Book Review: Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace

Descended By Blood by Angeline Kace

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 252
Acquired: 10/14/11
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I read it:
Series: The Grym Brothers (1)

Brooke Keller isn't your typical high school student. After a lifetime of moving from place to place, she has finally found a spot where she feels at home and belongs. But when strange things start happening, she's afraid to tell her mother and find out they have to move again. Now by strange things, I mean really strange. She "talks" to a mountain lion that attacks her on a hike and realizes that a man is stalking her - trying to kill her. After the attempt at her life, her mother finds out of course, and then a whole new set of strange things begin. She finds out that she is a vampire, and it turns out that she is a very special one. She teams up with a group that is determined to keep her alive and help her adjust to her new life.

Brooke was a good character. She was sufficiently "freaked out" by the strange turn of events her life had taken. She is at once disgusted at her new way of life, and wanting to embrace her new powerful self. She adjusts quickly, but in a way that makes the story real and involving. She finds herself torn between her old life and her new one - torn between her high school love and the vampire hunk that is trying to help her. The attempts on her life continue and she has the choice to embrace her new life and powers or be killed. A wonderful, quick read that I recommend to fans of urban fantasy.

3.5/5

Book Review: Bonded by Blood by Laurie London

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 384
Acquired: 10/10/11
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I read it: NetGalley
Series: Sweetblood Series (1)

Sweetbloods are a rare type of human whose blood is delicious...more than delicious, it can be addicting. Few vampires can resist drainging a sweetblood dry. Mackenzie Foster-Shaw is a sweetblood. It's a trait that runs in her family and would explain the mysterious disappearances over the years. Dominic is a wounded vampire. Mackenzie quite literally stumbles across him and he cant resist the lure of her blood to heal him, but somehow he manages not to kill her. But he does come close and to saave her life he must give her a small amount of his own blood. This has unexpected consequences, they become bonded, sharing thought and feelings.

Then the unthinkable happens. The evil vampires, known as Dark Bloods, discover that Mackenzie is a sweet blood and have made her a target in their most recent scheme. As Dominic tries to protect her their bond grows stonger and stronger, as do their feelings for each other. They must find a way to defeat the dark bloods and come to terms with each other.

One of the better vampire romances I have read. I enjoyed the added aspect of the sweet blood humans that can be addictive to vampires, good or bad. I loved Mackenzie. She was so head strong and independent. She didn't just swoon every time something bad or new happened. She tried to take care of it and freaked out later. Dominic is your typical "strong man" and has difficulty accepting Mackenzie's help. But she makes him get over it and they work well together. A great paranormal romance for vampire lovers.

4/5

Book Review: Seducing the Vampire by Michele Hauf

 

Seducing the Vampire by Michele Hauf
Genre: Paranormal Historical Romance
Pages: 384
Acquired: 09/30/11
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I read it: NetGalley
Series: No

Think Snow White meets vampires, werewolves, and France. Three of my favorite things and one of my favorite fairy tales growing up (I went through 3 copies of the Disney movie). Our fair princess is played by the blood born vampiress, Viviane LaMourette. Now blood born vampires are rare, and females even more so. So enter the evil queen (errr king in this case), Constantine de Salignac, the local vampire tribe leader who will have Viviane or else no one will! Prince Charming is played by quite an unusual character, a half werewolf half vampire named Rhys Hawkes, who just happens to be half-brother to Constantine. Now remove the 7 dwarfs, unless I totally missed something, and we have our main characters.

The story itself takes us back and forth between present time and the time of Marie Antoinette's court in France. We first meet Viviane on her way to visit her patron in France where she meets Rhys for the first time and Constantine presses her to become his. Fearing for her independence should she choose to be with Constantine, Viviane tries to delay giving him a decision and ends up falling for Rhys. When Constantine finds out, saying he is mad would be the understatement of the century. He sets out for revenge.

In the present time, Rhys hears a myth of a "Vampire Snow White" in the sewers of France. The timing and description of the fair vampire maiden reminds him of Viviane, thought lost to him for all this time. He immediately takes off to France to try and find her (Prince Charming to the rescue).

The story's jump between time periods was well written. There was never any confusion when you started a section as to which time you were in now. There was a lot of action, but it never got too overwhelming or confusing with too much going on all at once. This was a great read.

4/5

Book Review: Night of the Vampires by Heather Graham

 

Night of the Vampires by Heather Graham
Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction
Pages: 352
Acquired: 09/16/11
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I read it: NetGalley
Series: None

Most of us know how deadly and devastating the civil war is. Now try to imagine it even worse. With a third enemy that doesn't care which side of the war you are on. If you are human, then you're fair game. There is a pestilence that is ravaging the land, both North and South, and that pestilence is an army of savage vampires that seem intent on wiping out the human race all together. Only a select few realize the truth behind the strange deaths. Most choose to believe that it is some strange new disease that is highly contagious.

Megan Fox is different. She knows the truth. In fact, half of her is the truth. She is half vampire and has managed to retain control of her hunger and kept her soul. She is on the hunt to eliminate the vampires that have turned to pure evil. Along the way she finds her half-brother, another like her, that also hunts the vampires with a group of his friends, and has been for years.

One of these friends is Cole Granger, a Texas sheriff that has not taken any sides in the Civil War. Apparently Texas has too much to deal with - outlaws, Indians, and vampires. Word of a large outbreak of this "disease" in a military prison brings them East and into the very heart of the Civil War. Cole finds it difficult to trust Megan at first. After all, he's only met one other half-vampire before and tends to hold to the kill it before it can kill you mentality.

As the death count rises and more and more vampires are brought back, Megan struggles with her rising feelings for Cole and strives to earn his trust. But can they learn to trust each other and work together in time? The scales are tipping, and it's not in favor of the humans.

This story had quite a nice twist on traditional vampire historical fiction novels. Since the war is taking place, it's very easy for unexplained deaths to be blamed on wounds received in the field. And with so many being buried away from home, who is there to notice that the dead aren't staying put. The characters of Megan and Cole were very well written. Neither one really trusted the other, with good reason, for quite awhile. Their relationship grew in a very realistic way, even if it did progress rather quickly. The downfall of Megan's character is that she is obsessed with the search for her father, a full vampire, and her search puts many in danger time and time again. It just seemed like she never learned and grew.

3/5

Book Review: Dracul by Bram Stoker

Dracula (Qualitas Classics) by Bram Stoker

A favorite classic story of many I know, I finally found time to read it myself. The story was very interesting and I was surprised to see the character of Van Helsing appear (although I guess he had to enter the world of vampires and werewolves somewhere). The story moved fairly quickly. It was a very traditional vampire tale, but this is were so many came from I didn't really expect much more. I found myself disliking several of the characters that I was supposed to feel sympathy for. They were just too good. Overall a good book that I'm glad I found the time for.

4/5

Book Review: Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Infinite Days (Vampire Queen) by Rebecca Maizel

Many of us wonder what it would be like to be a vampire....but how many vampires strike to be like us? Lenah has been a vampire for hundreds of year, but she yearns to return to her human life. Rhode - a vampire willing to die for Lenah to have her wish - succeeds in returning her to a mortal life in today's world.

But mortal life is not what she expected. She is enrolled in an exclusive high school and must adapt to life in a new era. As she makes new friends and finds a new life, she must be careful not to let her past catch up to her...because it is hunting her, and everything she has grown to love could be destroyed if it catches up.

4/5

Book Review: Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz

The mystery behind the Silver Bloods is finally solved. Many loose ends from the first two books are resolved, but the threat still remains following a dramatic twist of events that ends in discovery and tragedy. The mystery is not so much solved as revealed leaving plenty of room for the next books to work with.


Schuyler continues to develop thoughout the story. She is not a perfect person and faces many tough choices, sometimes she chooses correctly and sometimes not, making her very real. Oliver continues to be Schuyler's best friend and guides her the best he is able. He is one of the few characters that I cannot seem to relate to. He is too perfectly accomodating to Schuyler, doing whatever he can for her.

Many other young Blue Bloods come into their own, and we learn their histories and purposes in this life. Their personalities fill out and so much is revealed, I don't even know how to describe it. This is the book I enjoyed the most of the series so far, and I will be continuing the series soon.

4/5

Book Review: Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz

The continuing story of Schuyer Van Allen and her vampire (and non-vampire) friends. The story open with Schuyler searching Venice for her grandfather, a man who disappeared from the Blue Blood community long ago. She is hoping he will be able to provide her with answers in her search for the killer of her fellow young vampires.


The characters are written in a way that they are still growing and changing before your eyes. As they adjust to their vampire traditions and realize that there really is something out there hunting them. The not so nice are still not so nice, but in a way that you grow attached to...after all someone has to be the school "mean girl".

I would have liked to see more of Italy, but alas the author quickly takes us back to New York to contiue the story. While the book does fall into what I call the "second in a series curse", the pitfall of second books to be so much development and set up for the third that they are slow and uneventful, this one pulls itself out of it rather quickly.

The ending has a bit of a twist at the end that left me gaping and wishing I was as devoted to doing the right thing as the character was. We see a small portion of the mystery come to a close, only to open an entirely new one...onto book three!

3/5

Book Review: Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Most people think of blue bloods as the old elite families...but they are more than that. They are an anceint race of Vampires that have been living for generations peacefully among the Red Bloods, or humans. But recently something has begun to kill the young off before they come into their powers. They face the choice of ignoring this threat and hoping it will go away or confronting it once and for all.


Schuyler Van Allen is vampire, a Blue Blood. These vampires are not your traditional vampires. They are nearly invincible...sunlight, stakes, silver...all seem to be myths. So when Schulyer and her friends find that something is out there that is able to kill them off, they set off on a hunt to find what it is. This hunt for answers leads to more questions than they started with.

The teenagers, Schulyer and her Blue Blood schoolmates, are fascinating characters that cover the entire specrum of personalites. There are some you love, some you hate, and some you won't be able to make your mind up about. They are dynamic and adjust their life perspectives as situations change. The story was portrayed wonderfully, revealing enough to keep you reading without giving away the critical information to figure out who the killer is. I'm starting book two later today.

There were some typos and a few times the story jumped in a awkward way as if the author wasn't sure how to segway into the next section. I'm hoping her skills become a bit more polished as she continues with the series.

On a side note, I absolutely loved the cover.  The picture is perfect and the wounds on the neck are actually indented in to give the picture some texture.

3/5

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Somehow this series keeps me just interested enough to want to keep going. This book ties up several loose ends that are left gaping in the first and second book. It also forces Bella to make the hard decision between Jake and Edward. The author's style of writing is either getting significantly better, or I'm just getting more used to reading it. The story flows much nicer than it did before. I'll be picking up the fourth book soon. Once I start a series, I just have to finish it.

3/5