Book Review: Bled & Breakfast

Author: Michelle Rowen

Publication Date: June 4, 2013

Publisher: Signet

Series: Immortality Bites Mysteries # 2

Fledgling vampire Sarah Dearly knew what she was getting into when she married master vampire Thierry de Bennicoeur. As an agent of the Ring, Thierry is sent all over the world to solve vampire crimes and keep them secret from humans. And now Sarah’s on the job with him—for better or worse.

Right after their wedding in Las Vegas, Sarah and Thierry get their next assignment: Three vampires have gone missing in Salem, Massachusetts, and they need to find out why. Their contact in Salem turns out to be a local lothario with a penchant for witches, but before he can help them, he suddenly goes up in smoke—leaving behind nothing but a stain on the ground and a seemingly impossible mystery.

Did a witchy ex-mistress cast a deadly spell, or is there something even more sinister happening to the vampires of Salem? Getting to the truth may require raising the undead, with a little help from the owners of a vampire-friendly bed and breakfast. But uncovering Salem’s darkest secrets may drag some of Thierry’s own past into the light.

Crystal balls have a lot in common with eyeballs. They both have the power to reveal hidden truths – that is, if you’re brave enough to look deeply.

Someone was watching me from the archway leading into the gift shop area. A man with black hair and black eyes. His attention was focused on me like a laser beam. His gaze was cold, hard, and endlessly unpleasant.

When I thought of Salem, of course I thought of witches. My knowledge of witches as a kid involved watching reruns of Bewitched – and I had the nose twitch down pat.

“So three vampires have gone missing while traveling through Salem,” Thierry said evenly, “and all three had spent a night with you.”

This is not my first read by Michelle Rowen, so I am very familiar with her paranormal writing style and I loved her first book in this cozy mystery series. She truly is a talented writer because she can write from the perspective of many different characters and color in the lines when it comes to writing different genres. I believe that this truly is a gift! But we are here to talk about this particular series in which our lovely heroine, Sarah Dearly, helps her husband solve mysteries having to do with the protection and safe-keeping of vampires. Whenever there is a problem, Sarah and Thierry are called in to help! In this series, in Sarah’s world, it is very important that vampires do not reveal themselves to humans or that humans never find out about the vampires living all around them. Sarah and Thierry are called to Salem in this book to investigate the disappearance of a few vampires. They just happen to pick up a creepy ghost along the way!

This book is no different from your regular cozy mysteries, although it may sometimes feel that way. I love the fact that we are dealing with mythical beings instead of humans, but I can see where this would bother some people. This book does have more of a paranormal feel, but it is written in good taste and still has that “cozy” feel as well. Things got a little creepy in this book for me actually. Sarah meets a ghost, whether he is friendly or not she is not quite sure, within the openings chapters and I must say that her encounters with him were spooky. Especially because it seemed like she was the only one who could see him! Small touches like this strange ghost are what makes Michelle Rowen’s writing so great; she always keeps you guessing.

The setting of this book was interesting to me, and I will always be attracted to stories that take place in Salem. Of course we all know what Salem is famous for, and I was so thrilled to see some talk of witches and witch hunters. When I found out that the eerie ghost that Sarah was seeing was a witch hunter, I knew things were about to get good. I love the mixture of vampires of witches and I love seeing them as two separate mythical beings, not just thrown together in the same category. They each have something different to bring to the table. I felt that as far as the paranormal was concerned, Rowen did an excellent job keeping it more about the mystery and less about the paranormal, but never fear! There is enough paranormal mixed in to keep anyone happy. And of course we still have Sarah getting into trouble as always!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Signet in exchange for my honest review***

Book Review: The Beautiful and The Cursed

Author: Page Morgan
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Series: The Dispossessed # 1

After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all. It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

And Grayson has gone missing.

No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead—she can feel it deep in her soul—but she knows he’s in grave danger. It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths. And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, they can never again be buried.

Most of the statues – angels, most likely, as Ingrid could make out the shape of wings – were covered in white powder, but a few smaller ones sat on the jutting ledges at the base of the rectangular towers. The snow had blown free of these and Ingrid saw them clearly: not angels. Gargoyles.

Her brother was missing. There might be a kidnapper – or a murderer – stalking the girls of Paris. And Ingrid was confined to the rectory for the night. Come morning, first thing, she’d set out to find Grayson.

Farther down the page’s border was one last question. It stole the breath from Ingrid’s lungs: Transformation from stone form to flesh?

He’d have to be mad to believe the stone gargoyles could spring to life.

At Paris, you had me. At gargoyles that protect the city and come alive, you had me. The cover of this book, you had me! Let me just start by saying that this is going to be an amazing series and I am so excited for what it brings. I am blessed and very fortunate to have a bound copy of this book now adorning my shelves. The story follows sisters, Ingrid and Gabriella Waverly, along with their mother to Paris, France to live in a rundown abbey that their brother, Grayson, has bought for their mother’s exhibition and for them to fix up and live in. However, when they arrive in Paris instead of being greeted by the charming Grayson Waverly, they are told of his strange disappearance instead. Ingrid, being Grayson’s twin, can feel that he is still alive, she is not sure how but she just knows it. Ingrid and Gabby do not quite know what they are in for upon their search for Grayson, nor do they realize that at night the streets of Paris come alive!

Do you know why I love this book? GARGOYLES! Not that I am tired of reading about werewolves and vampires, although there are a lot of books that incorporate them, it was just such an enlightening and inspiring change to read about some type of different and unusual mythical creatures. Let me just say that Page Morgan knocked gargoyles out of the water. From the first few chapters when Ingrid swears she sees one of the gargoyles that sits atop the abbey move, I knew this was going to be an amazing read! I was not disappointed at all! I don’t want to spoil any of the story for anyone, but let’s just say that Ingrid gets several “close” encounters with the gargoyles and demons of Paris!

Between Ingrid and Gabby, I could not decide which one was my favorite. I was impressed by their courage and bravery all the same. The connection and chemistry between the characters were phenomenal. Morgan writes a cast of amazing characters. She even throws in a little love triangle that is in no way mushy or gushy! Luc and Vander prove to both have some type of connection to Ingrid and both work for different teams but are on the same side, I guess you could say. I encourage any and everyone to pick up a copy of this book if you haven’t already because of the characters, world building, and…oh yes, because of the extremely handsome men who turn into gargoyles!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Delacorte Books for Young Readers in exchange for my honest review***

 

Book Review: All The Summer Girls

Author: Meg Donohue
Publication Date: May 21, 2013
Publisher: William Morrow

“Beach Book Extraordinaire! Donohue’s three protagonists are irresistibly sympathetic as they try to unbury their true selves from the ruinous secrets of their shared past.” --Elin Hilderbrand. bestselling author of Beautiful Day

In Philadelphia, good girl Kate is dumped by her fiancé the day she learns she is pregnant with his child. In New York City, beautiful stay-at-home mom Vanessa is obsessively searching the Internet for news of an old flame. And in San Francisco, Dani, the aspiring writer who can't seem to put down a book--or a cocktail--long enough to open her laptop, has just been fired...again.

In an effort to regroup, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani retreat to the New Jersey beach town where they once spent their summers. Emboldened by the seductive cadences of the shore, the women being to realize how much their lives, and friendships, have been shaped by the choices they made one fateful night on the beach eight years earlier--and the secrets that only now threaten to surface.

So it turns out she’s not nearly as alone as she feels.

 

“Live a little,” she said. “I guarantee you’ll thank me for this later.”

 

Vanessa lets her laptop cursor hover over the “Add Friend” button. She tells herself that she’s just saying hello. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. She clicks the button, finishes her wine, and waits.

 

Colin. When he’d reached out to ruffle her hair that afternoon in the bungalow, his hand had smelled like cigarette smoke and suntan lotion, a Colin-in-summertime scent that Kate, when she tries hard enough, as she does right not on an empty city street, can still – will always – smell.

Critics are absolutely right in dubbing this book to be a “beach read.” All The Summer Girls is light, fun, and allows the reader to drift away in the pages and on the coast near the Jersey Shore. We see three women, Kate, Dani, and Vanessa, are all facing somewhat burdensome or difficult issues in their life and they all find solace and tranquility in each other and the beautiful Jersey Shore one summer. Each of them has secrets that are weighing their heart down and they are each in need of a little change in some area of their lives or another. This book stole me with its title and did not disappoint one bit!

 

I always enjoy stories about friendships, especially from the point of view of different women. I usually specify which character was or is my favorite, but with this book I honestly have no idea. I loved all three of them and the friendship they shared with one another. Throughout the book, especially when you reach the second half, you can start to see why these women are so connected and where the bonds of their friendship formed. Like all friendships worthwhile, theirs had some rough spots, but isn’t the potential of any relationship determined by how you work things out?

 

The subject, or should I say occurrence/issue, that bonds these three women is emotional, raw, and should not be taken lightly. I was a little shocked at the major event that the women all felt guilty about, but it made for many exciting and pivotal moments in the book when the girls started to unveil their secrets and real feelings about what happened the last summer that they were together.

 

Meg Donohue stole my heart with her first novel, which was released last May called How To Eat a Cupcake. This was one of the first books that I ever reviewed on my blog and the first book I received from a publisher for review. This author and her books hold a sentimental value to me and my blog. I cannot tell you how much I love her writing and how much I highly recommend that you check into her books. She is a truly gifted author!

 

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at William Morrow in exchange for my honest review***

Book Review: The School For Good and Evil

Author: Soman Chainani
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher:  HarperCollins
Series: The School for Good and Evil # 1

“The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped.

 

“In the forest primeval
A School for Good and Evil…
Two Towers like twin heads
One for the pure,
One for the wicked.
Try to escape you’ll always fail
The only way out is
Through a fairy tale…”

 

“But do take care of your friend, dear. The School for Good might seem like a festoon of roses, but she’s in for a surprise. Now go to bed. The School Master will be here soon and it’ll be easier for him if you’re asleep.”

Although no story could ever take the place of Harry Potter in my heart or mind, this one sure does come close in magic, charm, and thrilling adventure. This is the story of the School for Good and Evil, in which children, around the age of Harry and his friends, are brought to the school to be picked to study either good or evil. The only way to exit either of the schools is through a fairy tale. Yep, you guessed it! This school is training people like Rapunzel, Cinderella, Ursula, Captain Hook, etc. But more specifically this story follows two girls who are best friends and close companions: Sophie and Agatha. Sophie knows she is destined to become a princess, and Agatha is just determined to keep Sophie as a friend. Sophie cannot wait to be taken off to the school to study good and become a real live princess. Agatha isn’t convinced that she will be selected, but when she is it comes as quite a shock to the little girl in all black with black hair that lives in a graveyard when she is dropped off at the School of Good, and when Sophie is left at the School for Evil.

 

I was so confused when the girls were dropped off at opposite schools. I could picture Sophie is all pink with long blonde curls masquerading around pretending to be a princess, and Agatha just fit the mark to be placed in the School for Evil. They were both so out of place and at first I didn’t think I liked what the author had done. However, once I started to find my way around both schools with Sophie and Agatha, I began to realize and see the true colors behind each girl. This story has a wonderful message behind it, or at least what I took away from it. It would be perfect for younger kids around middle school age and higher. The school obviously made me feel a little nostalgic and I got to feel that Hogwarts charm wash over me again. I loved how the schools were connected but the students were not allowed to cross into the other without permission. Schools must have rules you know!

 

Agatha became my favorite character, and if you read this book you will most definitely see why. Agatha was so startled and confused when she landed in the School for Good because she didn’t see herself as beautiful, charismatic, and graceful like all the hundreds of princesses surrounding her. But as the story goes Agatha, and I alongside her, could see what made her so good. She was completely selfless and spent most of her time trying to rescue Sophie from things that might have harmed her. I loved Agatha’s character and I think she sends an inspiring message to any young reader! I am beyond excited for the next book in this series, and I absolutely cannot stress to you enough that if you loved Harry Potter you should pick up a copy of this book!

 

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at HarperCollins in exchange for my honest review***