Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Publisher –  Goldman House Publishing
Publication Date – November 2009
Genre – Crime/Thriller

Source – Received from Pump Up Your Book! for a blog tour

Book Information – Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer.  But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems.
In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash.  But there’s a catch.  His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime.  Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars – including a hefty broker’s fee for himself – in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath.
The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General.  When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson – who has some skeletons of his own to hide – are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.

Review – This is the type of book that is pretty difficult to put down.  It is written in an easy-to-read style with short chapters – which, for me, always makes for a quick, page-turning read.  The mystery element of the story is intriguing and with many twists and turns, which meant that I was not able to guess where the story was heading.  However, at times there were so many plots and counter-plots that it was sometimes a little bit confusing.  But even so, this is still one of the most original novels I have read in a long time.
The characters are all well fleshed-out and believable, with some being likeable and others being the type of character that you love to hate.  But what I love most about the characters is that they are complex, and so much more than just ‘The Good Guy’ or ‘The Bad Guy’ (of course with the exception of Lawrence Erickson, who has no redeeming features and who is currently holding the award for my ‘Most Hated Character in Fiction’!).  This just made the characters so much more realistic and I found it really easy to relate to them.
Waverly Sloan is a lawyer who is about to be disbarred as well as being near bankruptcy – due to the elaborate spending habits of his wife.  He is a slightly frustrating character at times – he is very sweet and always seems to have the best of intentions but whenever things get tough he has the tendency to bury his head in the sand in the hope that it will all go away.  But he does manage to pull himself together when things start to go really wrong and he is definitely a likeable, if slightly flawed, hero.
Angela Evans is the Assistant U.S Attorney and she is heading the investigation into Live Now (the company that Waverly works for) when some of their clients seem to be dying sooner than expected.  I really liked Angela.  She is very strong and intelligent and she works hard to achieve what she wants out of life.  She overcomes a lot of hardship during the course of this story and instead of crumbling under the burden, she comes out a better and stronger person.
As well as having a very strong storyline, Buying Time also tackles a lot of controversial subjects, such as sexual and domestic abuse, drug dealing and viatical settlements (the selling of life insurance policies), but the author does not shy away from these subjects and she treats them with sensitivity and respect.  I found the subject of viatical settlements to be an incredibly interesting one.  The author works well to point out both the advantages and disadvantages of this type of investment.  The money received by someone with a terminal illness can give them peace of mind during their last months, whilst also allowing them the financial freedom to do the things that they have always wanted to do.  But at the same time, it does mean that incredibly vulnerable people can be taken advantage of.  Waverly really believes that he is helping each and every one of his clients and this gives him a purpose in life that he never felt before.  However, he is too naive to realise that he, and his clients, are being used for financial gain by other people.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and I will be looking out for other works from this author.

Publisher – Simon and Schuster Children’s
Publication Date – 1st April 2010
Paperback – 336 pages
Genre – Young Adult/Urban Fantasy
Series – Book 1 in the Hex Hall Series

Source – Library

Book Information -In the wake of a love spell gone horribly wrong, Sophie Mercer, a sixteen-year-old witch, is shipped off to Hecate Hall, a boarding school for witches, shapeshifters and faeries.  The traumas of mortal high school are nothing compared to the goings on at “Freak High.”  It’s bad enough that she has to deal with a trio of mean girls led by the glamorous Elodie, but it’s even worse when she begins to fall for Elodie’s gorgeous boyfriend, Archer Cross, and frankly terrifying that the trio are an extremely powerful coven of dark witches.  But when Sophie begins to learn the disturbing truth about her father, she is forced to face demons both metaphorical and real, and come to terms with her own growing power as a witch.

Review – I have read a lot of great reviews about Hex Hall so I was a bit nervous about starting it in case it didn’t live up to the hype.  But I am so glad that I did pick it up as this is one of my favourite books I’ve read so far this year!  In Sophie, Rachel Hawkins has created an incredibly likeable and realistic main character.  Sophie has been sent to Hecate ‘Hex’ Hall because of a love spell that she performed that went very, very wrong (with hilarious consequences!).  One of the things that I liked most about Sophie was the trouble that she had with her magic.  At the beginning of the book she was pretty inept at performing spells, and this helped me to really get a feel for her character.  Sophie is also pretty clueless about the Prodigium (the name for supernatural beings, such as witches, warlocks, werewolves, fey and vampires) and this does lead to some ridicule from her fellow students at Hex Hall.  She has been raised by her human mother and has never met her powerful warlock father, and whilst her mother has tried to give her as normal an upbringing as possible, the result of this is that Sophie now knows nothing about her heritage or how powerful she could really be.  She is also one of the funniest characters I have come across for a while, and there were many times I found myself laughing out loud to this book.
When Sophie first arrives at Hex Hall she meets Archer Cross – a gorgeous warlock who manages to save her from a werewolf and then tells her that she is not a very good witch.  Archer is a typical bad boy who everybody at the school fancies - including Sophie.  But he already has a girlfriend - a witch called Elody.  Elody belongs to a coven of dark witches who are trying to enlist Sophie as their fourth member.  When Sophie refuses their invitation to join the coven, they then start making her life miserable (think Mean Girls but with supernatural powers!).  Sophie then becomes even more of an outcast when she finds out that her roommate is Jenna, the only vampire at the school who also seems to be the main suspect in the murder of her last roommate and previous fourth member of Elody’s coven.   However, Sophie doesn’t believe that Jenna was involved with the murder and when other members of the coven start being hurt in a similar way, she starts to investigate who else could be behind these incidents.
The mystery element of the story was well-written and fast-paced, with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.  The style of writing was easy to read with some good descriptions of the characters and their surroundings.  I found it very difficult to put this book down once I had started it.  There is also an amazing cliff hanger at the end that has helped to ensure that I will be reading the next book in the series as soon as it is released.  Overall, it was a highly enjoyable read with realistic characters, a great storyline and an brilliant ending.  I highly recommend this book to any fans of Urban Fantasy books.

Publisher –  David Fickling Books
Publication Date – 2nd September 2010
Genre – Contemporary Fiction

Source – Received from publishers for review

Book Information – Raphael is a dumpsite boy.  He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it.  Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael’s world turns upside down.  A small leather bag falls into his hands.  It’s a bag of clues.  It’s a bag of hope.  It’s a bag that will change everything.  Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives.  Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead.  As the net tightens, they uncover a dead man’s mission to put right a terrible wrong.  It’s three street-boys against the world…

Review – This book is written from multiple viewpoints and it tells the story of Raphael, Gardo and Rat who live and work on a dumpsite.  One day Rapael finds a small bag that holds some money, a key and a map.  This leads the three boys on a hunt  to find what these clues will lead too.  However, the police are also after this little bag and in Behala they are not the good guys.  The three boys are on the run from the police with the information that they possess and it soon becomes obvious that they are running for their lives.  They uncover a plot that involves corrupt government members and a large amount of stolen money and they must try to solve the clues before the police catch up to them.
I have to say that one of the things that I love about receiving review copies from publishers is it encourages me to read books that I might not normally pick up on my own.  I don’t think I would have picked this book up in a bookshop or in the library, for instance, but now that I’ve read it I am so happy I was sent this book.
I instantly fell in love with Raphael, Gardo and Rat who are only fourteen years old and they spend all day every day looking through the rubbish brought to the dumpsite in order to find things to sell.  Although they have nothing except for each other and a few family members, they never complain and they just get on with life.  Raphael is a happy-go-lucky boy, whilst Gardo is a more serious boy who acts much older than his years.  Rat lives on his own (he has no family) and is poor and starving.  I found reading about the conditions in which they are being brought up inspirational and humbling and it made me realise that I have so much compared to a lot of other people in the world.  My motherly instincts kicked in big time whilst reading this book – I just wanted to look after the boys so that they could be kids again for a little while.
I found some of the events in the book pretty disturbing though, but I think what made it so shocking was the knowledge that these things happen in some places in the world.  For example, the way that Raphael is treated when he is questioned by the police (I won’t say too much as I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say he loses his happy-go-lucky nature and instead becomes a scared little boy who has nightmares so bad they make him wet the bed!) and the way the conditions inside the prison are described when Gardo goes to visit someone who may be able to help with the clues.  There were many times I had a tear in my eye and gave thanks for everything that I have.
The story is well-written and even though it is told from multiple viewpoints, it is always clear who is telling the story.  The mystery was intruiging and kept me hooked, while the characters are all loveable and believable.  There is a beautifully happy ending, although at times I had to wonder if it was really worth everything they had to go through in order to reach that point.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book! It is the type of book that not only has a great storyline that will keep you hooked, but it will also make you think about other people who are not as fortunate and it certainly made me realise how lucky I am.  The characters and their situation stayed with me for a long time after I had finished this book and I think that everybody should read this amazing, awe-inspiring, thought-provoking novel!

Today I have been joined by Richard Jay Parker, author of the crime novel, Stop Me.  But before I ask him some questions I will be reviewing this fantastic novel.

Publisher – Allison and Busby
Publication Date – 11th January 2010
Paperback – 336 pages
Genre – Crime

Source – Received from the publisher for review

Book Information - Forward this email to ten friends.  Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends.  Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends.  If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat.
Can you afford not to send this onto ten friends?
Vacation Killer Leo Sharpe’s life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears.  His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she’s the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already – is Laura going to be the twelfth?  The MO is the same every time – a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email.  A few days later, grim evidence of the victim’s death is delivered to the police.  But in Laura’s case, nothing is sent.  Has the killer spared her life?  Why?  And for how long?  For Leo, the clock is ticking – he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Review – I think that what really struck me about this book is the realism with which it has been written.  Leo Sharpe is just an ordinary man who is being consumed with grief over his missing wife.  For the first part of the book he is waiting for news from the police about Laura and he has become dependant on temazepam to help him sleep and to help block the pain and grief that he feels.  This part of the book is written so well that you can almost feel the numbness caused by the drugs, but at the same time it is also possible to see the pain hiding just beneath the surface.  I really felt for Leo and I became emotionally invested in his story right from the first page.
Fifteen months after Laura’s disappearance, the police are losing hope of ever finding her and the momentum of the case has slowed considerably.  It is at this point that Leo receives a call from a doctor who claims that he knows where Laura is being held captive.  The day that they are supposed to meet up the doctor is murdered, and this is the catalyst that Leo needs in order to take matters into his own hands.
He goes across to America to meet up with John Bookwalter; a man who confessed to the crimes of the Vacation Killer but was not charged due to a lack of evidence.  John has since set up a website where he still claims to have committed the murders, and this is how Leo first gets in contact with him.  Once he is in America, Leo meets John, who claims to have Laura hidden somewhere.  John will let Leo see Laura if he agrees to a few conditions.  However, Leo has never really believed that John is the real Vacation Killer so he starts his own investigation.  It is at this point that Leo’s character really comes into his own.  He has stopped taking the temazepam and he puts himself into some pretty dangerous situations in order to find out what has happened to Laura.  He does all of this even though he is scared and this makes him an incredibly likeable and believable character.
I really enjoyed reading Stop Me.  It was well-written and kept my attention right from the beginning.  I found myself being surprised several times by the way that the events unfolded and I was completely shocked at the ending – I just would not have predicted it at all!  It was, at times, quite a chilling read.  The style of writing made me feel as though I was really there and it was such a realistic storyline that I had no doubt it could really happen.  The other aspect that made it chilling was the chain emails that were sent by the Vacation Killer.  I can’t really explain it but I have always hated chain letters/texts/emails because of the irrational fear I feel when I do not pass them on (I never pass them on as I don’t want to pass along the bad feelings that I get when I receive one!).  So the fact that the consequences of the emails are so dire in this novel really struck a chord with me.  The anonymity of the Internet would make this kind of action completely possible and this again added to the realism of the story.
I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of the crime/mystery genre.  It was a gripping and enjoyable read that I found difficult to put down.

And now it is my pleasure to introduce Richard Jay Parker, who will be answering a few of my questions…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born in South Wales but worked in TV so moved to London for fourteen years before relocating to Salisbury in 2006.  I still love returning to London to see friends and attend meetings but I’m happy to be a commuter now.  I love books and movies with a dark, twisted or sexy edge.

When did you start your writing career and did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

The writing bug bit early.  Have been writing full time since I was about eighteen (comedy scripts).  I worked as a TV script writer, script editor and producer for about fifteen years but started penning novels when I felt I’d gone as far as I could go with that form of writing.  I left my TV agent and managed to get a literary agent with my first book.  It was a hard sell though.  So hard that it was never published.  I did get invited to my first literary party though and found myself mentioned in Publishing News as ’soon-to-be-published Richard Jay Parker’.  Ten years later, STOP ME was published.

How did you come up with the ideas for your novel, Stop Me?

I get a lot of SPAM email that threatens me with loss of health or happiness if I don’t forward it.  I wondered what would happen if I received one that threatened somebody’s life if I didn’t send it on.  It was one of about four concepts that I had for books.  I ended up using all of them in STOP ME.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process – do you plan a storyline at the start or do you just start writing and see where the mood takes you?

I always like to know where I’m heading.  With STOP ME I had the twist ending established and knew what the trajectory of my character would be.  When I was writing it though the fun was leading him down a series of dark sideroads along the way.

What are you working on at the moment? Have you got any other novels in the pipeline?

Am currently working on two thriller projects for my agent which I hope to have completed in the next couple of months.  I’m also writing scripts for some horror shorts – two of which have already been shot.

What other authors do you like to read and who has been you biggest inspiration?

I’ve got very varied tastes in books and rarely feel the need to read an author’s compete works.  In terms of thrillers, I loved FALLING ANGEL by William Hjortsbeg.  It’s a satanic noir novel that Alan Parker made into the movie ANGEL HEART.

Thank you very much Richard for taking the time to answer my questions!

If you would like more information about Richard, you can find it at his website / facebook / twitter / YouTube / myspace.

Publisher – Piatkus Books
Publication Date – 6th December 2007
Paperback – 352 pages
Genre – Urban Fantasy
Series – Book 1 in the Greywalker Series

Source – Purchased

Book Information - Harper Blaine was slogging along as a small-time P.I. when a two-bit perp’s savage assault left her dead.  For two minutes, to be precise.
When Harper comes to in the hospital, she begins to feel a bit… strange.  She sees things that can only be described as weird-shapes emerging from a foggy grey mist, snarling teeth, creatures roaring.
But Harper’s not crazy.  Her “death” has made her a Greywalker – able to move between our world and the mysterious, cross-over zone where things that go bump in the night exist.  And her new gift (or curse) is about to drag her into that world of vampires and ghosts, magic and witches, necromancers and sinister artifacts.  Whether she likes it or not.

Review – When we first meet Private Investigator Harper Blaine, she is being attacked by one of her clients.  When she wakes up in the hospital she finds out that she had actually died for two minutes and now her senses have been affected – she can see shadows in the corner of her eye, smell strange things and so on.  The doctors perform tests on her but everything shows as being physically ok.  But the doctor gives Harper the name of some friends of his who have experience of helping people who have died for a short time only to have strange things happen to them when they wake up.  Mara and Ben Danziger take it upon themselves to help Harper understand what is happening to her and to help her control it.  They explain that she is now a Greywalker -  somebody who can see and enter the paranormal world, also known as the Grey.  This means that Harper can now see ghosts and a whole host of other strange creatures.
To try to keep herself from going crazy whilst all of this is happening, Harper carries on with her job as a Private Investigator as she has two jobs that she is currently working on.  One involves a mother looking for her missing son, and the other involves a strange European man looking for a parlor organ.  However, both of this cases soon turn to the paranormal and Harper realises that, along with her new friends, she is the only P.I. who will be able to solve them.
I have to admit that this is the first book I have read that incorporates ghosts into the story, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that.  But it was actually something different from the other Urban Fantasy books that I have read so it was a refreshing change, and I enjoyed the scientific explanations about the existence of ghosts given by Ben Danziger.  But, as well as the ghosts, there were also vampires, witches and necromancers, so there is something for all Urban Fantasy fans.
I really liked the main character, Harper Blaine.  At first she finds it hard to accept the changes that are happening to her and walks around in denial for a few days.  But even when she does accept it, she still has trouble adapting as interactions with creatures from the Grey leave her feeling nauseous, dizzy and fatigued.  However, Harper does not come across as weak because of these things.  In fact she comes across as incredibly strong, as she fights these creatures despite the way they make her feel.  It also helps to make her into a more realistic character, as she is a human being introduced to the paranormal world and I don’t think somebody would be able to go through these changes without some resistance or problems adapting, and I could really feel the struggles going on within her.
The mystery element of the book was well written and really pulled me into the story.  It contained some good twists that I didn’t see coming, although there were also a few elements that I predicted correctly.  The only thing that made this book slightly difficult to read was that in some places there were a lot of people involved in some quite complicated storylines, so there were a few times I had to go back and re-read pages to make sure I really understood what was happening.  But this in no way affected my enjoyment of the book and I still found it to be a very enjoyable read.

Publisher – Red Fox
Publication Date – 1st April 2010
Paperback – 240 pages
Genre – YA/Paranormal
Series – Book 1 in the Dark Touch Series

Source – Library

Book Information – Fifteen-year-old Eve Evergold is cute, sassy and enjoying a busy social life.  What she doesn’t know yet is that someone close to her is an evil demon that only she has the supernatural power to defeat.  She needs to work out who it is – and fast!  Because although there’s something very attractive about the dark side… dating a demon?  Pure hell!

Review – Eve Evergold is just a normal girl starting high school, who loves shopping and spending time with her friends.  But when several people she knows start having nightmares, screaming about demons and moving to Ridgewood, the local psychiatric hospital, Eve realises that something very bad is happening.  When strange things start happening to Eve she knows that she is the only one who can stop everything that is happening in Deepdene.  With her best friend Jess, and new boy Luke, Eve starts researching the history of the town and they find some documents which suggest that a demon with a human appearance comes to Deepdene once every one hundred years to feed on the souls of the residents.  Eve must figure out who the demon is and how to control her new found powers before the whole of Deepdene succumbs to the demon’s charms.
Eve and Jess are written in a believable way, and whilst reading Shadows it is easy to believe that you are reading a story told from the perspective of a fifteen year-old girl.  However, I didn’t feel as though their characters were fleshed out well enough.  We, as readers, do not really get much of an insight into Jess and Eve, and what we do find out about them gives them the appearance of being spoiled and shallow.  This made the two main characters slightly unlikeable and left me unable to really connect with them, which did make the book slightly disappointing for me.
Mal and Luke are both new boys in town and are the topic of much speculation between Eve and Jess.  Deepdene is only a small town where everybody knows everybody else, so the arrival of two new boys arriving at the same time brings a welcome distraction from all the problems around them.  Luke is, in the words of Eve and Jess, a ‘player’.  Although he has only been in town for a couple of weeks he has already dated a lot of the girls.  But when he hears about what Eve is going through, he quickly drops everything to help them find out what is happening in Deepdene.  Mal, on the other hand, is dark and mysterious and keeps himself to himself.  He is also old-fashioned and rescues Eve on a few occasions, which leads Eve to fall for him pretty quickly.  I enjoyed the air of mystery that these two characters brought to the story.
The premise of the story is interesting and well-written, although pretty predictable at times.  It moves along at a fast pace and is written in a style that makes it very easy to read, allowing me to almost finish it in just one sitting.  I only wish that Eve and Jess had been easier to connect with and were less two-dimensional.  If this had been the case, then Shadows could have been a really enjoyable book.

Publisher – Orbit
Publication Date – 5th June 2008
Paperback – 352 pages
Genre – Urban Fantasy
Series – Book 1 in the Mercedes Thompson Series

Source – Purchased

Book Information - Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they’ll leave you alone if you are careful.  They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I’m not human.  I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.
Mercy Thompson’s sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.
She’s tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.
But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself … and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

Review – Mercy Thompson is a ‘walker’ – someone who can shape shift into a coyote whenever she pleases.  But she has grown up with werewolves and now lives next door to the Alpha of the local pack so she knows a lot about them.  One day she is working in her garage when a young, homeless boy called Mac (who also happens to be a werewolf) arrives looking for work.  She decides to give him a chance and also introduces him to Adam, her next door neighbour.  However, things start to go downhill rapidly when Mac is murdered and Adam’s daughter is kidnapped during a raid on the pack.  It is up to Mercy and her childhood sweetheart Sam, who is one of the most powerful werewolves in North America, to rescue Adam’s daughter and uncover a plot that involves selling young werewolves and a drug to ‘cure’ werewolves among other things.
The first chapter of Moon Called is used to ’set the scene’, with the author providing a huge amount of information about Mercy, her family and friends and her connection to the werewolves in this story.  Although all the information was interesting and crucial to the story, I couldn’t help but feel that all of this information was crammed in too quickly and I ended up feeling a little bit overwhelmed by it all.  But once the introductions had all been made, the story immediately turns to action, which does not stop until the very end of the novel.  I loved this as the book moved along at such a fast pace and held my interest all the way through.  I just could not put this book down and I found myself waiting with baited breath for what would happen next.  I was so hooked that last night my baby boy slept through the night for the first time ever and when I woke up this morning and realised this I was actually disappointed because I didn’t get to read more of Moon Called during the peace and quiet of a night feed!
I love the character of Mercy.  She is strong, brave, intelligent and funny.  She doesn’t back down easily, but at the same time she knows her place in the grand scheme of things – something that comes from spending so much time around werewolves whilst growing up.  I found the history between Mercy and Sam intriguing but I did spend a lot of time hoping that something would happen between her and Adam.  There was just something about him that made me feel as though he would be a better match for Mercy – and he certainly made me feel a little bit weak at the knees!  We don’t really get to find out much about Sam in Moon Called.  He keeps himself to himself and a lot of what we do find out about him is either from Mercy or his father, the Marrok.  I do hope to find out a bit more about him in future books in the series though as he is definitely an interesting character.
I have read many reviews that raved about how great this series is, and I was worried that after all the hype I would be disappointed.  But I couldn’t have been more wrong – this is one book that definitely lives up to the hype.  It is an amazing start to a series and I can’t wait to get my hands on book two, Blood Bound.

Other books in the series:
1. Moon Called
2. Blood Bound
3. Iron Kissed
4. Bone Crossed
5. Silver Borne

Publisher –  Doubleday
Publication Date – 10th June 2010
Paperback – 416 pages
Genre – Contemporary Fiction

Source – Received from publishers for review

Book Information - A devoted daughter; a secret love; an impossible dilemma…
Lina has always been the apple of her father’s strict eye.  When she meets Anil, a wealthy, cultured and decidedly liberal student of architecture from Kenya’s Asian community, the intensity of her feelings for someone so different takes her by surprise.  She is political and he is not; she is of modest background and he is not; she is a Muslim and he is not …
While Lina’s parents still dream of a suitable boy for their eldest daughter, she engages in an intricate game of deceit to hide her blossoming relationship.  When Lina’s mother chances upon a suitcase of their love letters, a moral chasm threatens to tear the family and the lovers apart.

Review – This is a love story about Lina and Anil, whose relationship faces many pressures from the outside world.  Lina comes from a devout Muslim family who would never allow their daughter to be with a man who does not practice the same religion.  As a result of this, Lina keeps her relationship with Anil a secret from her parents for many years.  She is forced to lie to them over and over again throughout these years and the guilt tears her apart.  However, one day Lina’s mother finds a large number of letters sent from Anil to Lina, and she forces Lina to put an end to the relationship.  At this point, Lina moves to New York to work for the UN and unbeknownst to her parents, Anil also moves there and they continue their relationship.  Lina’s parents are not the only pressure on their romance though as politics, money, prejudice from others and a difference in ethics work together to make things near on impossible for them to be together.
At intervals during the story between Anil and Lina, the author introduces letters written from an unknown woman to the man that left her suddenly because of his faith.  Subtle clues are dropped into these letters to allow the reader to figure out how this storyline connects to the main storyline.  At the end of the book, these letters are tied in brilliantly with Lina and Anil’s story and it really helps to give the reader an insight into how the past can affect decisions that we make today.
I have to say that this book is nothing like I expected it to be from reading the blurb on the back.  I was expecting it to be a passionate Romeo and Juliet type story.  However, the romance between Lina and Anil was very subtle (although I am reading a lot of Paranormal Romance at the moment so maybe I have just become used to more obvious displays of passion in my books!).  They must love each other a great deal for them to be able to overcome the pressures that are placed on them, but they do not demonstrate their love for each other very much.  In fact, for a large majority of the book, Lina and Anil are in different parts of the country/world and the story is mainly told of the two characters separately.  In fact, during the times that they are together, neither of them seem to be particularly happy.  I found this quote from Anil in the book that, for me, perfectly summed up their relationship:

‘You talk about us being together, but nothing that you do seems to support that.’  His head was tilted to one side, his eyes fixed on her.  She was glad her sunglasses shielded her from his wounded gaze.  ‘You insist on working hundreds of miles away in a war-torn country when you could have a safer, better paid, but equally useful job right here near me.  You want us to wait so that you have time to bring your parents around to the idea of marriage, but in the meantime you won’t let me near them and you allow them to arrange introductions to other men.’

There are several examples of this type of behaviour from Lina throughout the story that contradicts the things she says to Anil, her friends and her family.  But near the end of the book, the true strength of Lina and Anil’s feeling for each other becomes apparent and I was really hoping that they would find a way to be together.
What really sets this book apart from others is the beautiful prose used by the author.  The descriptions that she uses are breathtaking and you really feel as though you are there with the characters, seeing everything that they are able to see.  Priya Basil brings her characters to life with her words and, although there were times that I was not very fond of these characters, you get pulled into their story through the strength of the writing.
Another thing that I loved was the insight that I gained about the Muslim faith from reading this book.  I must admit to not knowing much about this religion and it was very interesting to read about their traditions and beliefs.  Part of the book was set around the time of the 9/11 tragedy and I found it fascinating to read about this from a Muslim character’s point of view and their experience of the prejudice that was directed at people of their religion for a long time after this event.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book although I did find it slow-going at times.  But this is made up for by the beautiful writing and the way that the characters are brought to life by the author.  The ending is so powerful that it will stay with you for a long time after you have finished reading the book.

Publisher –  Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date – 4th March 2010
Paperback – 354 pages
Genre – Young Adult/Contemporary Fiction

Source – Received from UK Book Tours

Book Information - They say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that’s not how it happened for me.
Sam Kingston is dead.  Except she isn’t.
On a rainy February night, eighteen-year-old Sam is killed in a horrific car crash.  But then the impossible happens: she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the day that she died.
Forced to live over and over the last day of her life the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party she desperately struggles to alter the outcome, but every morning she wakes up on the day of the crash.
This is a story of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live.  And who falls in love… a little too late.

Review – I have to admit that when I started this book I did not like Sam at all.  She comes across as a cruel and shallow girl who doesn’t care about anybody but herself, and maybe her three best friends.  She looks down her nose at everybody else at her school because they are not popular enough/not pretty enough and so on.  Through flashbacks we find out that a couple of years ago Sam was one of the unpopular girls at school who often got teased by the others in her class.  Rather than make me feel sorry for her, this just made me dislike her even more – she knows how bad it feels to be picked on but she still continues to do it to her classmates.  But as the story progresses, I can see that this is intentional on the authors part to have a character who is not instantly likeable.  Sam would not be able to go on the journey that she does in her last few days if she had been perfect to start with.
As Sam starts to live the same day over and over again, she starts to do things differently in order to try to change the outcome.  However, the first few days she is trying to change things for all the wrong reasons.  Sam is trying to change what happens in order to help herself, not because she feels she has wronged others in the past and wants to make amends for that.  On day four she wakes up so angry with everybody about what is happening to her that she takes this anger out on everybody around her and deliberately sets out to hurt people.  But it is on this day that things start to change for Sam and she starts becoming a more likeable character.  Because she has upset her friends during an angry outburst that morning, Sam spends the days hanging out with other people - people that she had previously looked down on – and she finds out that they are actually nice.  This leads to a lot of soul searching on Sam’s part and she realises that her actions have had a huge impact on others around her without her even noticing.  On her last few days Sam starts trying to make things right for the people that she has hurt and from day five onwards I just fell in love with her.  She does a complete turn around from the way she behaves at the beginning of the book and you have to really admire her for making such big changes in her outlook.
One of the most amazing things about this book is the way Lauren Oliver explores how everybody’s lives are interconnected, and how one tiny action from one person can have an affect (sometimes good, sometimes bad but quite often not what you had intended) on other people.  Throughout her final seven days, Sam makes several changes to events and it was so interesting to see how her changing something small can also have an affect on several other people.  This really made me have a good think about the way I behave and the possible consequences of my actions that I have never considered before.
There are probably lots of other things that I could talk about as it is such a deep and profound story, but then this review would turn into a huge essay.  So I will just talk about one more thing – the last chapter.  I loved the ending of this book!  Although it is a real tear-jerker (and I actually ended up crying throughout the whole of the last chapter!) it just seemed like the perfect ending to me.  Sam has learnt so much over the last six days and her transformation is complete.  She spends her last day solely thinking of others and how she can make things better for all the bad things she has done in her life, and her last good deed just left me sobbing my heart out, loving Sam for having the courage to do what she did.
Before I Fall is an amazing debut novel by Lauren Oliver and it brought out such a huge range of emotions in me that by the time I had finished it I felt exhausted.  Despite my misgivings about Sam at the beginning of the story, I fell in love with this book and I couldn’t put it down in my need to find out what happens to Sam at the end.  My only warning for this book would be to make sure to have lots of tissues to hand when you get near the end!  What else can I say? Amazing!

Publisher – Pocket Books
Publication Date – 2nd March 2009
Paperback – 400 pages
Genre – Chick-Lit

Source – Received for review (passed on to me from Book Chick City)

Book Information -What’s the worst thing that could happen to a blushing bride?  To somebody warm, loving, and fun – like Zoe Moore?  When she finds herself jilted at the altar by her fiance Jason, Zoe knows she doesn’t deserve this heartache and humiliation.  Unable to face the pitying faces of her friends and family, Zoe takes drastic action: she flees to America.  Specifically, to Boston, where she takes up a post as nanny to five-year-old Ruby Miller and her little brother Samuel.  Ruby and Samuel have lost their mother in an accident.  They may as well have lost their father, too, for Ryan Miller is so wrapped-up in his grief that he barely notices his two attention-starved children.  As Zoe sets about tidying up Ruby and Sam’s home, and injecting some fun back into their lives, she finds herself gaining their trust and love.  At the same time, Zoe grows more and more frustrated with Ryan’s bullying behaviour, and his shameful neglect.  Whatever happened to the loving man she keeps hearing about from his neighbours?  Zoe can’t find any sign of him.  The only thing saving Zoe from despair is the small, close-knit group of British nannies who quickly befriend her.  There’s boisterous Trudie, man-mad but hiding a painful secret; Sloanie traveller Amber, who sports a Buddhist tattoo that, unbeknownst to her, reads ‘Batteries Not Included’.  And chilly, tight-lipped Felicity, whose cut-glass voice gives little away.  But will these new friends be able to save Zoe, when she discovers that the past isn’t all that easy to escape, no matter how far you go?

Review – I picked up The Nearly-Weds straight after reading another Jane Costello book, My Single Friend, because I loved that book so much.  And I am surprised to say that I loved The Nearly-Weds even more!  You really feel for Zoe right from the beginning of the book.  She has been left at the altar by a man that she loves and wants to spend the rest of her life with.  She feels as though she can’t cope with the humiliation and speculation any longer so she hops on a plane to America where she becomes a nanny to two young children.  The way that she copes with the rejection, and with the move to another country shows just how strong a character she really is.  She has a real caring side to her nature, which is shown through her interactions with Ryan and his children.
Ryan is another character that I loved.  Although at the beginning of the book he comes across as a bad father, and as a bad person, it is easy to see that this is only because he is still grieving for his wife.  I love the way that the relationship between Ryan and Zoe progresses through the story, with each of them having to come to terms with their own pain and grief before they can move on with their lives.
Once again, Costello provides the reader with a great cast of supporting characters.  Trudie, Amber and Felicity, the other British nannies living in the area, give Zoe a sense of belonging when she moves to a new country, and they all quickly become good friends.  They support each other through all the troubles in their professional and personal lives as well as providing a lot of laughs along the way.  The only character I did not like was Jason, the man who left Zoe at the altar.  He comes across as cowardly and selfish and there were a couple of times that I felt as though he deserved a good, hard slap from Zoe.
Although there are still lots of funny moments that I have come to expect from Costello’s writing, for me The Nearly-Weds also covered a few heavy subjects as well, something that perhaps had been lacking from her other novels.  These subjects include death and mourning, infertility, betrayal, and most importantly, the effect of losing a mother on two young children.  This added a new depth to the writing and I think it was the balance between these painful subjects and the feeling of hope that comes across in the story that made me love this book so much.
I am a huge fan of Jane Costello, and although I loved both of her other books, Bridesmaidsand My Single Friend, the book that really stands out for me is The Nearly-Weds.  It made me laugh and cry and I just can’t wait until her next book is released!

Publisher – Pocket Books
Publication Date – 15th April 2010
Paperback – 432 pages
Genre – Chick-Lit

Source – Purchased

Book Information – At 28, Lucy is doing well for herself.  She’s got a great job in PR, her boss loves her, and her best girlfriends Dominique and Erin think she’s great.  More important than anyone’s opinion is that of her flatmate, and oldest friend in the world, Henry.  For twenty years they’ve been inseparable: beauty and the geek.  Henry thinks the world of Lucy.  So why does she feel the need to lie outrageously on dates?  From rock-climbing to Chekov: when it comes to prospective boyfriends, Lucy is compelled to embellish her C.V. with unlikely porkies that always backfire – with hilarious results.  Henry can’t understand it.  Lucy is so loveable: why can’t she just be herself?  But when Lucy turns the spotlight on Henry, he wishes he’d never brought it up.  With a penchant for jumpers and NHS-style specs, Lucy decides that Henry is in need of a makeover – big time.  Enlisting the help of Dom and Erin, it’s not long before the girls have Henry out of the flat, and into the Topman changing rooms.  A new haircut, contact lenses, a flirting master-class from Dom… poor Henry doesn’t know what’s hit him.  But nothing can prepare them for the surprise results!  Before long, Lucy realises that their lives will never be the same again.

Review -  My Single Friend is written from the point of view of the main character, Lucy, and this gives the reader a great insight into her chaotic love and work life, as well as her feelings towards all her friends.  I really liked the character of Lucy, although a few times I did find her slightly frustrating.  She loves her friends and is incredibly loyal to them and she is incredibly loveable.  However, the frustration comes from the lies that she tells to the men that she dates.  As you can imagine, this gets Lucy into trouble more than once with some hilarious consequences, but at the same time you want to scream at her that this is not the way to impress men.  But it soon becomes clear that she does this because she feels like she’s not good enough to love and it becomes easy to forgive her for her one little flaw.
I also loved the characters of Henry, Dominique and Erin.  Henry is intelligent, kind and a great friend, although he does become a bit of a playboy once he has been made-over by the girls.  Dom and Erin, likewise, are great friends for Lucy and some of the best moments of the book come from their girly chats and the way they support each other.
The development of the relationship between Henry and Lucy is well written and believeable.  For a while I was concerned that Lucy had only fallen for Henry because of the way he looks after his makeover and I was concerned that she was being a bit shallow.  But, through flashbacks of their relationship throughout the years, it becomes clear that Henry has always held a special place in her heart.
I really enjoy Jane Costello’s writing style – it is witty, insightful and easy-to-read.  Although the ending was slightly predictable, I loved the way that the story progressed and once I started reading, I just couldn’t put it down.  This book is a must for any chick-lit fans!

Publisher – Piatkus Books
Publication Date – 29th July 2010
Paperback – 480 pages
Genre – Paranormal Romance
Series – Book 1 in the Sisters of the Heart series

Source – Received from publisher for review

Book Information -For Lev Prakenskii, the last thing he remembers is being lost in the swirling currents of the ocean and sucked deeper into the nothingness of a freezing black eddy off the coastal town of Sea Haven.  Just as quickly, just as miraculously, he was saved – pulled ashore by a beautiful stranger – but Lev has no memory of who he was – or why he seems to possess the violent instincts of a trained killer.  All he knows is that he fears for his life, and the life of his unexpected saviour.  Her name is Rikki, a sea-urchin diver in the small town of Sea Haven.  She always felt an affinity for the ocean and the seductive pull of the tides – and now, for the enigmatic man she rescued.  But soon they will be bound by something even stronger – each other’s tantalising secrets that will engulf them both in a whirlpool of dizzying passion and inescapable danger.

Review – This book is the first in the Sisters of the Heart series, but it is tied to another series written by Feehan – the Drake Sisters series.  Although there are quite a few references to events that happened in the other series, I did not have any trouble reading this book as a stand alone from the other series.
Rikki has moved to Sea Haven to seek refuge from her past.  Her parents were killed in a house fire when she was just thirteen, and also survived fires at several other times in her life.  She now has an intense fear of fire and is frightened that she has subconsciously started these fires herself.  But she has an affinity with water and loves her home by the sea.  She is a sea urchin diver and she is never more at peace than when diving out at sea.  One day when Rikki is out diving, she comes across a man who has obviously fallen into the sea without any diving gear and he is hurt and in trouble.  Rikki rescues him and takes him back to her house to help him recover from his injuries.  This man, Lev, has suffered severe concussion as a result of his injuries and he can’t remember much from his past.  All that he can remember is that he is a bad man with killer instincts.  Over time Lev and Rikki start to fall in love with each other, but they are both in a huge amount of danger and Lev must find out where this danger is coming from and put an end to it so that they can live together in peace.
The biggest strength of this book is the way that Feehan is able to describe her characters and bring them to life.  Rikki is a troubled young woman with a lot of problems.  As well as her tragic past with the fires, she also suffers from autism and has to live by her routines.  She gets so overwhelmed by lights, sounds, people and deviations from this routine that at times she is not able to function.  Feehan describes these breakdowns so well that you feel as if you are right inside Rikki’s head and you can’t help but feel for her. Lev has also had a tragic past and has been trained as a killer.  Although he believes himself to be a bad man, he finds a different side to himself whenever he is around Rikki.  You can really feel his pain as he tries to discover who he is, as well as who he would like to be.
The romance between these two characters is well written and believable.  I have read quite a lot of paranormal romance books lately and it seems the norm that the main characters jump into bed with each other and then fall in love with each other later.  However, in Water Bound, Rikki and Lev take time to get to know each other and give their love time to grow before starting a relationship.  This just gave the book a more romantic feel than some others I have read recently.  I also enjoyed reading about the psychic link between Rikki and Lev as this added a new dimension to their love for each other.
However, I wasn’t very impressed with the mystery part of the novel.  They are both in danger from unknown sources and this should have brought in an element of intrigue and excitement.  But I felt like this part of the story moved too slowly and I will admit to being bored during a few parts.  Also, I just wasn’t happy with the way that the mystery part of the story was concluded.  To me it felt a bit rushed and I found it a bit unbelievable, leaving me with a slightly unsatisfied feeling.
Overall though, I did enjoy reading this book and I would definitely try another book from this author.

Publisher – Harlequin
Publication Date – 1st July 2010
Genre – Paranormal Romance

Source – From netGalley for review

Book Information -Vampire princess Alexia Feodorovna has been undead for 125 years, so it’s been a while since any man has made her pulse race.  Until Declan Black.  One look at his bronzed body and a fire like no other consumes her.  Then she discovers that he’s a dragon lord come to take revenge on the vamps who killed his parents.  And claim a crystal said to imbue its owner with incredible powers.
Alexia is ordered to torture and kill the dragon lord.  Yet with each reckless encounter, she finds herself
consumed by his fiery passion.  A passion Declan battles, as well.  Will he be able to resist the fire of lust she kindles within him and keep revenge in his heart?  Or will he risk everything to quench the burning desire and claim the vampire as his own?

Review – Alexia is just days away from becoming the new vampire queen, when Declan, a dragon lord, steals a powerful crystal from the vampire horde.  He is captured in the process, and it is up to Alexia to torture him in order to find out where the crystal is.  However, Declan and Alexia can’t deny the passion that they feel for each other.  To complicate matters the dragons are planning a rescue mission to get Declan back, Alexia’s soon-to-be stepfather, Lotharus, has plans to take over the throne himself instead of allowing Alexia to rule, and the dragons and vampires are sworn enemies who would never accept a relationship between their two leaders.  Declan and Alexia have a lot to overcome if they are to be together.
The first thing I would like to say about this book is that I fell a little bit in love with Declan.  He is strong, loyal, protective and has a body to die for *swoon*. Ahem, anyway back to the review!  I have never read a book about dragons before so this was an interesting new take on the paranormal genre for me.
I also really like the character of Alexia.  She is a feisty lady who can see straight through Lotharus and his wicked ways and who is strong enough to survive the worst of what he puts her through.  I think that Declan and Alexia complement each other perfectly as a couple and there is a huge amount of sexual chemistry between them.  Although there are a lot of steamy scenes between these two, they also obviously care about each other a great deal and are willing to put themselves in danger to protect each other.
Apart from the aforementioned steamy scenes between Declan and Alexia there is also a great plot, which can sometimes be hard to find in paranormal romance novels.  A lot of this plot revolves around Lotharus, who is the bad guy that everybody will love to hate!  This book has moments of lust, romance, suspense, action, betrayal, hope and intrigue and all of this makes for a book that is impossible to put down!  I definitely recommend this book to any fans of paranormal romance and I can’t wait to read something else written by Meagan Hatfield!

Publisher – Gollancz
Publication Date – 11th February 2010
Paperback – 368 pages
Genre – Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Series– Book 1 in the Gulid Hunter Series

Source – Library

Book Information - Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she’s the best – but she doesn’t know if she’s good enough for this job.  Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear – failure is not an option…  even if the task she’s been set is impossible.  Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track.  It’s an archangel gone bad.  The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other… and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion.  Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may.  Because when archangels play, mortals break…

Review - Elena Deveraux spends her time capturing wayward vampires and then delivering them back to the angels that ‘Made’ them.  In Angels’ Blood, the angels are not the religious icons that we have come to know them as today, but are in fact all-powerful rulers of the human world who use vampires to help them impose their will.  When Elena receives a summons from the Archangel Raphael, she knows this is not good.  He is known to be incredibly dangerous and seductive and he needs Elena to work for him and track down another archangel who has turned to the dark side.  During the hunt that ensues, Elena finds herself getting closer to Raphael whilst her inability to keep her mouth closed manages to upset a lot of other dangerous characters.  As a result of this, Elena is constantly fighting off threats from vampires, angels and even archangels.
I loved the main characters of Elena and Raphael.  Elena is strong and independent and I love that she will not back down on things, even when facing an archangel (although this does tend to get her in a lot of trouble).  She has been through a lot in her life and although at times her past comes back to haunt her, she fights through her fear and still manages to get on with the job at hand.  Raphael is dark, dangerous and incredibly sexy.  There is a huge amount of sexual chemistry between these two characters and I love the way the relationship develops between them.
I also really enjoyed reading about the world created by Nalini Singh.  I am fairly new to the genre of urban fantasy but this book was very different to the others that I have read.  Angels are the most powerful creatures on the earth and they are beautiful and deadly.  Vampires, on the other hand, are created by angels and are their subordinates.  In Angels’ Blood the vampires are not portrayed as the all evil beings that they are in some other books - although they do drink blood, they do not kill people.
I loved reading Angels’ Blood; it is full of action, romance, sexual tension and mystery.  I especially loved the ending – it is the first urban fantasy book that has brought a little tear to my eye because of a happy ending!  I cannot recommend this book enough to anybody who loves reading urban fantasy or paranormal romance.

Other books in the series:
1. Angels’ Blood
2. Archangel’s Kiss

Book Information - When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her.  It isn’t until eleven years later that Wendy finds out her mother might’ve been telling the truth.
With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed – and it’s one she’s not sure if she wants to be a part of.

Review – Wendy is a seventeen year old who has always felt that she didn’t fit in anywhere.  This all started from a very young age when her mother attacked her at her sixth birthday party and tried to kill her.  She now lives with her brother and her aunt, but Wendy still doesn’t really feel like she belongs.  Then a new student, Finn, arrives at the school who keeps staring at Wendy.  She finds it all a bit strange and when she confronts him about it he won’t give her a proper reason.  One night, Wendy wakes up to find Finn sitting outside her bedroom window.  She lets him in and he starts to tell her why he has been following her around.  Finn tells Wendy that she is a changeling and that she isn’t really human either, she is a troll (although they now prefer the term Trylle).  It is Finn’s job to take Wendy back to her real family and to a place where only the trylle live.  When she arrives there she must try once again to find a place to belong.
I have to admit that when I was reading the first few chapters I didn’t think I was going to like this book at all.  It moved at a slow pace and didn’t really draw me into the story.  I found Wendy to be spoilt and immature and I didn’t like Finn either (he just seemed really creepy).  And when Finn told her that she was actually a troll, I just found that a bit too big a stretch of the imagination.
However when Wendy leaves her home to go and find her real family with Finn, the story improves a huge amount.  Wendy actually becomes a lot more likeable and I started to feel quite sorry for her.  She feels incredibly lonely in the world as her hopes of being part of a loving family where she feels she belongs are ruined once again.  She begins to mature and show that she often thinks of others rather than just thinking of herself.
Finn also becomes a lot more likeable (and a lot less creepy) once his role in the story becomes clear.  He is a tracker who hunts for the changelings and then brings them back to their real family.  Once he has reunited Wendy with her mother, he stays around for a while after in order to help her acclimate to her new life.  Although at times he can seem quite cold, this is just a professional facade he puts on whilst carrying out his duty to Wendy and her mother.  But there is also another side to him -  a side that shows he is intelligent, kind and cares about Wendy in a huge way.  After not liking Finn at all at the beginning of the book, he actually grew on me a lot and he is now one of my favourite male characters in a YA book.
The troll storyline also grew on me a lot as the story progressed.  When trolls were first mentioned at the beginning of the book, I immediately thought of big, green ugly creatures living under bridges and I didn’t like the idea of this at all.  However, once Wendy reaches her home it is explained that trolls are in fact mostly the same as humans but they have special abilities and an affinity with nature.  I actually really enjoyed this explanation and I felt that it gave the book a nice little twist when compared with other paranormal stories.
So, overall I really enjoyed reading Switched, and my message to anybody else who is reading it and is struggling with the beginning: please carry on as it does get a lot better!

Source – Received from author for review

Publisher – Definitions
Publication Date – 27 May 2010
Paperback – 432 pages
Genre – Young Adult/General Fiction

Source – Received from publisher for review

Book Information - She is pretty and talented – sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But …They are brother and sister. Forbidden will take you on an extraordinary emotional journey. Passionate and shocking, this is a book you will remember long after you have put it down.

Review – When I first heard about this book, I heard that it was all about a brother and sister falling in love with each other.  So when I picked it up to read I was expecting to be shocked by a tale of incest.  However, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Yes, the story is about sibling incest, but it is also about so much more than that, including things that I found much more shocking than Lochan and Maya’s love for each other.
When Lochan and Maya are just eleven and twelve, their father runs away to Australia with another woman to start a new life with a new family.  It is then up to them to help their mother look after their younger siblings.  At the start of ‘Forbidden’ they are sixteen and seventeen and their mother would much rather get drunk and go out with her new boyfriend than look after her kids.  Everything is left up to Lochan and Maya, including housework, getting their siblings ready for school and picking them up again, helping the younger kids with their homework, cooking, food shopping and paying all the bills with the money that they have to fight to get off of their mother.  They do all of this whilst going to school and studying for exams themselves.  They have been forced to grow up because their mother refuses to and wants to forget all about the family that she feels is holding her  back from finding a man.  Because of the situation they find themselves in, it is impossible not to fall in love with the two main characters and hope that they find happiness, in whatever form that may take for them, by the end of the story.
Throughout the book there are several scenes of neglect that I just found heartbreaking.  For example, one day it is the mother’s turn to collect the younger children from school, however, when Maya returns home she finds her mother hung-over on the couch and she was unable to pick up the children.  It is up to Maya and Lochan to find out what has happened to Tiffin and Willa when they hear from the school that a childminder who they have never heard of has come to pick them up.  Whilst Lochan and Maya are terrified that Tiffin and Willa have been kidnapped, their mother insists that she is far too ‘ill’ to help them look for them.  Although, a couple of hours later, when the children are all home, she suddenly feels much better when her boyfriend comes to pick her up for a night out.  This is just one of many examples and this kind of neglect often had me in tears whilst reading this book.  It is so apparent that the most important thing to Maya and Lochan is to keep the family together and off of Social Service’s radar and they go to extreme lengths to make this happen.  However, their mother really couldn’t care less and makes it obvious that she believes her two eldest children should have left school by now and financially supporting their younger siblings so that she can disappear from their lives completely.
Although the relationship between Lochan and Maya is clearly wrong, because of the authors brilliant storytelling I really didn’t feel as disgusted as I possibly could have done whilst reading about this topic.  Is it really any surprise that they feel so closely bonded, and so isolated from the outside world, after everything that they have been through during their childhood?  And because the story is told jointly by both Lochan and Maya, it is obvious to the reader that the feelings are mutual and that nobody is being forced into something they don’t want to do.  They try so hard to fight the feelings that they know are wrong, but in the end they just become too overwhelmed to be able to fight it any more.
I actually found this book quite difficult to read because of all the issues that the author tackles.  And there are overwhelming feelings of sadness and desperation throughout.  The only happier moments come from Maya’s narration, and I couldn’t really feel her optimism as I felt she was being incredibly naive about her and Lochan’s chances of a future together.  This book also contains possibly one of the most tragic endings I have ever read and I don’t mind admitting that I shed a few tears over the last couple of chapters.
One of the things I always ask myself when writing a book review is did I enjoy reading the book and how much did I enjoy it.  So, did I enjoy reading ‘Forbidden’?  No, I didn’t.  But, as strange as this may sound, I do not mean this as a criticism of the book.  This is not a book written to be ‘enjoyed’ it the traditional sense.  It is a book that means to make the reader think and to induce strong emotions.  I really don’t think I have ever been so emotionally involved in a book before.  I felt anger at the mother, pity for both Lochan and Maya, hope for them and all through the book I felt their anxiety over the possibility of getting caught.  I also continually felt like I wanted to crawl into the pages of the book to help them with everything that was going on in their lives.  There was always the constant feeling that maybe if they had not been forced to grow up so quickly and become parents to their siblings at such a young age then maybe things would not have ended as they did.
This book is definitely worth a read, but only when you are feeling strong, as it is impossible not to be dragged in emotionally by the story and the characters.  It is the type of book that really questions everything that you think about the world and it will stay with you a long time after you have finished reading it.

Publisher– Headline Review
Publication Date – 22 June 2010
Hardback – 320 pages
Genre – Crime
Series– Book 16 in the Stephanie Plum Series

Source – Received from publisher for review

Book Information – Trenton, New Jersey.  Bounty Hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a ‘lucky’ bottle from her Uncle Pip.  Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck…
BAD LUCK: Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced.  Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.
GOOD LUCK: Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie.  If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.
BAD LUCK: Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,oo.  Vinnie’s messing up Mooner’s vibe, running up pay-per-view porn charges in Ranger’s apartment, and making Stephanie question genetics.
GOOD LUCK: Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, Mooner’s Hobbit-Con charity event, and Uncle Pip’s mysterious bottle, they just might raise enough money to save the business, and Vinnie, from ruin.
BAD LUCK: Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter.  In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a Turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr Jingles.
GOOD LUCK: The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous security expert, Ranger.  With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky – the only question is… with whom?
SIZZLING SIXTEEN… So hot, the pages might spontaneously combust.

Review – (***Note*** Even though this is number 16 in a series, this is a series that I have dipped in and out of in the past and they are easy enough to read out of sequence.)
I have to say that this is one of the funniest books I have read in a long time!  I’ve read other books from this series in the past but I haven’t read any for a while and I had forgotten just how funny Janet Evanovich’s writing can be.  Most of this humour comes from Stephanie’s complete ineptitude at her job.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Stephanie, but she was not born to be a bounty hunter.  She is kind, loyal and always tries to do the right thing, but at the same time she is afraid of her own shadow and (according to her friend, Lula) has too many scruples to be able to carry out her job well.  This leads to lots of laugh-out-loud moments where she is trying to rescue Vinnie or catch other criminals but it all just goes hideously wrong.
But, as much as I love Stephanie, my favourite female character from this series has to be Lula.  She is a larger than life character who has a very positive outlook on life, but who doesn’t take any nonsense from the people around her.  For me, Lula is one of the funniest characters I’ve ever come across in a book.  So many funny lines just fall from her mouth that you just can’t stop yourself from laughing.
I don’t normally include quotes in my reviews but I’m going to make an exception this time as there are a couple of funny quotes that I want to share with you.

‘What if Vinnie’s in there and he’s with some of Sunflower’s stooges?  We shoot them, right?’
‘Only if we have to.’
Lula took her Glock out of her bag and stuffed it into her pants, snug to her backbone.  She looked at me.  ‘Don’t you want to get your gun ready to go?’
‘I don’t have a gun.’
‘What have you got?’
‘Hairspray.’
‘Is it firm hold?  I might need some when we’re done here, depending on what we do for lunch.’
Page 22

Minutes after Ranger left, Lula hauled herself up into the Jeep.  ‘The best I could do was blueberry,’ Lula said.  ‘They didn’t have no vegetable doughnuts.  And I got a strawberry jelly-filled, and a pumpkin spice, and a banana scone.  Wait a minute.  Is a pumpkin a vegetable?  Does that count?’
‘You must have eight hundred calories in that bag.’
‘Yeah, but the diet says I can have one of anything.’
‘One doughnut!  Not one of each kind.’
‘You don’t know that for sure,’ Lula said.
‘Have you lost ant weight on this diet?’
‘No.  I gained a couple, but I think it’s water retention.’
Pages 63-64

I was staring so intently, wanting to see help so badly, I almost missed the movement in the woods to the right.  There was no wind, but something was disturbing the undergrowth.  Animal, I thought.  And then movement a few feet over.  And next thing, the woods were alive with Hobbits.  They were everywhere, creeping forward out of the woods onto the grass, inching up to the fortress.  I ran around the room, looking out all the windows, and everywhere I looked I saw Hobbits.  There were hundreds of them.
Page 302

Now, onto the men in Stephanie’s life.  She has been in an on-again/off-again relationship with cop Joe Morelli throughout the whole of this series of books, and in Sizzling Sixteen they are in one of their ‘off-again’ phases.  This leaves room for the mysterious and dangerous Ranger to try and make a move.  Out of these two men, I definitely prefer Ranger.  Joe is a nice guy but there is something very sexy about Ranger.  At the same time though, I think they must both have the patience of a saint to have put up with Stephanie and her antics for so long.
The mystery aspect of the novel was good and moved along at a nice pace, but for the most part this is a nice, quick and easy read that keeps you entertained and will give you a good laugh.  I really enjoyed Sizzling Sixteen and I will definitely be reading some more Janet Evanovich novels in the near future.

Other books in the series:
1. One for the Money
2. Two for the Dough
3. Three to Get Deadly
4. Four to Score
5. High Five
6. Hot Six
7. Seven Up
8. Hard Eight
9. To the Nines
10. Ten Big Ones
11. Eleven on Top
12. Twelve Sharp
13. Lean Mean Thirteen
14. Fearless Fourteen
15. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen

Publisher – Harlequin
Publication Date – 1st June 2010
Ebook – 51 pages
Genre – Young Adult/Urban Fantasy
Series – Book 1.5 of the Iron Fey Trilogy

Source – Received from netGalley for review

Book Information - Meghan Chase used to be an ordinary girl… until she discovered that she is really a faery princess.  After escaping from the clutches of the deadly Iron fey, Meghan must follow through on her promise to return to the equally dangerous Winter Court with her forbidden love, Prince Ash.  But first, Meghan has one request: that they visit Puck – Meghan’s best friend and servant of her father, King Oberon – who was gravely injured defending Meghan from the Iron Fey.
Yet Meghan and Ash’s detour does not go unnoticed.  They have caught the attention of an ancient, powerful hunter – a foe that even Ash may not be able to defeat….

Review - (This will probably turn out to be a quick review, but then it was a very short story.)  OK, so I have read loads of great reviews for this novella, but I must admit that I had mixed feelings about it.  There are some things that I really loved whilst other things I thought were just so-so.  One of the things that I loved most about Winter’s Passage is the way the author describes the fey world and the creatures within it.  You can’t help but feel as though you are there with Meghan and Ash as they travel to the Winter Court.  Also, the chemistry between Meghan and Ash just jumps off the page at you.  I really like the fact that they are in love with each other despite all that stands between them and I really hope that things get resolved between them later on in the series.
So, now onto the things that I wasn’t so sure about.  First of all, I know that this is just a short story, but nothing much happens in it.  It just felt to me as though it was a description of all the things that they saw along their way to the Winter Court with only one small bit of action in it, where the hunter is chasing after them.  And although I liked the feeling of suspense brought along by the hunter storyline, I wasn’t very satisfied with the way that particular part of the story ended.
But overall, it was a good, quick and easy read full of beautiful description.  It acts as a good bridge between The Iron King and The Iron Daughter and it is definitely worth a read if you are a fan of the Iron Fey series.

Publisher – Pocket Star
Publication Date – 2nd June 2008
Paperback – 384 Pages
Genre – Paranormal Romance
Series – Book 1 in the Immortals After Dark Series

Source – Library

Book Information - A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her…
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire.  Or partly one.  This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy…
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents – until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle.  There, her fear of the Lykae – and their notorious dark desires – ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
An all-consuming desire…
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Review – The story starts with Lachlain MacRieve, a Lykae who has been held prisoner and tortured by vampires for 150 years.  He finally finds the strength and courage to break free from his imprisonment when he scents his mate somewhere near by.  Lachlain has been searching for his mate for centuries and he is not going to let her get away from him now he has finally found her.  However, he is disappointed when he catches up to Emmaline to realise that she is a vampire – one of the creatures that has tortured him for the last fifteen decades – and he readily shows his disgust of her and the rest of her species.  But he soon finds out that Emmaline is nothing like the vampires that held him captive and he starts to fall for her.  Emmaline feels very differently about Lachlain though.  She sees him as a monster who wants to torment and hurt her.  But soon danger surrounds them from all sides and they realise that they are willing to do anything to keep each other safe.
Both Lachlain and Emmaline go on an emotional journey throughout A Hunger Like No Other, and I loved reading about this journey.  Lachlain starts off as a (literally) tortured soul who has trouble keeping his animal instincts in check.  But as he spends more time with Emmaline, he becomes a lot more content and, although at times he does lie to his mate or treat her in a way that is perhaps not quite right, he would do anything for her and do anything to keep her at his side.  And it is easy to forgive Lachlain for his little indiscretions when you consider that he has not had any contact with others (apart from the vampires torturing him) for 150 years.
Emmaline, however, starts off as a very timid creature who is used to the protection of her aunts – a coven of vicious Valkyries.  Although she is part vampire, she has never drunk ‘from the source’ and wants to protect living things (a way of life that earns her a lot of ridicule from her family).  But during her time with Lachlain, she finds herself in many dangerous situations and she finds strength from them.  The result of this is that by the end of the novel she is an incredibly strong female who can hold her own in a fight as well as refusing to be walked over by her family and Lachlain.
I loved both of the main characters and the relationship that develops between the two of them – there is certainly a huge amount of sexual chemistry between them, even if it does take them a long time to realise that their feelings run a lot deeper that just this physical connection.  I also found the storyline of the book, involving all the threats from their enemies, to be intriguing, well-written and full of action.  Overall, I really enjoyed reading A Hunger Like No Other and I can’t wait to read the others in the series.

Other books in the series:
1. The Warlord Wants Forever (in the anthology ‘Playing Easy to Get’)
2. A Hunger Like No Other
3. No Rest for the Wicked
4. Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
5. Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
6. Dark Desires After Dusk
7. Kiss of a Demon King
8. Untouchable (in the anthology ‘Deep Kiss of Winter’)
9. Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Publisher– Berkley
Publication Date – June 2010
Paperback – 320 pages
Genre – Mystery

Source – Received from Kaye Publicity for review

Book Information – Everyone wants a piece of millionaire Bennett Marshfield, owner of Marshfield Manor, and letters are coming in daily from those claiming to be poor relations.  The elderly, reclusive heir trusts no one but his aged curator, Abe.  But when Abe is killed in a case of mistaken identity, the tide changes…
Although shaken by the murder, Grace Wheaton, whose lifelong dream has been to work at the manor, steps up to the challenge of assuming Abe’s job.  But now some of the letters arriving for Bennett have taken a nasty turn, demanding millions – or else.  When an uninvited stalker shows up at the manor and at Grace’s home, she and handsome groundskeeper Jack Embers must protect their dear old Marshfield.  But to do this, they’ll have to investigate a botched Ponzi scheme, some torrid wheaton family secrets – and sour grapes out for revenge…

Review – Grace is the assistant curator at Marshfield Manor when her boss, Abe, is murdered.  She has to step into his shoes and take over the running of the manor, whilst also helping the police with the murder investigation and trying to earn the trust of the owner, Bennett Marshfield.  This is not an easy job for anybody but Grace takes it all in her stride and even uncovers a few family secrets along the way that manage to make things even more complicated.
I must admit to having mixed feelings towards the main character, Grace.  For the most part I did like her and found her to be very capable in her job and a loyal friend with the patience of a saint (there were a few times where I would have given her assistant, Frances, a slap, but Grace always managed to deal with her with incredible composure)!  However, there were just a few moments where I couldn’t help thinking that Grace looked down on some of the people around her and felt that she was somehow better than them.  But the fact that Grace isn’t perfect did make her a more believable character in my eyes.
The mystery aspect of the novel was well thought out and well written.  I was absolutely certain that I knew who had committed the murder and it wasn’t until the last couple of chapters that I realised I was completely wrong, and it was somebody I hadn’t even considered.  I love it when I read a mystery that is able to surprise me like this, as often it can be obvious from early on who the perpetrator is.
I really enjoyed Julie Hyzy’s style of writing.  It flowed well and was easy to read, with the author easily switching between the action elements of trying to solve a murder and the beautiful descriptions of Marshfield Manor and its grounds.  Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, with suspense, lots of twists, and well-rounded characters.