Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (4)

"Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance between the Faerie Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly-vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

17-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes—not the kind that Leslie had dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faerie world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils.

Melissa Marr continues her tales of Faerie in a dark, ravishing story of temptation and consequences, and of heroism when least expected. "

Even though this is the second book in the series it follows the story of Leslie a moral who finds herself strangely drawn to Irial one of the Faerie Kings ..... I would advise to read this book 2nd as it does continue the story with Aislinn and Keenan but only in tiny snippets ....

Melissa has a great way of writing the male characters especially when one minute you really love them and then the next you dislike them .... It is a love/hate relationship .... Brilliant ......

Leslie the main character is getting drawn into a world that no one else can see ...... Those closest to her try to protect her but will not telling her about the other world do her more harm than good? ........

There is abit more violence and graphic descriptions in this book than in the first but you are talking about the Dark Faerie King here not a nice grant your wishes faerie .......

I felt it wasn't as good as the first book but still a really good read .....

I rate this book 4 ****

Books in the series in order

Wicked Lovely

Ink Exchange

Fragile Eternity

"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman [4]

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts.

There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard. But it is in the land of the living, that real danger lurks for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod's family.

"A truly captivating read."

I absolutely loved the movie "Stardust" and when Irish told me that it was the same author I had to read this book, for the read your name challenge.

What a wonderful sense of humour the author has...

All kids from the age of 10 and up would really enjoy reading this novel...

especially the boys!

Who would think that a child could be raised in a graveyard by ghosts and come out normal...

or does he?

Lots of adventure, secrets to uncover, and friendships to make.

Well worth reading.

I rate this book 4 stars.

[Hope he writes one to continue the story.]

Hey I've finished my first challenge...

The Season by Sarah MacLean (5)

Seventeen-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford doesn’t fit into the world of Regency London – she’s strong-willed, sharp-tongued, and she absolutely loathes dress fittings. Unfortunately, her mother has been waiting for years for Alex to be old enough to take part in the social whirlwind of a London Season so she can be married off to someone safe, respectable, wealthy, and almost certainly boring. But Alex is much more interested in adventure than romance.

Between sumptuous balls, lavish dinner parties and country weekends, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get entangled in her biggest scrape yet. When the Earl of Blackmoor is killed in a puzzling accident, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. It’s a mystery brimming with espionage, murder, and suspicion. As she and Gavin grow closer, will Alex’s heart be stolen in the process?

Well I blame Legs for the bags under my eyes today ....... lol ........ I stayed up until the wee hours reading this novel ....... And for a debut novel it is excellent ........

I love all the characters ....... Especially Blackmoor and Freddy ......... If you just want to be whisked away where Manners are everything ........ Men where either Gentlemen or scoundrels ....... Woman dancing all night and in between all that you have a murder mystery to solve as well .......

This is a gorgeous book to read ........ Nice and clean ........ But with a hint of cheekiness ...... A story of friendship between 3 girls .... And their parents search to find them a husband ....

Ok ...... AS you can see I loved it ........ If you haven't picked a copy up yet ........ Please do ....... And the hardbook cover is lovely ........ This book is definitely one for the book shelf ......

I rate this book 5*****

Books in order of Series

The Season

Hurray yes she is going to be doing 2 more to this Series .... Hopefully coming out 2010 !!

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice (41/2)

In A Darkened Room A Young Man Sits Telling The Macabre And Eerie Story Of His Life - The Story Of A Vampire, Gifted With Eternal Life, Cursed With An Exquisite Craving For Human Blood. Anne Rice's Compulsively Readable Novel Is Arguably The Most Celebrated Work Of Vampire Fiction Since Bram Stoker's Dracula Was Published In 1897. As The Washington Post Said On Its First Publication, It Is A 'thrilling, Strikingly Original Work Of The Imagination ...sometimes Horrible, Sometimes Beautiful, Always Unforgettable'.

The first book in the Series The Vampire Chronicles ..... And really this is where all the Vampire books really stem from apart from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Hard to imagine that this was written in 1976 .. I would have been 4 years of age !!! ...... It is a brilliant book to read and one of those that is one the 1001 books you should read before you die ... And quite rightly so it was a real pleasure to read :) ........

The basically narrated by Louis who got turned by Lestat a vampire .... It will be interesting to read the other books as they are about Lestat to see if my feelings change over the course of the next two books ... We read of the struggle that Louis has that even though he is turned into a vampire he still feels human emotion which is unheard of by any other vampire ...

This book is a must read if you are a Vampire Lover just because if we didn't have this novel we wouldn't have such a wide range of Fantasy Authors today .........

I rate this book 4 1/2 ****

The rest of the series goes like this ... The Vampire Lestat (1985); The Queen of the Damned (1988)

As you know this book got made into a movie which I just loved .... And it was not to bad with sticking to the book ...... But as ever the book is better :) ..... But you have a brilliant cast in Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst who plays the young girl brilliantly ...... Here's the trailer .... Enjoy

"Ecstasy" by Jacquelyn Frank [4]

At one with the darkness, the mysterious Shadowdwellers must live as far from light-loving humans as possible in order to survive. Yet one damaged human woman will tempt the man behind the Shadowdweller throne into a dangerous desire...

After a terrifying car crash, Ashla Townsend wakes up to find that the bustling New York she knew is now eerie and desolate. Just when she's convinced she's alone, Ashla is confronted by a dark warrior who draws her deeper into a world she never knew existed. The bond between Ashla and Trace is a mystery to both, but searching for answers will mean confronting long-hidden secrets, and uncovering a threat that could destroy everything Trace holds precious...

Third book in Read your name challenge.

OOH, AAH, this is rather steamy!!

Didn't quite realize that this was an adult read... the story is what drew me to it.

That said I actually did enjoy it, if you can get past the erotic parts in the book.

Loved the character's of Trace and Ashla and the way they are drawn to each other and the depth of their feelings for each other... what starts out as probably pure lust turns into deep abiding love... something I think every woman would want in a relationship.

Well written, story line was quite intriguing.

The second book in this series is called "Rapture".

A good fluff read as I call them....nothing too serious or complicated.

I rate this book 4 stars.

"Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater [5]

The Cold.

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house.

One yellow-eyed wolf - her wolf -

watches back. He feels deeply familiar

to her, but she doesn't know why.

The Heat.

Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he

keeps the silent company of the girl he

loves. And then, for a short time each year,

he is human, never daring to

talk to Grace...until now.

The Shiver.

For Grace and Sam, love has always

been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken,

it cannot be denied. Sam

must fight to stay human - and Grace

must fight to keep him - even if it

means taking on the scars of the past,

the fragility of the present, and the

impossibility of the future.

Second book read in the name challenge.

Absolutely brilliant....wow, wow, wow!

I so enjoyed reading this book, that it was read in a day...

Could not put it down...

The author is just fantastic and becoming a firm favourite of mine.

Her writing style is so easy to read, it just flows...

A beautiful love story that you think will just not work and defies logic.

I don't want to say too much about the story as it will give it away, so here is just a little snippet...

'And then I opened my

eyes and it was just Grace and

me - nothing anywhere but

Grace and me - she pressing

her lips together as though she

were keeping my kiss inside

her, and me holding this

moment that was as fragile

as a bird in my hands.'

What I will say is that it is written from Grace's view and

Sam's view, which is really good.

It is definitely a must read...especially teenage girls,they will fall in love with it.

If I could give it more than five stars I would.

Have to Read!

"The Little Giant of Aberdeen County" by Tiffany Baker [3 1/2 ]

Truly Plaice - part behemoth, part witch, part cinderella - is born larger than life into a small minded town. Her birth rocks the pillars of tiny Aberdeen, New York, and breaks her family into smithereens.

She spends a painful childhood in the shadow of her older sister Serena's beauty, and is teased mercilessly for her enormous physique. But when Serena unexpectedly vanishes and leaves her son in Truly's care, Truly must become mistress of a house she did not choose and the unwilling victim of her brother-in-law, Doctor Robert Morgan. Once her childhood tormentor, he now subjects her to brutal criticism and cruel medical experiments that test her endurance past breaking point - but Truly may have more power than he realizes...

First book in the read your name challenge.

The front cover of this book drew my to it and the write up that it was a 'Gothic tale of murder, revenge and redemption'....

Well it has murder and redemption...but it certainly isn't Gothic!

A debut novel for the author and well I struggled a little with it.

For me it took quite a while to get into the story of Truly taking care of her nephew in her brother-in-laws house, and that is where the story gets interesting. It has a few twists and turns and once you get into it, it's interesting to read.

I don't know why they said it was a Gothic tale because to me that implies it's set in a period time like the 1800's or such...this is set in the 1960's.

Interesting read but wouldn't pick it up again soon too read.

Another challenge - Read your name :)

This one looks fun .......... So I thought I would give it a whirl ..............

I - Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
R -
I -
S - Stargrazer by Claudia Grey
H -The Hunger Games - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

L - The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
E - Ecstasy by Jacquelyn Frank
G - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
S - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Heres the link it is really easy to do .........

Stargazer by Claudia Gray (5)

In Stargazer, Bianca returns to Evernight, and she now understands the dark, centuries-old feud between vampires and hunters that prevents her and Lucas from ever being together. But even though everyone thinks Bianca has given up on him and embraced her destiny of becoming a vampire, she's found a way to communicate with him. But when Evernight is attacked, she discovers that she's not the only one who's been keeping secrets, and her world is turned upside down.

The much awaited 2nd book in the Evernight series which if possible is better than the first book ...... The third book comes out in December in the USA so I may have to ask some of my American friends very nicely to get me a copy when it comes out !!!

Since everyone loves Twilight and looking for another series to read ... This is it ..... I read it in a day and loved it :) .... ( And not just because the cover is purple my favourite colour ) ...

Bianca is back a the Evernight Academy trying to figure out why humans are admitted to the school !!! ....... She is still in love with Lucas but things prove difficult when your boyfriend is a member of the Black Cross ( Vampire Hunters ) ........ Bianca finds herself changing more and more each day into a Vampire !!!!! .... When strange things start to happen at the Academy ... Maybe all those ghost stories ours parents told us about are actually true !!!

Again if you love your fantasy, Vampire books then this series is for you :) I just have to hang out now for book 3 !!!!

I rate this book 5 *****