Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publish Date: August 30, 2011

Hardcover, 320 pages 
Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Horror
 ISBN: 978-0765328656

My Review:
I will freely admit that I requested this book solely based on the title and the cover.  That said, the insides totally live up to the title and cover.  Or should I say the cover and the title live up the the storyline.  That would probably please the author more :-).  However I say it, Anna Dressed in Blood, is one of the best YA books I have read this year.  I will say something I have said over and over.  I really wish all of these YA authors had been around when I was actually a teenager.  That would have been great.  But now I will just have to read them in my second teenager-hood :)

Back to the book - Anna Dressed in Blood is so different from other books, it has romance in a way, yet it is a ghost/horror story.  Anna is so not nice in the beginning, yet she doesn't hurt Cas, but she seriously tears others limb from limb.  While gruesome, I don't think the book is overly gruesome, so if you're a little sensitive to this kind of thing, don't shy away from the book, there are just a few parts and you can easily skip over them, this book is well worth reading, trust me.  So you get this loner ghost-hunter (not ghostbuster) Cas who comes into town, but Anna throws a  monkey wrench into everything he knows.  For some reason he doesn't want to kill her and also he seems to be accumulating other people to help him and that has never happened before.  From geeky Thomas, to ultra popular Carmel, add in Cas's mom and Thomas' grandfather to help him out along with some magic thrown in there and poor Cas really isn't sure what to do anymore.  But really he takes it in stride.  I love some of the remarks and how the characters play off each other.  There really is some great dialog and I look forward to seeing these characters more in future books.

The ending is very climactic and ties up well, while still leaving open the possibility of more books (which I just learned about while setting up this post - yay for more books by Ms. Blake!).  I think Anna Dressed in Blood was a wonderful book, very exciting with interesting characters that I hope to see more of, with a great plot line and evil bad guys and bullies, and great good guys too.  It was another book that I found hard to put down, it was fast-paced and I felt very invested in the characters and really wanted to know what would happen next to each of them.  I truly cared about them and can't wait to read the next book.  So run and pick this one up - it's been out about a week now so you should be able to find it easily or have your local bookseller order it for you.  You'll want to read it - I promise you :)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:
Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

About the Author: 
Kendare Blake holds an MA in Creative Writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She lives and writes in Lynnwood, Washington.

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FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.

Book Review: Vanish by Sophie Jordan @SoVerySophie

Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Publisher:HarperTeen

Publish Date: September 6, 2011

Hardcover, 304 pages 
Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal
 ISBN: 978-0061935107
Firelight #2

My Review:
Overview: I have been eagerly awaiting the second installment in the Firelight series and I was not disappointed.  More Will, more Cassian, more Jacinda confused and trying to figure out what her place is.  And the ending, I can't wait for installment number 3!


Minor Spoilers ahead for those who have not read Firelight . . .



My thoughts:  Firelight left me gasping and wanting for more.  I was intrigued by this different world of the draki that Ms. Jordan had built and I could not wait until Vanish was released.  As I mentioned in the overview Vanish did not disappoint.  As Vanish begins we find the group heading back to the pride.  Of course Jacinda is conflicted and it's this conflict that makes the book for me.  Jacinda doesn't want to leave Will but she knows she needs to go back to her pride.

But life isn't easy when she gets back to the pride.  But I don't want to give away too much.  Just suffice to say this book will fly by when you read it.  There is so much packed into this book.  Jacinda grows and changes in this book.  We get more of a look into Cassian and into Tamra.  We also get more of a look into pride life.  There is also Will.  Vanish is just amazing.  I thought Firelight was good but Vanish has topped it and the only problem I have is that I have to wait another year to find out what happens next! **whine**

So if you haven't picked up this series and would like to try out something different in the paranormal genre, then try out the Firelight series.  If you read Firelight then run, don't walk and get Vanish when it comes out Tuesday.  It's that good!  Great characters, great action and a plot that will have you turning page after page and probably wanting Ms. Jordan's address after it's done so you can make sure she's finishing the next book (I'm picking Ms. Jordan).  Seriously, Vanish is a very enjoyable read that takes you to another world that is a part of our world for the afternoon and while it does leave you hanging waiting for the next book, it leaves you satisfied too.


My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:
To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

About the Author: 
Sophie Jordan grew up on a pecan farm in the Texas hill country, where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she’s also the New York Times bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances under the name Sharie Kohler.


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FTC Information: I received this book through Netgalley from the publisher for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Book Review: Deep Disclosure by Dee Davis

Deep Disclosure by Dee Davis

Publisher: Forever

Publish Date: September 1, 2011

Paperback, 368 pages 
Fiction, Romantic Suspense
 ISBN: 978-0446582926
A-TAC #4

My Review:

Overall thought:  While I found my thoughts wandering from time-to-time, I still found Deep Disclosure to be a very satisfying read and a true reminder of why I find romantic suspense to be one of my favorite genres.


My thoughts:  From page one Ms. Davis draws the reader in with action and just when things begin to lull there is a well placed action-scene.  She is a master at this.  I enjoyed Deep Disclosure and getting to know Alexis and Tucker and seeing members of the A-TAC team.  You don't need to read the earlier books in this series to understand this book (I haven't) but I am sure you will find enjoyment if you have read the books as the previous couples are in this book from time-to-time.

Alexis and her backstory were the most interesting to me.  The fact that she has been off the grid her entire life was fascinating.  Her instant attraction to Tucker was great also.  I love those kind of attractions and I really felt the attraction and heat between these two.  It didn't feel off, it really felt believable.  I also liked Tucker, who hasn't had an easy life either, and he's trying to decide what to do when the situation with Alexis falls into his lap.  He's pretty much decided he's going to be alone for life as well so I liked that he found his soul mate in Alexis.

Of course the relationship has it's bumps, it wouldn't be a romance book without them, but I won't tell what happens, I also won't give up what happens with the suspense plot.  It's interesting and while a little out there at times, ultimately it does seem believable, scary yet believable.  My interest level did wane at times, but honestly I think that was me more than the book, because truly there was enough action, romance and suspense to keep any reader interested.  I definitely want to go back and read the earlier books and look forward to Harrison's story in the next book.  He played a definite role in this book and I'm interest to learn more about him in the next book.

Ms. Davis has a way with characters and action and her books are definitely worth reading.  I look forward to reading more in the future.

My Rating: 4.0/5.0


About the Book:
After spending years in prison under deep cover, black ops agent Tucker Flynn joins A-Tac, an elite CIA unit masquerading as faculty at an Ivy League college. Nothing can shake him-except a vulnerable young woman marked for death.

DUAL DECEPTION

When Tucker is assigned to protect-and secretly investigate-Alexis Markham, he expects a routine mission. But this mysterious beauty has a past even darker than his: her father created a horrifying new biochemical weapon-and was murdered to keep it secret.

Alexis has spent the last decade racing to stay one step ahead of the shadowy operatives who will stop at nothing to possess her father's formula. She can trust no one, not even her handsome new bodyguard. But the heat that flares between them is impossible to resist. Will giving in to passion bring her the safety she's always craved, or will her love for Tucker draw him into a killer's sights?

About the Author: 

Bestselling author Dee Davis worked in association management before turning her hand to writing. Her highly acclaimed first novel, Everything in Its Time, was published in July 2000. Since then, among others, she's won the Booksellers Best, Golden Leaf, Texas Gold, and Prism awards, and been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Holt Medallion Award, and two RT Reviewers Choice Awards. To date, she has written sixteen books and three novellas. When not sitting at the computer writing, she spends her time exploring Manhattan with her husband, daughter, and Cardigan Welsh corgi.

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FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Book Review: To Die For by Sandra Byrd @TudorTidbits #ToDieForVirtualBookTour

To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn by Sandra Byrd

Publisher: Howard Books

Publish Date: August 9, 2011

Paperback, 352 pages 
Fiction, Historical, Christian
 ISBN: 978-1439183113

My Review:
My thoughts:  I was really looking forward to reading To Die For, although I'm not a huge history buff nor do I have a great interest in Anne Boleyn.  But I did have a curiosity about her story and this fiction account sounded very interesting to me so I jumped at the chance to be a part of the tour.  And my tour stop came at the right time.  Right after Hurricane Irene went right over us (yes I walked around outside in the eye of the storm) and the storm passed and we made sure all that were near and dear to us were okay, it was the next day.  Yes we spent 24-hours pretty much in the hurricane.  It was rough, but we were pretty blessed.  On Sunday we woke up to sparkling blue skies, a messy yard and no power.  Perfect time to read.  So I dove right into To Die For with little to no interruption and I'm glad there were no interruptions because this is a book that is hard to put down.

From the first page you are introduced to Meg and Anne, friends from childhood they are bound together and pledge to do all together.  As Anne goes off to serve in court and Meg suffers at home, Anne finds a way to get Meg to court with her and eventually Meg becomes wrapped up in the intrigue of being at court.  That was one of the things I loved about the book.  It had history, romance, religion and lots of intrigue. I never quite knew what would happen next.

As the story advances and Anne moves forward to become Henry's wife, we see a different side of Anne than the one that is typically seen in the history books or played out in the media.  And who knows whether Ms. Byrd is far off or not.  There really are two sides to every story and this definitely would not be the first time history has gotten it wrong.  Either way, fact or fiction, it lends itself to an excellent story.  One that feels real and makes the reader really feel for Anne and for Meg and feel that Anne truly got in over her head.  To see how, read the book.

But there is even more layers to the book than that.  This is not a simple story by any means.  I am still thinking about the story and the characters.  I especially liked Meg who I really feel is the main character.  She is the servant in a way to Anne, but Anne most of the time always treats her as an equal and Meg's loyalty is unwavering.  It's amazing to witness.  The friendship between them is amazing.  Meg's character is stellar and Ms. Byrd does an excellent job creating the characters in this book, from the frivolous to the important from the evil to the truly pure at heart, they all are woven beautifully into the story.

To Die For is truly an amazing story.  It tops my rating scale.  At this time it is the best book I have read this year and I look forward to more books Ms. Byrd has to offer in this genre.  I feel her research was wonderful and her storytelling is natural and with this winning combination, To Die For is just a novel you must read.


My Rating: 5.0+/5.0


About the Book:
To Die For, is the story of Meg Wyatt, pledged forever as the best friend to Anne Boleyn since their childhoods on neighboring manors in Kent. When Anne’s star begins to ascend, of course she takes her best friend Meg along for the ride. Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling at first, but as Anne’s favor rises and falls, so does Meg’s. And though she’s pledged her loyalty to Anne no matter what the test, Meg just might lose her greatest love—and her own life—because of it.

Meg's childhood flirtation with a boy on a neighboring estate turns to true love early on. When he is called to follow the Lord and be a priest she turns her back on both the man and his God. Slowly, though, both woo her back through the heady times of the English reformation. In the midst of it, Meg finds her place in history, her own calling to the Lord that she must follow, too, with consequences of her own. Each character in the book is tested to figure out what love really means, and what, in this life, is worth dying for.

Though much of Meg’s story is fictionalized, it is drawn from known facts. The Wyatt family and the Boleyn family were neighbors and friends, and perhaps even distant cousins. Meg’s brother, Thomas Wyatt, wooed Anne Boleyn and ultimately came very close to the axe blade for it. Two Wyatt sisters attended Anne at her death, and at her death, she gave one of them her jeweled prayer book—Meg.

About the Author: 
Sandra Byrd has published a number of books in the Christian YA market but is now making her debut in adult historical fiction. She also previously published a contemporary women's series, French Twist, which includes the Christy finalist Let Them Eat Cake (2007) and its sequels, Bon AppÉtit (2008) and Piece de Resistance (2009).

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FTC Information: I received this book through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.