CRYPTIC CRAVINGS AND IMMORTAL HEARTS by Ellen Schreiber-REVIEW

Raven and the other teens in Dullsville are excited about a new club opening up in their town. Jagger has decided to open up The Crypt in Dullsville. It will be the happening place since Jagger knows how to market such projects with his ownership in The Coffin Club.

What Raven and Alexander are afraid of is that Jagger will open The Crypt up to other vampires. Alexander has managed to live in Dullsville without bringing too much attention to himself. If other vampires relocate to Dullsville then that could not only put Alexander in danger, but also the humans of Dullsville could be in danger.

Their solution to the problem? Open the club to only mortals and a select few vampires. But will Jagger stick with this plan or does he have a  more "nefarious" agenda?

My first pet-peeve of the book is that word "nefarious". In my opinion it was used WAY TOO MUCH throughout the book. Everyone had "nefarious" agendas going on and it almost became comical to me. It was like the author just found this new word and had to sprinkle it throughout the whole book. The next peeve was the phrase, "My true love" or "My one true love" that Raven kept using to describe Alexander. UGH! Again, overuse of a word or phrase. I've really become disappointed in this series. I used to enjoy it, but now it seems just a bit too juvenile and silly and maybe even a bit like a Twilight wannabe. It even seems that the author is trying for that triangle since Trevor seems to be becoming less hated by Raven. Another overuse of a word when Raven refers to Trevor is "my nemesis". There is one more book in the series and YES, I am going to read it just to say that I finished it out!


 IMMORTAL HEARTS:

Alexander's sister Stormy is in Dullsville for a visit. Raven spends a lot of time worrying about how Stormy will feel about her. She prepares a room in the mansion for Stormy and manages to make a good impression. Stormy also hits it off with Raven's brother Billy and his friend Henry. More and more humans are becoming part of the vampire's secret. Trevor is still Raven's nemesis even though she has sentimental feelings for him. Jagger and Luna are still trying to hatch a scheme to break up Raven and Alexander. And of course Raven can't wait to be turned into a vampire by Alexander.

I am so happy I am done with this series! These last two books have totally disappointed me. The writing was choppy and the characters immature and silly. Sentences were repetitive and some didn't even make sense. An example, "His lips were always as tender as imaginable"(pg. 129). HUH? What does that mean? At least in Immortal Hearts there was not one "nefarious" used and I only noticed "my true love" or "my one true love" a couple of times. A question I have is WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? Raven is out all hours of the night. She parties at The Crypt which doesn't seem to have any adult supervision. Raven seems to be more of a middle schooler than a high school junior. I'm definitely ready to move on to something else.

One thing that I have always appreciated about the Vampire Kisses novels has been the fact that they are clean reads. Little to no cursing and no sex. Raven does like to cuddle with Alexander in his coffin, but there have never been any sexual references.

BLACK DAWN by Rachel Caine-REVIEW

The draug have come to Morganville!

For the desert town of Morganville the recent torrential rains have brought the Vampires worst enemy to town. For the Vampires the draug have set up pools to feed on them. The draug prefer to feed on vampires, but they can make do with humans also.

As always Michael, Eve, Shane and Claire are all right in the middle of the action. Claire is helping Myrnin find something that will kill off the draug. They must find something because the main draug is after Claire. She is the only one that can see his form clearly. She is a threat to Magnus and he is determined to kill her once again.

While Amalie lays dying, the fight to take over her rule of Morganville is being played out. Oliver has set himself up to take care of Amalie, but make no mistake, he knows that when Amalie dies he will take her place as the ruler of the town. But Amalie's sister Naomi has a different thought. She too wants control, and neither one of them plan on extending the humans as many rights as Amalie has. Morganville is about to change.

Wow! I don't know how Rachel Caine does it, but each new installment of The Morganville Vampire series leaves me wanting the next one! The tension of fighting The draug, the humor between Claire and her friends, and the romance between Michael and Eve, and Claire and Shane keep the reader busy turning the pages. I would think, "I'll stop reading at the end of this chapter" and at the end of the chapter I would have to continue reading to find out what happened next. Speaking of romance! Oh my goodness! Michael and Eve are having some issues, but they always seem to have issues. And who wouldn't have issues if your fiance just tried to kill you in a wild feeding frenzy? Claire and Shane need each other! I'm not talking sexually, although there is a little bit of that(nothing graphic thank goodness), they need each other emotionally. It's like they survive for each other. The next book in the series, Bitter Blood, comes out in November and I can't wait. Black Dawn ended with so many loose ends needing to be tied up. What is to become of Morganville and it's inhabitants now?


Sexual Content: Some sexual situations but not graphic
Language Content: Some language including the "f" word
Violence Content: Situations of peril and killing


The Morganville books are definitely for the more mature teenager.

LAST BREATH by Rachel Caine-REVIEW

Once again something bad is happening in Morganville. Vampires are disappearing. Nobody knows where they are going once they disappear.

Michael and Eve are determined that they will be married even though Amelie refuses them permission to marry. Both human and vampires alike are against the union.

Amelie obviously knows what is happening in Morganville, but she refuses to share with Claire and her friends what is going on. Amelie is determined to get all of the vampires out of Morganville.

Unfortunately an evil more powerful than Claire and her friends have ever faced before has arrived in Morganville. When tragedy strikes none of them are prepared for what happens next.

At first I thought oh no, here we go again. Claire and her friends are once again fighting for their lives. But Rachel Caine has managed to bring a new twist to their fight for survival that has me once again sitting on the edge of my seat waiting breathlessly for the next book!

Violence=A lot
Sexual Situations=Alluded to, but not descriptive
Language=Quite a bit for my taste

LOVE BITES(Vampire Kisses #7) by Ellen Schreiber-Review #4

Alexander’s best friend Sebastian shows up in Dullsville. Raven is happy that Alexander has someone his own kind to be with until Sebastian meets her best friend Becky. Sebastian is instantly infatuated and thinks himself in love. Becky is flattered but very much in love with her boyfriend Matt. Raven and Alexander decide to throw a party for Sebastian so that he can meet someone else to be the love of his life. What they don’t count on is the party being crashed by Trevor and his followers. What started out to be a small party turns into quite a blowout.


This installment of the Vampire Kisses series wasn’t my favorite. With the way this book ended with a cliffhanger hopefully the next installment will be more exciting.
This series is fairly clean. Very little language and just a bit of kissing.

THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR TOD EIGHTH GRADE BITES by Heather Brewer-REVIEW

Vlad is in the eighth grade. Vlad is fodder for the bullies. Vlad is half human and half vampire. His mother was human and his father was a vampire.


Vlad’s parents have both died. He lives with “Aunt Nelly” who isn’t his real Aunt, but was his mother’s best friend. Nelly is trying to give Vlad a “normal” life. She is a nurse so she is able to bring him blood from work. She hides the blood in different forms so that Vlad can live like other teenagers. She will place it in a cup and call it “tea”. She puts capsules of blood in his sandwiches so that he can remain nourished throughout the day. Vlad has never tasted blood straight from the source…well with one exception. When he was 8 he bit his best friend Henry. Henry is the only human besides Nelly that knows that Vlad is a vampire.

When one of the teachers at school is missing and feared dead scary things start to happen for Vlad. First is their new substitute teacher. One of the first things he wants the class to do is write a presentation on a mythical figure. Vlad picks Werewolf out of the hat, but right before his eyes the words transform into the word “VAMPIRE”. Other things happen that make Vlad fear that this new substitute may be onto his secret and may even be the reason that the teacher is missing and also may be responsible for the death of his parents.

Through reading his father’s old journal Vlad discovers that there is a whole vampire world that he never knew existed. Can he discover who killed his parents and why?

Eighth Grade Bites was entertaining. And I look forward to seeing how Vlad developes as we go with him through the twelfth grade.

TANTALIZE by Cynthia Leitich Smith - REVIEW

Quincie Morris leads a stressful life; playing the part of a responsible adult since the death of her parents has left her the owner of the family restaurant. Fat Lorenzo’s was a successful family business until a large Italian restaurant chain moved in down the street. The small business couldn’t compete, so in order to keep the doors open, her Uncle Davidson, now her guardian and manager of the restaurant, decided to change Fat Lorenzo’ into a vampire-themed Italian restaurant called Sanguini’s. The chef would be the center of the act, leading a midnight toast every night.

Quincie’s close friend, Vaggio, has been with the restaurant for years as its chef and is looking forward to the new challenge. Quincie works late many nights a week. She is either working with Vaggio, taste-testing for the new menu, or organizing some of the many tasks left to do before opening night. One night while she is in the office reviewing her “To Do List,” she hears a noise from the kitchen. Thinking Vaggio simply dropped something, she continues to work. She is also waiting for Kieren, a half-werewolf that has been the love of her life and best friend for years. She is startled when she hears Kieren’s frantic cry calling her name from the kitchen. Immediately going to meet him, she is horrified by the site of Vaggio dead on the kitchen floor, bloodied and mangled as if torn apart by wolves. Kieren is bloodied from attempting to help and is desperate with worry about Quincie. He quickly pulls her from the restaurant and goes down the street to call the police. Once the police arrive, they return to the scene of the crime to answer questions.


Quincie feels her world closing in on her. She has lost her parents and a dear friend within a short period of time. Her Uncle Davidson has been preoccupied with Ruby, his wannabe vampire girlfriend, so much so that he isn’t ever home and rarely spends time with Quincie anymore. Now, she learns that Kieren is planning to leave. He is going to join a werewolf pack for support while he learns the ways of his culture. Once he joins, he will never be able to come back. The thought of never seeing, touching, or talking to Kieren again leaves her shaken.


Quincie is in a vulnerable state when the new chef for Sanguini’s shows up unexpectedly. Uncle Davidson hired him without even consulting her, which irritates her since she is usually considered a partner when it comes to major decisions. Henry Johnson is the new chef and as he and Quincie work together to make him more vampire-like, they grow closer. The first thing they change is his name, and Henry Johnson becomes Bradley Sanguini. Bradley cooks for her daily, constantly trying new recipes for the possible menu. He also introduces her to wine. Never one for drinking, she quickly develops a taste for it, seeming to always have a glass of wine in her hand while she is working. She is surprised that her uncle doesn’t say anything about her drinking. She is even more shocked when Uncle Davidson allows her to drink wine at home.


Quincie’s life seems to flash before her eyes. Her mind is occupied with thoughts of the restaurant so much that her grades at school begin to fall. She loses interest in any activity that isn’t surrounding Sanguini’s. She begins to spend less time with Kieren, both because she is afraid of her feelings when he is gone for good and because Bradley and Uncle Davidson plant the seed of suspicion in her mind that Kieren might have lost control of his change and killed Vaggio himself. All of these thoughts distract her to the point that she is lured into a dangerous situation where there is no way out. Her life will be forever changed.


TANTALIZE by Cynthia Leitich Smith is a stimulating paranormal mystery mixed with romance. The relationship between Quincie and Kieren is touching and so deep that the reader feels Quincie’s pain at the thought of losing Kieren, while at the same time understanding Kieren’s reasons for keeping Quincie at arms length and never following through on the emotions he feels for her.

Edifying Meets Edgy Halfway - THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS TRILOGY by Cassandra Clare

Sorry we've been gone so long folks.  Julie has been in California visiting family and I've been finishing up my dissertation.  Now that things have settled down and Julie is on her way home, we can get back into the groove.  As an apology for our long absence, we have a wonderful chance for you.


Julie and I both LOVED LOVED LOVED Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Trilogy. 

When asked about the trilogy Julie said:
"Yep, I liked them a lot.  They were fairly clean.  The demon stuff and the hint of sex would make them a bit more on the PG13 side.

Cassandra Clare is my hero.  I love the world she created in these books.  I want to be Clary and I definitely want to know Jace.  There were several times during the course of these novels where I was brought to tears or laughed out loud.  These are a must read.


Karin's Reviews:
CITY OF BONES
CITY OF ASHES
CITY OF GLASS

One lucky winner will win a box set from Amazon.  All you have to do is fill out the Google Form below by Thursday, July 1st.

New Feature - Edifying & Edgy SPLIT - ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Well, as much as Julie and I love each other, we don't always agree about the books we read.  We already have the Edifying Meets Edgy Halfway posts that allow us to come together and gush about the books we both love, but....like I said, we don't always agree.

Recently, Julie read a book that she really didn't like. As you'll see from her in just a minute, she almost didn't finish it. The thing is, I really enjoyed it when I read it (back in December 2008). When we were discussing what we wanted to post on E & E next, Julie came up with the brilliant idea that we should highlight the books we disagree on too. So, here you go!  

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess's personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl's soul and plan the Master's fast-approaching Death Day gala. In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages.

I'm not one to give up on a book easily. But this one I came close to setting aside. The main thing I didn't like about it was the whole "guardian- angel- living- a -life -of -debauchery" scenario. Zachary(the guardian angel) also admits to watching Miranda(the girl he is guardian over) shower and dress etc etc which kind of creeped me out about an angel. His casual references to "the man upstairs" was offensive to me. The ending of the book was exciting and redeemed it just a bit.

ETERNAL was a fast and enjoyable read. The pages fly by and the end comes too soon. I didn't mind seeing Zachary's "human" side coming out as he fell in love with Miranda while acting as her Guardian Angel and I loved watching him struggle to find a way to get into Miranda's life after he was made human.  It was also nice reading about vampires that actually fed on humans.  ETERNAL is the companion to TANTALIZE. The third book in this series is called BLESSED (2011) and the characters from both TANTALIZE and ETERNAL will cross over and I can’t wait to see what happens when they meet.

Do you want to win a copy of ETERNAL and decide for yourself?  If so, fill out the Google Form below.

Which side are you on?  Show the world.  Be proud of your reading tastes!

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