Kindred in Death (In Death #29) by J.D. Robb

Title: Kindred in Death

Author: J.D. Robb

Series: #29 in the In Death Series

Published: November 2009 by Putnam

Pages: 374

ISBN: 9780399155956

Source: Purchased Copy

 

Description: When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they were looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who had stayed behind.  Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaited them instead. Brutally murdered in her bedroom, Deena's body showed signs of trauma that horrified even the toughest of cops; including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who was specifically requested by the captain to investigate.  When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know yet that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities. Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to bring justice. 

I Give This ...

I've always enjoyed this series.  I like the futuristic setting (I like how advanced technology is in this series).  Plus, I love the characters  .  But, after 29 books (there's actually a newer one than this plus 2 more set for release in fall and winter), I'm wondering if the series is starting to get redundant. 

Yes, Dallas is still battling her inner demons.  I understand how after years of repressing it, it's going to take awhile for the memories to not fill so raw.  But, I would like a book or too, were the case doesn't connect with Dallas.  At the same time, I think each of these cases helps Dallas heal a little more.  So, I hope you see my inner battle. 

I like the stories that seem to involve the whole gang more.  This one seems to focus so much on Dallas, that even Peabody is a background character.  I did really enjoy the case.  It's gruesome and the police have so little to go on, I'm amazed they solved it.  I liked how all the pieces fit so neatly together.  I also liked how I was think the killer was someone completely different than it was.

I'm sure I will keep reading this series.  Eve and Roarke are to good to give up!

Fallen (Fallen #1) by Lauren Kate

Title: Fallen

Author: Lauren Kate

Series: 1st in Series 

Published: December 2009 by Delacorte Press

Pages: 452

ISBN:  9780385738934

Source: Purchased Copy

Description: There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep

secret . . . even if it kills her. 

I Give This ...

 

I honestly haven't read many reviews for Fallen.  I loved the cover and the description, so never realized that it gets quite a few negative reviews.  I was glad for that, because I might have ended up disliking it a lot more than I did.  I'm intrigued by were the story is going, but it took a long time to get me there.

I don't think I got to know Luce very well, even though the book is from her point of view.  I feel like the events that lead up to her arriving at Sword & Cross are skimmed over.  I never fully understood them. Her whole background story is sort of vague.  It's like her whole life story begins the moment she sees Daniel.  Which is really annoying.  Daniel makes it so painstakingly obvious that he wants nothing to do with her.  Yet, she insists on following him around.  We have enough stories like that.     Plus, I don't understand what her role is in everything.  I'm sure the author reveals so little to get you to the next book, but I dislike being dangled along.

Oddly enough, I thought Daniel was fascinating.  I liked his background story.   He knows the stakes and is trying his best to play along.  He's also trying hard to protect Luce from what he feels is the inevitable.  I was really intrigued by the connection he has with Luce and what he does to avoid it.  And I love the sidekick characters.  For some reason, I found them all really amusing.  I had a feeling whose side everyone was one, but I liked how it unfolds.

So, I spent the first 200 pages reading about Luce chasing after a guy who ignores her.  And then last 250 pages  trying to figure out what is really going on.  I think I would like it better from Daniel's point of view.

Deception (Haunting Emma, #1) by Lee Nichols

Title: Deception

Author: Lee Nichols

Series: 1st in planned series

Published: June 2010 by Bloomsbury

Pages: 310

ISBN: 9781599903088 

Source: Won ARC in contest

 

Description: When Emma Vaile's parents leave on mysterious business trip, it gives her the perfect excuse to be a rebellious teen. Throw some parties, get a tattoo (or maybe just a piercing), and enjoy the first few weeks of her junior year. Then her best friend stops talking to her, the cops crash her party, and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian—her college-age "knight in J.Crew armor," Bennett Stern—and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England.  After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular legacy crowd. But she can't shake the strange visions that are haunting her. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain, as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Emma doesn't trust anyone anymore—except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to Emma. One that will explain the visions . . . and make Emma fear for her life.

I Give This ...

 

I have to admit this book didn't make much of a blip on my radar.  I liked the cover, but the description didn't do much to make me want to add it to my to-read list.  But, I was intrigued enough to enter a contest for an ARC.  I was shocked that I won, but more than happy to read the book.

I was extremely surprised by this one.  After the rocky start where I had no idea what was going, Emma moves to New England.  While, I still don't understand anything, and neither does Emma, I thoroughly enjoyed how the book developed.  I thought Emma's visions were down right creepy, especially in light of what she learns they're really about.  It gives the book a slight feel of a horror novel and manages to pull it off nicely.  The setting just adds to the mystery.  

I thought what's truly happening to Emma was interesting.  I liked how Bennett was able to gradually explain things to her, even though she demanded answers every time she saw him.  It seemed like something would be revealed, but something else major would happen.  I'm not sure I liked the ending, but I'm not sure any other outcome would have worked.  I did feel sorry for Emma at the end because it looked like she was finally going to be able to have it all.

So, I really enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to the next in the series!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Series: Stand alone but has a planned sequel

Published: April 2009 by Dutton Juvenille

Pages: 199

ISBN: 9780525421030
Source: Purchased Copy

Description:  What if you had everything: A gorgeous boyfriend who was madly in love with you?
Quirky hip parents who totally got you? A musical talent that could take you anywhere?
What if your biggest problem in life was choosing which path to take? Follow your first love--music-- to New York City? Or stay with your boyfriend, friends, and family? What if one day, you went out for a drive...  and in a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...What if suddenly all the other choices were gone? Except for one--the only one that truly mattered? What would you do?
A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands. 

I Give This

 In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon roa ...more

The intitial blurb I read about this book gave no real indication what it was about, not like the one above.  But, even with this new information, I don't think you can be fully prepared for what this book entails.  I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first.  I'm not sure if it was the time that I read it (not far from were I live, an entire family was killed in a head-on collision a couple days before I read this) or if I was having a hard time with the story format.  It skips back and forth between the present and the past and the writing is different than what I normally read. 

In the present, Mia watches her body struggle to stay alive.  She has to deal with learning the outcome of the rest of her immediate family.  Plus, she has to watch her grandparents, aunts and uncles, her best friend, and her boyfriend come into to her hospital room.  They're each willing her to live or in some cases telling her it's ok to let go.  It's very heartbreaking, but wonderful at the same time.

The flashbacks to the past all detail the connections she has with these people.  It shows how wonderful her family is.  Which makes it understandable why it would be hard for her to live without them.   But, it also shows how much those who are still alive care for her.  So she must make the ultimate decision, should she stay or should she go.  It's one she discovers, only she can make.  

In the end, I was completely moved by this story.  I cried, I laughed, and I fell in love with the characters and there story.  I was excited to learn days after reading it that the author has written a sequel.  From the sound of it, it's going to be just as heartbreakingly beautiful as this one

.

In My Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren and she was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie!  I also want to mention that all my cover pictures link to the description on Goodreads!

For Review:

• I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (Star Book Tours)

Swapped/Purschased:

• O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Bad Girls Don't Die by Kate Alender
• The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
• The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner

The Secret Bride ( In The Court of Henry VIII) by Diane Haeger

Title: The Secret Bride

Author: Diane Haeger

Series: Part of In The Court of Henry VIII (no need to read in order)

Published: April 2008 by NAL Trade

Pages: 396

ISBN: 9780451223135

Source: Library

 

Description: Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always been her brother's favorite-but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, a heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing. For Mary has a forbidden passion, and is determined, through her own cunning, courage, and boldness, to forge her own destiny.  

I Give This ...

 

In all my fascination with the Tudor courts, I must have forgotten that Henry VIII had a younger sister.  Or maybe books that talk about Henry are so concentrated on his different wives they forget to mention her (maybe I should have something more on Catherine of Aragon).  I was immediately drawn to a story about someone who could defy the King and get away with it.  

I actually really liked Princess Mary.  You can tell that the characteristic of getting what they want runs in the family (something I think was passed down to Elizabeth I).  But, I think she was smarter about it.  Mary worked in the background.  She knew she was beautiful and she knew the King loved her dearly.  It makes her sound conniving, but she wasn't.  She accepted her duty as a princess of England, but was willing to bargain for what she really wanted.  She also showed she really cared about others.  As powerful as the King was, she still saw him as her older brother and human  I thought she was very sweet with King Louis of France.  I also really enjoyed the different view on the relationship between King Henry VIII and his first wife.   

The story was actually just a little bland.  I think I was expecting more fireworks and something a little bit more fast paced.  It actually covers quite a large time period.  I enjoyed it, but it was a slow read.

Dark Flame (The Immortals, #4) by Alyson Noel

Title: Dark Flame

Author: Alyson Noel

Series: 4th in the Immortals

Published: June 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 320

ISBN: 9780312590970

Source: Library

Description: At the start of this mesmerizing new installment of the Immortals series, Ever is helping her friend Haven transition into life as an immortal. But wi ...more At the start of this mesmerizing new installment of the Immortals series, Ever is helping her friend Haven transition into life as an immortal. But with Haven drunk on her new powers and carelessly putting them all at risk, their friendship becomes more and more strained. At the same time, Ever delves deeper into magick in order to get control over her enemy Roman and free Damen from his power. But when the spell she casts on Roman backfires, she’s bound to her deadliest enemy. Frantic to reverse the spell the moment the moon enters a new phase, she finds her efforts are fruitless—there’s a strange, foreign pulse coursing through her, one that propels her toward Roman. Desperate to break free of this terrible curse before Damen or the twins can discover what she’s done, she turns to Jude and delves deeper and deeper into dark magick, ultimately risking everything she knows and loves—including Damen.

I Give This ...

 

If you've made it this far in this series, I don't think you'll be surprised by any of the actions that take place except maybe the ending.  I was afraid it was going to be the same old things again.  Ever does spend most of the book acting as if she doesn't need anybodies help.  But, in the end she actually surprised me and acted completely unselfishly.  Although, I think if she would have told someone what she was doing instead of once again acting on her own the outcome could have been much different (but then again we likely wouldn't have two more books to look forward to).  

I do have to say that Haven drove me crazy in this book.  Her attitude reminded me a lot of when Drina was in the picture, but so much worse.  She's the obnoxious friend who thinks everyone is out to get her and she's always right.   I did think the twins get some closure in this one, but not really sure what their final purpose in the story might be.  I still love Damen, but I'm beginning to think he is way to forgiving.  I sometimes think Ever needs someone to put her in her place.

Overall, the events are interesting.  I don't think there's any firm closure on anything.  But, you can tell the story is reaching it's peek.  I'll be looking for the next one when the library gets it in (although I'm sure I will be the one to request it lol).