—a tormented immortal with heartbreaking eyes, whose touch sets her blood on fire.

A Full Moon On The Rise

With enemies circling, MacRieve spirits Chloe away to the isolated Highland keep of his youth. But once he takes her to his bed, his sensual mate becomes something more than human, evoking his savage past and testing his sanity. On the cusp of the full moon, can he conquer his worst nightmare to save Chloe . . . from himself?

My rating:

After sorting through a bunch of "meh" YA and New Adult, the release of Kresley Cole's MacRieve was just the non-narcotic boost I needed. I feel like a random, crazy song & dance is in order. Or maybe just a spontaneous combustion or something.

Yes! I give it 5 freaking stars and this book earned every single one of them.

I don't even know where to begin with Will and his mate, Chloe, so let me just start off by mentioning: yes, Chloe definitely is a species that hadn't really been delved into yet, as per Kresley Cole's tweeting about the novel prior to its release. And yes, within 10 or so pages of reading I'd correctly guessed what she'd be.

And now that that's out of the way, onto the best part: Chloe's personality. Chloe was amazing! She's my favorite heroine in the series, I think. From her first appearance to her last, her character was consistent and entertaining. Initially, she was human, but when she got tossed into the Lore she took it all head-on with her stay-positive attitude. She was badass without being too flashy about it. She was tough and hilarious and NEVER backed down without all of the obnoxiousness that comes from being all of those things. From the start, she never took any of Will's shit (and there was A LOT of it), and when things got rough between them--and not in the good, naughty way--she'd fire right back at him. She had a game plan of what she was going to do even as more problems were flying at her that she never strayed from. Everything about her was real, even as the world she'd known wasn't, and I really enjoyed reading about her.

And then we have Will aka Uilleam aka Ooh-lay-umm as Nix called him. He was a mess. A big, dark mess and he knew it. I mean, it was somewhat understandable considering what happened to him in the past and then what happened during his capture & torture. He was this big, broody, broken Lykae who suddenly found his mate, and just when things were looking up...in true KC fashion, everything came crashing down in a big pile of lust, anger, bitterness, past trauma, and prejudice. The romance between him and Chloe happened so quickly (I think he fell for her in all of 24 hours, but it's okay 'cause Chloe's just that awesome) and so when it went awry, it nearly self-destructed. Will had a lot of things he needed to work on before he could be with Chloe (namely his disgust for her species) but when he finally got over it, it was glorious.

The later half or so took an interesting turn. It kind of reminded me of a fairy tale, something like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. Chloe got sick, and [*this might be a little spoilery, so keep reading at your own risk*] only Will's literal "true love" could save her. If there was no love, then she would have died. Except, this is a KC novel, so instead of true love's kiss saving her, it's true love's third time doing the horizontal tango. After that, it stopped focusing on Will & Chloe's relationship, as they got their HEA a little early.

We get a couple surprises, and if I'm not wrong, I think Munro might be next in line with his HEA looking at how badly things ended for him. Or maybe not, since he'd need a bit of time to wait and see how things go. I know I'm being vague, but I'm trying not to give any spoilers away.

As for cameos from other characters in past books, there weren't many in person. Nix, of course, was there, as was Malkom Slaine. Some were merely mentioned. Others like Regin and Mariketa were only there through overheard cell phone conversations, which was kind of a bummer and a good thing. It left room for Chloe & Will to develop their feelings for one another, but I kinda wanted to know what was going on with everyone else.

As always, KC delivers with this book. Her prose was gripping as she delved deeper with the worldbuilding and introduced new characters and new species of the Lore. It took me about two days to finish this book, since the only time I put it down was when I all but passed out from exhaustion. Chloe & Will fit so well together while still being strong individuals. And while there was more focus on building up the romance and not as much action as we'd usually see in an IAD novel, it's okay because the romance is what I'm here for anyways :)

Review - Elite - Rachel van Dyken

Title: Elite
Author: Rachel van Dyken
Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Release Date: July 9th, 2013
Series: Eagle Elite #1
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Synopsis via Goodreads

For Tracey Rooks, life with her grandparents on a Wyoming farm has always been simple. But after her grandmother's death, Tracey is all her grandfather has. So when Eagle Elite University announces its annual scholarship lottery, Tracey jumps at the opportunity to secure their future and enters. She isn't expecting much-but then she wins. And life as she knows it will never be same . . .

The students at Eagle Elite are unlike any she's ever met . . . and they refuse to make things easy for her. There's Nixon, gorgeous, irresistible, and leader of a group that everyone fears: The Elect. Their rules are simple.

1. Do not touch The Elect.

2. Do not look at The Elect.

3. Do not speak to The Elect.

No matter how hard she tries to stay away, The Elect are always around her and it isn't long until she finds out the reason why they keep their friends close and their enemies even closer. She just didn't realize she was the enemy -- until it was too late.

My rating:

So I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I hated this book at chapter one. I hated it so much it almost ended up in my don't-ever-read pile. The protagonist, Trace, seemed spineless and naive--characteristics that are annoying in their own right but unbearable paired together. By the tenth time I'd rolled my eyes I thought I'd save myself the pain of reading it and move on.

And I am SO GLAD I convinced myself not to.

Seriously. 4.5 fantastic freaking stars to the fresh, original and dangerously intriguing first installment of Rachel van Dyken's (whom I now tip my invisible but stylishly feathered hat to) Elect Series.

So now that I got the bad news out of the way, the good news is that I loved this book. It may've had its faults and I'll get to those later, but I loved it.

It starts out with Tracey "Trace" Rooks coming to her new school and immediately being introduced to the rules by a very rude and astoundingly attractive group of boys. Now, initially I thought I was in for something paranormal. Mysterious school. Mysterious guys. Mysterious rules. Eventually, I learned that paranormalcy wasn't the case. Nope. It was just a small group of people called the "Elect" (which seemed to be synonymous with "pretentious, self-entitled, self-centered dickheads") that ruled the school. Or, to be specific, it was Nixon, their leader and Trace's love interest that ruled the school. And when I say "ruled the school", I mean it. He, an alleged student, got to control when and what people got to eat for crying out loud.

Remember how I called Trace spineless and naive? Yeah, not so much. She didn't take kindly to their rules and she suffered the consequences. This book took "hazing" to the next level. Aside from that, though, I really liked Trace. Well, after I got over my initial hatred. When she wasn't a crying mess from all the crap she took from the other students, she was intelligent and witty. I admired her for sticking through the hazing and for her determination to create a better life for herself and her grandfather.

And then we have Nixon, with whom I had mixed feelings about. I hated him in the beginning, too. Calling him an asshole would've been much, much too mild. He humiliated Trace constantly, and then claimed it was to protect her. (Which turned out to be true in the end, but when I didn't know that, I despised him.) He had this air of infallible arrogance about him. Maybe the arrogance was justified by his unquantifiable amount of wealth and power over EVERYTHING EVER but it was still aggravating. By the time he and Trace began their Romeo & Juliet-esque love affair, he'd redeemed himself a bit, but he was still a jerk.

Imagine my surprise when their romance ended up being my favorite part. Once Nixon stopped being a douche and we learn the real reason he was being a douche, it was easy to accept. With the end's "big reveal" also came the big reveal for Trace and Nixon. Their relationship was all kinds of endearing.

His breathing turned shallow. He closed his eyes and mumbled, "It was always supposed to be like this. Always."

They had swoon-worthy moments as well as steamy moments, and I soon found myself rooting for them. I'm a sucker for old, forbidden love, what can I say?

The thing is: I spent the majority of this book confused. If you don't like being confused, I don't recommend this book. Actually, I take that back because the big reveal is well worth it. Trace's world becomes utter chaos, and I loved the unraveling of her past and how Nixon and the Elect and her family tied into it.

The only problems I had with this book were the following:

1) They were supposed to be in college, but the atmosphere and the dynamic screamed high school. I had a hard time swallowing it.

2) The pacing was too fast. Things happened back to back to back and there wasn't a period where I could rest and think about all the things that were happening to Trace. I just wished R.v.D. had just slowed it down a bit.

3) The potential for a love triangle in the next book. I'm all for Team Nixon at this point, but I don't want there to be a love triangle at all. The sad part is, I'm 100% there will be one with the feelings (rapid feelings, at that) Trace developed for...someone who isn't Nixon.

Other than that, Elite provided just enough originality and arresting drama to keep me hastily turning the pages (or pressing the screen, since I read this on my Nook.) Bravo R.v.D. for turning this heavily sarcastic skeptic (that's me) into a fully-fledged fan and keeping me entertained when I was trying to escape from the heavy boredom of summer homework assignments.

 **ARC courtesy of Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Review - Fifth Grave Past the Light - By: Darynda Jones

Title: Fifth Grave Past the Light
Author: Darynda Jones
Publisher: Piatkus
Release Date: July 9th, 2013
Series: Charley Davidson #5
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Synopsis via Goodreads

Charley Davidson may not look like your everyday, run-of-the-mill grim reaper, but she has vowed to reap grimness wherever she goes despite this unfortunate fact. Sadly, she gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. As he is the main suspect in her arson case, she has vowed to stay away from him until she can find out the truth.

However, when dead women start appearing in her apartment—lost, confused and terrified beyond reason—Charley has no choice but to ask for Reyes' help, especially when it becomes apparent that her own sister, Gemma, is the serial killer's next target. With his ability to observe incorporeally, surely he can find out who's responsible. And even if he can't, he is the one man alive who could protect Gemma no matter who or what came at her. But he wants something in return: Charley. All of her—body and soul. And to keep her sister safe, it is a price she might be willing to pay...

My rating:

Excuse me while I make myself whole again after that ending turned me into a swooning, fangirling mess. Reyes. Why aren't you real? Why aren't you mine? Oh, the injustice of it all...

Now that I got my required dose of melodrama out of the way, can I just begin by saying that Darynda Jones is a genius. The perfect writer. The woman responsible for my insomnia, since sleep became a foreign concept as soon as I got a copy of this wonderful masterpiece of a sequel. NO ONE does sequels like D.J. NO ONE.

I dived into the story like there'd never been a long, excruciating period of time between this book and the last. Coming back to Charley's never-ending wit was refreshing. Her eccentric personality shined through like it always does, no matter how dire the situation is. And in the true Charley Davidson fashion, there were tons of dire situations.

Like usual, D.J. keeps the action nonstop with just enough subplots to make Charley's life crazy. So much was going on, and I loved it. It kept the pacing tight, never allowing a dull moment to creep through. We had Reyes as Charley's neighbor, where naughty times ensued. We had a psycho serial killer, and a twist at the end with the killer that I did NOT see coming. We had random dead blond women appearing in Charley's home and crawling on ceilings. We had the mysterious arsonist (who wasn't so mysterious as I read on). And I'm probably missing more, but after reading that ending, my head is more than a little scrambled.

That ending, though. Abrupt. Mind-blowing. Heart-swelling. Freaking spectacular. I actually did a mental happy dance, with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. I can't say what happens, of course, but just know that unless you have something against Reyes and Charley's relationship, you will NOT be dissapointed. And since I was a fan of them deepening their romance from the beginning, I was near euphoric at the end.

If you're like me, you'd want to know about any advancements with Charley's mysterious powers. Aside from the usual seeing ghosts & having them pass through her, there's quite a bit of new stuff. She slows time occasionally when she's aware of imminent danger. She gets to see things from a different plane, finally getting a glimpse of Reyes's surrounding shadow everyone seems to be going on about. During one scene, she causes a mini-earthquake. There's more and I don't want to give it all away, but her powers really do seem as endless as Reyes said they would be.

Supporting characters are a vital part of enjoying a novel for me. And D.J. has every single one of them down pat. Uncle Bob. Cookie. Officer Taft. Kim Millar. Rocket & Blue Bell. Strawberry Shortcake. Quentin. Amber. Gemma. All the characters we know and love are at the forefront once more in this edgy yet hilarious installment.

But I'm biased, so all of my attention was on the enigma that is Reyes Farrow. He was charming and wicked and sexy and amusing. And since he stayed corporeal the whole time, his moments with Charley got steamy very quickly. Observe:

A huge smile spread across his face. "True enough, so what's eating you? Because, sadly, it's not me."

Way to almost give a girl a stroke over here, Reyes. There's also stuff like this:

"Hey, wait," I said, pulling back, "you are the son of Satan. Maybe we need a safe word."
His grin morphed into something wickedly charming. "Okay, how about, 'Oh my god, it's so big.'"

Oh, Reyes, you dirty man. If that didn't keep me awake more than anything, I don't know what did.

Mama's Got a New e-Reader

Well, since it was my birthday yesterday and I'm currently unemployed, I had to rely on others to get me gifts. Which is fine with me. Really. I love not spending my money on stuff. Plus, I'm still in high school, so it'd be difficult to get a job and keep up with a 7-hour-straight school day plus homework from my AP classes. And yeah, I know, wait until I get to college. It's supposed to be worse. Not only will I be broke and forced to spend my own money, I'll be broke and forced to spend my own money along with living on my own in a completely different time zone from my parents.

But I digress. The reason I made this blog post was to announce that I got a new e-Reader. A Nook e-Reader with the GlowLight feature, to be exact. And so far, I love it. I don't miss having to read e-Books on my smart phone or on my iPod. I'm up there with the big dogs with this thing. Couldn't be more excited. I've already uploaded all of my books to it, and I don't think I've slept for more than two hours in a while. The GlowLight feature is amazing, but insomnia is not becoming of me.

Ah, well. 'Tis the life of a book blogger and writer. I guess I can expect more sleepless nights either reviewing books, reading books, or trying to get a brilliant idea down on paper before I lose it.

For now, I think I'm gonna go enjoy my birthday present. Happy reading!