Review--Vampires Dead Ahead by Cheyenne McCray

In the acclaimed Night Tracker series by New York Times bestselling author Cheyenne McCray, the vampires are back to make a brand new start of it—in old New York…

With zero tolerance for bloodsuckers, Nyx and the Trackers have made the streets safer for warm-blooded New Yorkers. Unfortunately, they didn’t drive a stake through the problem nationwide. Vampire attacks are on the rise. Proctors are dropping like flies. And Volod—New York’s ousted Master Vampire—is trying to make a comeback…

Nyx is worried—about her city, her job, and her neck. But mostly she’s concerned about her former lover, Rodán, a Proctor who’s gone missing. Scarier still, Volod is capturing and “turning” paranorms to help him paint the town red. Which sucks. Because some of these new vampires are Nyx’s old friends. But hey—if she can stake them here, she’ll stake them anywhere…

Cheyenne McCray's Vampires Dead Ahead was extraordinary! I don't know if this is supposed to be the final Night Trackers Novel or not, I suppose it could go both ways since I haven't found anything out yet on the author's website. Moving on...

This was beyond great! Probably the best Night Trackers Novel ever, truly epic! Nyx is trying to get back to normal after the Zombie attack, it was probably the worst case she ever worked with her dislike of Zombies, but soon that case will look like a piece of cake compared to what is being thrown at her next. Paranorms are being turned into vampires. And not just any paranorms, powerful ones. 

Nyx definitely has had a lot of turmoil and hard times in this series, loss of friends, boyfriend and so much more. And it doesn't seem to stop. With every case comes challenges and difficulties, but how Nyx is able to keep moving on, keep moving forward while these things happens, speaks a lot about her character. She is strong. And I admire that about her.

When someone close to Nyx is taken, things go into high danger mode. She will do anything to get Rodan back. Not only is he her former lover, but he is still a great friend. But Volod is out to get Nyx, truly. He despises her along with all other Paranorms and naturally he wants to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! And even though Nyx is walking around with a target on her back, she is still in the thick of things, trying to save the world she loves.

With terrific pacing and a nice dose of romantic scenes, and a touch of scenes to cry over, this book has it all! It has a great balance of all things one expects from a UF novel. Just when you think Nyx and her friends might be getting one step ahead of Volod, they are proven incorrect. That's how exciting this book gets!! I was hooked from the beginning and the ending was fast paced, yet at every turn there is another surprise waiting, be it good or bad!

Overall rating 5/5 stars

Teaser Tuesday

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a page

3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE

4. Name the title, author, etc.

"Surprise had me shaking my head. 'You're housing paranorms in a Vampire sanctuary?'

"'Former Vampire sanctuary,' Armand said." p 281

TITLE: Vampires Dead Ahead
AUTHOR: Cheyenne McCray
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Paperbacks
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 29, 2011

ARC Review--Firelight by Kristen Callihan

London, 1881

Once the flames are ignited . . .

Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

I received this e-ARC for review from Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley

Kristen Callihan's debut--at least I believe it's her debut--Firelight, was really good! I'll admit at first I thought that this was going to be a steampunk kind of novel and overall I get the feeling that it wasn't. It was just sort of set in the 1800s, there was no gizmos or other machine creations, but we don't really get that here. 

But there is a good deal of secrets and other slightly paranormal things going on. Of course most of it remains a mystery until the end. But it was still a fab story! For most of the beginning I got the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale vibe from it. But sort of twisted, we have Miranda forced into a marriage by this man who always wears a mask. Odd yes, but there is something else strange about the man that Miranda can't pinpoint yet. 

The two are obviously a good match though since Miranda has her own secret she's harboring. And when people her husband knows suddenly start showing up dead, he's the likely suspect. Yet she herself can't decide if he's guilty or not.

The book had its ups and downs. There were moments when I felt a little bored, because not much was happening. There was definite mystery vibes going on that were entertaining, yet there was a lack of excitement in them at times. But then the excitement would suddenly pick up again. It was definitely a rollar coaster kind of read for me. And the ending, was heartfelt and satisfying, but it's the very last line that will nag at you! It nagged at me and now I am curious about a future installment, yet feeling like there are no guarantees just yet. At least none that I know of.

So overall it's definitely an interesting book, just a few moments here and there that I felt just weren't exciting enough for me, but it did help build the story up.

Overall rating 3.75/5 stars--yes another awkward rating, I say it's really close to a 4, yet the sporadic slow moments were a little too much of a drag for me, yet still an amazing read!

Firelight releases January 31, 2012

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

Shadow Heir by Richelle Mead (4.5 stars)

Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent (5 stars)

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter (5 stars)--Review to come in March

Review that was Posted:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton (e-ARC) (4 stars)

Currently Reading:

Vampires Dead Ahead by Cheyenne McCray

What I Plan to Read this Week:

Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide by Michelle Rowen with Richelle Mead

Other Posts of Interest:

Cover Copy Reveal--Erin Kellison

Teaser Tuesday

Cover Art--C.C. Hunter

Waiting on Wednesday

Random Thursday

Andrea Cremer Signing

Cover Art--Cat Adams

Friday Hops

Have a Laugh!

Top 5 Sundays

Movie Review--Underworld Awakening

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly blog post hosted by Kirsti over at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

So I didn't have a very entertaining mailbox this week. And while I didn't get any books :(  I still got some awesome book related goodies!

I got from Allison Pang, an awesome set of trading cards that relates to her next release Sliver of Shadows:

And then, I saw this shirt at Jess@The Cozy Reader got last week, and I thought, I HAVE to HAVE it! So I ordered it Sunday and it came this week after a long agonizing wait! It is super stellar and I just want to thank Jess again for showing it off last week so I was able to get one for myself!

Isn't it just the coolest! I bought it off of Shirt.Woot and it is now of my fave t-shirts! My other fave includes the one I got from Hot Topic a year or so ago that says: And then Buffy staked Edward. The End.

So that was my IMM this week, kind of nice not to have added to my TBR mountain although there's no telling what might happen next week!

MOVIE REVIEW--Underworld: Awakening

So today I saw Underworld: Awakening and it was wicked awesome!! So to shortly explain the story, Selene and Michael now have a new enemy a short time after the war between lycans and vampires ended when the last of the elder vampires died, and that of course is humans. So we see them trying to get out of the city--guessing the US somewhere--while lycans and other vampires are being killed by humans. But naturally things go awry.

There's an explosion and when Selene wakes up it is to find Michael gone and she was encased in frozen ice. She's having weird visions every now and then and not sure what is going on. Well it turns out it's been 12 years or so later. The battle with humans and lycans and vamps is over with humans winning. But vamps and lycans are still about in hiding.

So as we learn very very quickly, Selene had a child with Michael--it's not explained, but I believe the medical group that was holding her and her daughter hostage enabled the birth or something like that--and her daughter sets her free and they are on the run and all.

Not wanting to do a play by play review I'll cut myself off on that front. It basically comes down to Selene needing to protect her daughter. It is believed that Michael is dead or being held hostage at the medical group place which has its own secret which I won't tell. But they basically want to use and destroy Eve--Selene's daughter.

And along the way they meet with another clan or group of vampires that has been in hiding and among them is the oh-so-sexy David! He wants to help Selene in her mission to protect her daughter, for his father--the leader of their coven or whatever--doesn't ever want to help out anyone, because they live in fear.

It was a tremendous movie! Of course at the end I was like are you kidding me?! It has a semi-cliffhanger and it kinda left me outraged, because I am a little scared that this was the last movie. I will have to start doing some digging since I originally heard about this movie when the third one came out, but I have to know if there will be a 5th one. Yes, it might be pushing it, but with the way this left off, there's no way I can tolerate that being The End! It's just not acceptable.

I also originally thought that Michael wasn't going to be in this due to some online research and not being able to find Scott Speedman listed. Although Michael was there occasionally, like in the very very beginning but had no lines and I never did get a good look at him, he wasn't listed in the credits that I could see. And since it had been 6 years since the last movie he was in, time might have aged him a bit.

But this was a helluva great movie! If you've liked the previous ones, you'll love this! Same kind of killer action and fight scenes--totally glad I did not see it in 3D, don't think I want 3D blood flying at me! But it was stellar!

And also I still have to say how much I now love Theo James! Looked up him up online at IMDB by his character David, and OMG, I am in love! And we're so meant to be together! He's just 3 years older than me and his birthday is DECEMBER 16th!! How freaking awesome is that! We have the same bday! So yeah, I really want to marry this guy now!! ;)

And he's born in England, so he has that sexy accent as well! I mean seriously, how perfect is it that he's not too old or too young and we have the SAME birthday! So in love....

Overall movie rating 5/5 stars

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: Series You Plan to [hope to] Start in 2012!

*in no particular order


Had to add in the "hope to"! Should be able to since I have most of these in my TBR pile with the exception of this first one!

CHARLEY DAVIDSON SERIES

Darynda Jones

I've been reading awesome reviews on this one and it's making me highly consider reading it sometime soon! Hopefully this year!

THE OTHERS SERIES

Christine Warren

I actually have this one on my TBR mountain! I planned on reading them in the order Christine recommends on her website vs reading them in the order they published. 

NICKI STYX

Terri Garrey

This one sounds really interesting as well! It's another series that I bought a few books of...all 4, so I don't know if that's it as a series or just what there is so far. But it did sound fabulous and I bought the 4 books during the tragedy last year of Borders closing.

NIGHT WORLD SERIES

L.J. Smith

Another series I keep meaning to start since I've read a lot of L.J.'s books. I have all three volumes of the Night World series on my TBR pile and looking forward to the day the finale comes out, Strange Fate, which has had its release date changed several times in the past 2-3 years.

PERSONAL DEMONS

Lisa Desrochers

Okay, granted this series is only 2 books in but still it is another series I plan to start soon hopefully! I have the first two books on my TBR mountain as well and it sounds pretty interesting! Although I still say that chick is definitely pushing the high school age, yet it still sounds like a good read!!

A FEW OTHERS THAT I MIGHT START, BUT THESE ARE ONLY 1 BOOK IN:

Have a Laugh!

Got this video sent to me and OMG it is funny! I'm not a Star Wars fan, yet this is hilarious! These dogs are barking the theme music to Darth Vadar's little tune!

Sorry I tried to paste the video in my actual post, but it wasn't cooperating with me since I'm not tech savvy. Yet it is on Yahoo somewhere. But here's the link anyway! I highly recommend watching it! It's quite funny! I believe this is going to be in the Superbowl lineup!

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/dogs-bark-darth-vader-theme-volkswagon-super-bowl-203157640.html

Friday Hops

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list

2. Follow our Featured Bloggers

3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.

4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments

5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can

6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

This week's question is: What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get your hands on any particular book?

MY ANSWER: Oohhh. Craziest thing? Well, there were times I would hunt down a book without using the "check store inventory" thingy. I would go to like EVERY single Borders that was in my area hunting down the book! And most times it was because I was looking for the book a little earlier than the release date. Hence why I didn't use the "check store inventory" thingy. Other people would say their stores in whereverville put them out early, so I would go to every bookstore imaginable in my area trying to track the book down a week early or so. And I wasn't always successful, but there were a few times I was!

TGIF is a weekly feature created and hosted by GReads! that re-caps the week’s posts and has different question each week.

This week's question is: Recommend It: Which book from the last 10 you've read would you recommend to a friend?

MY ANSWER: Ohhhh, tough one! Well since my mind kind of boggles with books I had to look at my review list and see which from the last 10, which, wow--I'm not reading as much as I used to since I got a job. Anyways I would say Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder! Of course I am a total fan girl of Maria, and know that everyone may not like fantasy and magic books. There isn't any supernatural creatures running about, but it's still a totally awesome story!

So as for a paranormal book--since that's all I read with the exception of Maria's books--I would recommend Drink Deep! Sure, it's in the middle of the Chicagoland Vampire series, but it was EPIC! I loved it! If you've read it, you pretty much know why! 

*Click the titles to see my reviews on them.

Cover Art--Cat Adams

Here's the cover art for the next book in the Blood Singer series. Yes, The Isis Collar is not even out yet, and here's the cover for the next book in the series! It won't officially release til next January, but oh well. Have to read the next one first before I agonize over the wait!

Also, I kinda miss the old cover look. I thought Celia looked cooler there. But this one at least is growing on me!

And in case you haven't seen it yet, here's the cover art for The Isis Collar which releases March 13, 2012.

Celia Graves was once an ordinary human, but those days are long gone. Now she strives to maintain her sanity and her soul while juggling both vampire abilities and the powers of a Siren.

Warned of a magical “bomb” at a local elementary school, Celia forces an evacuation. Oddly, the explosion seems to have no effect, puzzling both Celia and the FBI. Two weeks later, a strangely persistent bruise on Celia’s leg turns out to be the first sign of a magical zombie plague.

Finding the source of the plague isn’t Celia’s only concern. Her alcoholic mother has broken out of prison on the Sirens’ island; her little sister’s ghost has possessed a young girl; and one of Celia’s boyfriends, a powerful mage, has disappeared.

Andrea Cremer Signing

Last night I went to my library to see Andrea Cremer! I was so freaking happy to see that she was coming to dull St. Louis for her tour for Bloodrose! It was a very fun signing! A pretty typical one. Andrea talked a little bit then did Q&A! It was very enlightening. Got a little more pep talk for myself regarding finding an agent and all that. And how tough the publishing world is. I like hearing about authors' journeys to publication. It gives me some hope!

And since she just has the 3 books out so far, I was able to get all of them signed! Even got an extra one that I plan to giveaway very soon. So if you're looking to start the Nightshade trilogy or just want a piece of the holy grail of all booklovers (a SIGNED copy) then stick around, cause I'll be doing that shortly!

Random Thursday

Remember Barbie, the girl who could do it all. And all that whatnot? Of course you do. At least I hope so. Anyways my niece is now getting into Barbies, still a little brutal to some of her dolls, but she's 3. It's likely to happen.

But I was looking at some of her Barbies and was noticing how totally trampy Barbie is looking these days! I mean I know Barbie has to look gorgeous and all but seriously!

I mean take a look at this one. I initially bought it for her, but I was really buying her a 4 piece room set for her Barbie house. But this Barbie is wearing short-shorts and a halter top. I mean sure she's cute, but looking at her as a 24 year old adult, she looks like a s**t. And little girls play with these things. Heck I did as a kid too. But like I said, they were so much different back then.

Take a look at this one:

Nothing too bad right? She's wearing a cute little sundress and strappy pink heels. The only bad part about this Barbie is that she's Teacher Barbie! She looks like she's about to go on a date, but nooooo, she's going to teach little kids! I mean the teacher Barbie I had, wore a dress, but it was long sleeved and a billowy skirt with 1,2,3 and A,B,C's all over it. So it's cutesy. Appropriate for teaching little kids! But this one just blew my mind! If she was just Barbie, or Date Night Barbie, she would be okay. But thinking that she's a teacher, looking like that?!

Yeah, I know this is Barbie. She's meant to look stylish and all that. But still. I think Barbie can be a little inappropriate these days. Changing times I guess. Heck, they just brought back her sisters and Ken not that long ago. Except of course, Kelly is no more. Instead there's Chelsea. 

So if you played with Barbie dolls as kid, what did they look like? Do you think maybe they were a little too "much" for someone your age? I don't have anything against Barbie, except for you know, her setting impossible body standards for young girls everywhere. So why can't Barbie be just a little practical? I know Barbie has to be glamorous, but can't she at least wear job appropriate attire?

Rant over! :)