Friday Hops

This blogger hop was created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books.

Here are the rules:

1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below (be sure to include how long you've been blogging and what genres you review!). If you post about the Hop on your blog, please link directly to your Hop post (don't forget to answer this week's question - see below!).

2. Visit other blogs in the Linky List! Make new friends! Follow new book bloggers! Talk about books! Rave about authors! (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

3. Post about the Hop on your blog! Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!

4. In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!):

What book(s) would you like to see turned into a movie? *This was a question I submitted!!

Oooh and it's still a tough one. I would like to see a lot of books turned into movies. Like Rachel Vincent's Shifter series. Or even Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series. Or Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton because I totally enjoyed it and think seeing that in film would be awesome.

Tough question I thought of, for there are wayyyy too many book I would like to see turned into movies!

This is a weekly blog meme created by Parajunkee's View.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list

2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://annettesbookspot.blogspot.com/

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: If you are a fan of Science Fiction what is your favorite book? If you haven't read Science Fiction before...any inkling to? Anything catch your eye?

I'm not really a sci-fi kind of gal. I read mostly urban fantasy and bookstores tend to shelve that as Sci-Fi, but for some reason I've never thought of it as such. Sci-Fi to me has always seemed more focused on space, time travel, or other such things...aliens rather than werewolves. Now I could be wrong since I don't read this genre, but that's what Sci-Fi has always seemed like to me. For me I like reading urban fantasy, space and science like stuff doesn't really appeal to me nor do the futuristic type settings. I much rather stick with urban fantasy.

Although! When I was younger, like in the 7th or 8th grade I read every single Roswell tie-in book there was! I was addicted to the show, Jason Behr was hot! So I read all the books, Roswell High, Roswell the Suspense series, and 2 other little groups, one of which picked up where the show ended, so there were 4 awesome books to read after the show was done and picked up where the gang left off!

Cover Art--Kiersten White

Kiersten White has posted the cover for her next book, Supernaturally! I like it! I like how it has a similar feel to the last one, yet still has subtle differences. I really like how the flowers in front of Evie are somewhat blurred so that she is the main focus point on the cover.

Really looking forward to reading this one!

Life's never fair when faeries are involved.

VAMPIRES

I thought I knew how to protect you.

WEREWOLVES

I thought I knew where I belonged.

FAERIES

But the world is shifting. Things are changing.

SHAPESHIFTERS

And the truth is, I didn't really know anything at all.

This one releases August 30, 2011

2X the Bones!

**This is a somewhat rambling post, skip on down to the Nit and Gritty* for the straight facts** 

*Aware of the somewhat cheesy-ness of that title as well!

Okay, I might be a little slow on the uptake here--really I can't remember hearing about this bit of info, maybe it distantly rings a bell, but it was obviously from too long ago.

Case in point--there's going to be 2 Night Huntress Books this year!! This Side of the Grave comes out next week obviously, but when trying to do a book search for something, I came across the next one, One Grave at a Time! 

Obviously there isn't a lot of info on it since it's still mega early, but I thought, hey a title and a release date is awesome enough! The release date I'm a little unsure of since Borders and Amazon have different dates, but about a month. Whatever. And I really don't blame this on their financial trouble either, because really any time of year different book websites have different release info.

So I'm going with Amazon's date since it is earlier! Amazon says this one releases August 30, 2011. Borders said September 27, 2011

That means we get 2X the Bones this year!!! Oh yeah!

NIT AND GRITTY

One Grave at a Time (Book 6 in the Night Huntress series) Releases August 30, 2011 (or September 27, 2011 according to Borders)

Review--Black Wings by Christina Henry

AS AN AGENT OF DEATH, MADELINE BLACK IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ESCORTING SOULS OF THE DEARLY DEPARTED INTO THE AFTERLIFE. IT'S A 24/7 JOB WITH A LOUSY BENEFITS PACKAGE.

Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.

Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.

Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell...

Christina Henry's Black Wings was a complete surprise! I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, other than the give premises, but after reading a few good reviews by blogger friends, I decided to give it a try and found that I absolutely LOVED it!

Henry has a nice way of writing, her style flows easily and there's nothing confusing or complex going on in this world. Things are explained without much fuss. Maddy does live a very interesting life as well. Being an Agent isn't all it's cracked up to be, as we see right away in the beginning, not all souls are easily accepting to their fate and some decide to stick around, thus forfeiting their chance at a peaceful afterlife and instead become a haunting ghost.

But that's just Maddy's day job, that and writing/creating recipes for a local magazine. Even Agents of Death have to pay the bills. Maddy also owns an apartment complex or some sort. Really there's just her living quarters and one below that she tries to rent out but can never seem to gain a client, until Gabriel Angeloscuro walks through the door. (Ironic name, huh?)

And thus begins the crazy whorlwind of Maddy's life. Demons from Hell are literally after her to kill her because of her parentage, one that she doesn't full know in the beginning of the book. But then the past is revealed to her and it has a major effect on her future and it doesn't look so good given the choices.

This was a rather fast paced read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maddy is one tough cookie, for there are quite a bit of fight scenes, power using, and carnage. Even that was a little too detailed, but not in a really grotesque way. Carnage is carnage! Anywho...I really enjoyed this book and am so glad that I decided to read it. I don't want to get into all the details that relate to Maddy's past because it is sort of surprising in some ways, and there is a bit history to be learned and it is done in a remarkable way that flows nicely into the story.

Everything about this book was done beautifully and I sooo can't wait to read the next one, Black Night which releases July 26. So a little bit of a wait, but still have plenty other GREAT reads along the way! 

Overall, 5/5 stars for sure!

*Review--The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney*

CURSED BY A MAGICAL LEGACY

When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed Donna Underwood's father and drove her mother mad. Her own nearly fatal injuries were fixed by alchemy--the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. Now seventeen, Donna feels like a freak, doomed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. Only her relationship with her best friend, Navin, is keeping her sane.

But when vicious wood elves abduct Navin, Donna is forced to accept her role in the centuries-old war between the human alchemists and these darkest outcasts of Faerie. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous guy with faery blood running through his veins and secrets of his own, Donna races to save Navin--even if it means betraying everything her parents fought to death to protect.

Karen Mahoney's debut The Iron Witch was an interesting read. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. There was a lot of world-building involved, which normally is good if done right but in the way that I read it, it just took too long to get used to things. We don't get to be in on the know of all the fae facts right away.

It's not until past the halfway mark that Navin is even kidnapped. And it doesn't really take all that long to rescue him and everything. The pacing was just off. It had a rather slow, introduction like start and went on and on. For once Donna and Xan meet they have a connection of some sort and they take their time exploring that. Those moments were sort of nice in the first romance sense, and even helped move the story along. It was more of what Donna does during the other time that takes forever, like explaining to Navin what's going on.

There are still plenty of secrets to be told by the end, not a whole lot was resolved and more problems actually popped up. Which can be both annoying and exciting, normally just because the wait til the next book makes it annoying. Donna ends up with more problems and questions than when the book started. There is something more to the attack that occurred when she was a child that took her father's life and her mother's sanity.

So there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. Which cliffhangers are always quite evil, but this rating is on the low side of evil. (The worst cliffhanger that I can recall at the moment was the ending of Jocelynn's Pray for Dawn. Wait for Dusk took too long to release) Overall I give this one 3/5 stars. Just one of those books that are kind of okay all around.

This book was apart of my 2011 Debut Author Challenge. It is book #6/12! Halfway there!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

My next release is one I'm mildly curious for, Patricia Briggs' River Marked. The last Mercedes book just wasn't as exciting for me, might get this one still though to give the series one more shot.

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help...

TITLE: River Marked
AUTHOR: Patricia Briggs
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

Review--Secrets and Shadows by Shannon Delany

Nothing's simple when you run with werewolves. Jess Gillmansen thinks she's seen it all but her eyes are about to be opened to even more danger and a reality far more paranormal than she's suspected. With Jess' realization that the Rusakovas' mother is still alive and imprisoned, the group's choices become harder and trust more important. Lines are drawn and relationships change as the broken Rusakova family struggles to reunite to free their mother - and those who Jess thought to be normal people show themselves to be much, much more...

I received this copy from the publisher for review

Is it any surprise that I have this book finished today on its release day? If you answered yes, you obviously haven't been around at my blog for the past few days and whatnot where I go on about my excitement for the release of Shannon Delany's Secrets and Shadows.

And it was a tremendous followup! I still can't put into words why I am so drawn to this series. Really! I don't know why. I guess there's something about Jess that I see in myself, besides the name. Not that I have the same situations or lifestyle that she has, but I can't quite put how I feel into words.

Anyway, not much time has passed since 13 to Life for Jessie, lucky girl! (I had to wait!!) Jessie is trying to adjust to the fact that werewolves, the CIA, and the Russian mafia are in little old Junction. Not easy, so she seeks help--literally. But the psychiatrist is anything but, she really annoyed me and it was only for a short time in Chapter 1! She seemed very unprofessional for someone in her line of work.

Which brings me to the other members of Junction. No one is who they seem to be at all anymore. There are so many secrets going around that it is insane! My head was spinning and developing theories and yet they weren't ever really answered in plain words, we're led to believe a conclusion on some of the matters, but nothing is ever revealed. 

Quite a bit of the mysteries weren't revealed, which doesn't bother me as much as it should. This is just where the series is going to go eventually, the waiting is what bothers me! 

Several surprising occurrences happen with the students at Jessie's school. Besides the rush of unexplainable suicides that is. People are acting very strangely and differently--there is a fair guess to the cause but it wasn't explored this time around.

One thing that was aggravating was how Jessie and Pietr were having relationship trouble--in that they can't be together. Pietr is acting very distance with Jessie and not really getting to the breakup point with Sarah (hate her!) and Jessie doesn't know what to do. That's when Derek starts taking an extra special interest in her. It seems very unreal to her and she is even more confused than ever.

Secrets between Jessie and her friends Amy and Sophia and the werewolves are determined more than ever to free their mother. This was quite a fast read and the pacing was done remarkably well, even though it spun you in several directions, it was quite the [positive] rush!!

 
Going to stop talking because I really can go all day about the strangeness of what went on. And like I said not everything was solved and it was quite annoying in some ways only because I know that I have to wait til August to try to get more answers and as you know "I hate waiting".

***WHICH was ANOTHER thing! The Princess Bride got intertwined into the story as well near the Halloween party!!!

Okay, going to stop, overall I give it 5/5 stars. Really can't give it anything less!

RELEASE DAY!

Today Shannon Delany's Secrets and Shadows releases!! I'm reading it now, had a bit of headache yesterday so didn't get too far around 1/2 way. Should finish it today!

This is an exciting new series that has captivated me from the first book, 13 to Life. I really-really don't know why because I haven't really talked with anyone who shares my same passion! People have liked it, but not LOVED it like I did/do!

Things are very intense for Jessie right now and I'm already developing several theories on certain characters because things just don't add up! Will talk more in my review.

And the really really GREAT news? Bargains and Betrayals also releases THIS year!! It releases August 16, 2011. So six months and one day to go!!! Sooooo cannot wait and I'm not even finish with Secrets and Shadows as of yet!

Here's the cover:

TOTALLY LOVE IT!!!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post by MizB over at Should Be Reading.

Loving Secrets and Shadows so far!! Can't really explain why I am so drawn to this series, but for some reason I am!

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.

 "Clutching the thick ruff of fur covering his broad shoulders I tried not to think about the fact that I was riding Pietr." p 40

Feeling pretty evil today! :)

TITLE: Secrets and Shadows
AUTHOR: Shannon Delany
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: February 15, 2011

Interview with Shannon Delany

Today I am pleased to welcome Shannon Delany to a GREAT read! As many of you already know, by about a million times now, I adored 13 to Life and was so excited when Shannon agreed to do an interview with me regarding her books and writing. So...on to it!

JESSICA: Where did you get the idea for 13 to Life?

SHANNON: The idea for 13 to Life came to me a bit randomly. I was participating in an online writing contest for textnovels and already had a pirate story (--I LOVE pirates!) in the works there but the phrase "13 to Life" stuck in my head and I was noticing so much vampire lovin' I was wondering where the wolf love was. Those two things sort of bumped together in my brain and I decided to try a werewolf story that was much more than a werewolf story. So 13 to Life emerged as a tale of teenage love, loss and--oh, yeah--werewolves. ;)

JESSICA: 13 to Life was a text novel, what exactly does that mean?

SHANNON: Text novels (or cell phone novels) were (and still are) quite hot in Asia. They were essentially novels written and read by young, single women on their way to and from work using public transportation (you know, those times you really want to be anywhere else in the world). 13 to Life won the first ever cell phone novel contest in the western world in 2008. Parts of it were texts and some parts were sent from my home computer but it was designed to be read on remote devices like cells and was written in small chunks for easy consumption. For me, a text novel is about the consumability and style of a novel as well as the tools used to make and read it.

JESSICA: Jessie--great name by the way!--is a very strong character and puts up with quite a bit, where does she get her strength?

SHANNON: Jessie gets her strength in part from her mother. Yes, her mother's dead, but her influence remains. I think in many ways our family remains a strong influence on us (in both good and bad ways) even after they're technically gone. Beyond that, Jessie's learning to find her own inner strength--but that takes time. Luckily she has strong people around her (her dad, Pietr and Amy to name a few) to help bridge the distance between her relying on strength she gets from others and the strength she finds within herself.

JESSICA: Where will Secrets and Shadows take Jessie and Pietr? Will they be leaving Junction?

SHANNON: Secrets and Shadows takes place in Junction (to me, Junction's a little like a tertiary character I can't yet leave behind) but there's the Junction Jessie knows and the Junction that's sort of simmering below the surface. I believe we too seldom investigate our own backyard (so to speak) and we never really realize all the interesting stuff there. Jess is learning (the hard way) that Junction has way more going on than she ever expected.

Secrets and Shadows has more action, more romance and more trouble--and Jess and Pietr find themselves in e thick of all that.

JESSICA: Did you do any research for the werewolf or Russian aspects of the novel?

SHANNON: Yes, I researched both. I love digging into old resources most people overlook and then reworking key parts of what I find. And I found some cool stuff: the Rusakova sabers? Legit to old werewolf mythology. Good werewolves? Legit if you check Eastern European history and legal records. Yes. You read that right--history and legal records. And I've had a huge love of the Russian culture and Russian history and language for years now. And yes, I took liberties with it, too.

JESSICA: How many books do you have in store for the series?

SHANNON: At this point I'm contracted for a total of five books in the 13 to Life series and I think that'll wrap up the main storyline nicely. Is there potentially room in the world I've constructed for more than that? Yes. But I also have some very different stories I want to pursue, too.

JESSICA: What are some of your favorite books/authors?

SHANNON: Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card... I've recently gotten into William Gibson's stuff, too. But I read a wide variety of books (and especially lots of research-related materials).

JESSICA: What book are you currently reading or read last?

SHANNON: I'm reading a novel I was asked to read for a potential blurb and so far--VERY cool. But I'll probably share more about that later.

JESSICA: Thanks so much for doing this Shannon.

SHANNON: No problem! Bye everyone!

You can read up on Jessie, Pietr and all their friends through:

13 to Life

Beasts and BFFs (prequel to 13 to Life) *Free download from Amazon!

Secrets and Shadows

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:

Ascension by Sable Grace

Review to be posted at later date

Unseen by Rachel Caine

My Review

Green-Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells (review posted)

My Review

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

My Review

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

My Review

Currently Reading:

Secrets and Shadows by Shannon Delany

What I Plan to Read Next:

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Black Wings by Christina Henry

A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang

Other Posts from Last Week:

Cover Art--Caitlin Kittredge

Teaser Tuesday (Ascension)

Cover Art--Richelle Mead

Waiting on Wednesday (Demon Song)

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Cover Art--Keri Arthur

Cover Art--2 Titles

Top 5 Sundays

Book News--Maria V. Snyder

Happy Valentine's Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It's not exactly my fave holiday. I tend to call it the Hallmark Holiday and I once learned that this was the day that St. Valentine was executed, or it's the day we remember him and that he was executed...something to that fact.

So here's another pic if any other readers are like me in thinking about the Hallmark Holiday (Valentine's Day)

HAPPY HALLMARK HOLIDAY!

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.

Had a pretty darn good week this week!! First off I got some swag; a signed book cover and some bookmarks from Tracey O'Hara!

Then I had some better luck with finding some books this week because I got quite a lot! I finally found Julie Kagawa's The Iron Queen. I know I read it already, but I still wanted to have a copy to keep next to my other two!

Then I also found The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Black Wings by Christina Henry

A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang

Then from NetGalley I got Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

And the creme de la creme...from the publisher: Secrets and Shadows by Shannon Delany!

Book News--Maria V. Snyder

As you know I am a BIG Maria Snyder fan!! Love her books, both adult series and her YA. I found out at her blog that her next adult series that she's working on, has a title for the first book!

It's called Touch of Power! There's no cover art yet, but there is a BOC description:

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life....

And this releases January 2012! Seriously, so far 2012 is looking far better than 2011!

Will post more details when I hear about them!

Top 5 Sundays

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

Here's a little info about the meme taken from Larissa's blog:

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: FAVORITE BOOK BOYFRIENDS

Ooh this is a good one! Of course I have sooo many I will literally have to randomly pick 5. These are in no specific order!!

*Sorry I don't have any good pictures of the fellas either, no pictures/actors really match up to my vision of them anyway!

BONES 

(Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series)

 

 

Valek

(Maria V. Snyder's Study series)

Johnny

(Linda Robertson's Persephone Alcmedi series)

Ash

(Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series)

Marc

(Rachel Vincent's Shifter series)

Cover Art--2 Titles

Okay, my brain obviously wasn't functioning yesterday, the cover I had found was for the second book in Keri's new series. Today I happened to come across the first one! Hence my confusion on the titles!! This is the first book in Keri's awesome new series that I can't wait to read. The cover has the same kind of theme going on as well! Darkness Unbound is the FIRST one in her new series.

Risa Jones is as extraordinary as her heritage. Born from a lab-enhanced clone mother and an Aedh father, she can not only talk to the souls of the dying and the dead, but she can see the reapers and walk the gray fields that divide this world from the next.

They are skill she rarely uses, however, preferring to concentrate on the business she shares with her two best friends. But when her mother asks her to help the parents of a little girl locked in a coma, she reluctantly agrees. What she discovers scares the hell out of her. Because the little girl’s soul no longer resides in her body, and it wasn’t death and the reapers that took her.

Someone had ripped her soul from her flesh.

As it turns out, a creature consuming the souls of the innocent–and not so innocent–is the least of her problems.

Because someone wants to rip open the gates that divided hell from earth, and Risa is a key component in their plans.

And the only person standing between her and disaster is a reaper who isn’t exactly on her side.

This one releases September 27, 2011

Then I also happened to find the cover art for Jennifer Rardin's The Deadliest Bite, the last book in the Jaz Parks series. Still so devastated about her passing, would've loved to see what else she would write for us. Can't wait to add this one to complete my collection though!

No description yet.

This one releases June 2, 2011

Review--The Hollow by Jessica Verday

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.
 
Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

Continuing to tackle the older section of my TBR pile and read Jessica Verday's The Hollow. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one and surprised myself by reading it in one day. That said, I can't honestly say that I liked it all that well. I mainly was forcing myself to read it because I wanted to see if things got better, but it took a long while.

The pacing felt incredibly slow for some reason. Moving from having a symbolic funeral and having Abbey wonder if her best friend is even okay or alive when everyone else presumes her dead. That part was interesting enough. Then she meets a strange boy at the funeral and is drawn to him for some reason and she can't understand why. Soon a bond begins to form between the two and Abbey is slowly falling for him, but Caspian has his own secrets that threatened to ruin things for them.

So it sounds interesting, and Abbey even starts to mildly investigate the death of her friend when everyone assumes it was suicide based on general observations and whatnot. I can understand the mystery not being solved in book 1, but really Abbey only started to investigate and then we're cutoff after her one step towards solving the mystery. And then really things just go on to be a normal book, dealing with normal high school things with nothing mysterious going on whatsoever. And the book is just over 500 pages long, so that's a lot of simple mundane stuff going on for a long time.

Then at the end things finally start to pick up, but then of course it's the end! And a lot of the surprises were kind of out there. Like I had a suspicion of one sort of, but seriously it was just way shocking and not really in the good way. I'm not entirely sure if I will be continuing this series or not, but I am at least glad that I gave it a try for the covers have really been quite eye-catching and I am still mildly curious to see what happens next. Maybe if I win the next one again somewhere down the line I would read it if I ever have the time as well. The TBR pile just continues to grow!

Overall I give this one 2.5/5 stars. If the pacing had been a little better than I would have likely scored higher, but it was rather slow at several points in the story that just didn't go well for me. It wasn't horrible or anything, just not my kind of book.

Cover Art--Keri Arthur

Saw this cover earlier and had to post it here! I can't wait to read Keri's new series. Been excited for it ever since Riley's ended!

Paused for a minute since the title threw me off and I couldn't find anything on the book. This was titled Darkness Unbound, now it's Darkness Rising. Amazon still has it as the old title.

Book Blogger Hop & Follow Friday

This blogger hop was created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books.

Here are the rules:

1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below (be sure to include how long you've been blogging and what genres you review!). If you post about the Hop on your blog, please link directly to your Hop post (don't forget to answer this week's question - see below!).

2. Visit other blogs in the Linky List! Make new friends! Follow new book bloggers! Talk about books! Rave about authors! (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

3. Post about the Hop on your blog! Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!

4. In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!):

"Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!"

I guess I'll go with the post I wrote yesterday for Losing Faith. It was a different kind of book for me with absolutely nothing supernatural. Normally this kind of book wouldn't even make the TBR pile but since I won it in a contest and it sounded interesting enough, I thought I would give it a try.

The lack of supernatural elements didn't detract from the story, for there was a pretty good mystery going on. And I liked the character's growth from her being a little selfish to someone more caring. And like I said the mystery elements were really good. Here's my review.

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This week's question is: What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?

Hmm...I'm not much for the brute macho type, so I guess the strong silent type it more my fave. Although not completely silent. I like him to have a bit of personality going on, some sort of flavor; snarky, considerate...just some sort of trait that makes him stand out and be really endearing as a reader. So basically some sort of strong silent type, but not fully silent and focusing on another positive trait.

Review--Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart.

As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

I had Denise Jaden's Losing Faith on my TBR pile for awhile and decided to tackle it today and managed to finish it in a day as well. It wasn't too bad. I'll admit I was skeptical to reading it because there wasn't anything supernatural going on, that much I could tell from the BOC description, but the mystery itself sounded too compelling to avoid.

And it was pretty interesting. The title itself becomes one of those double meaning things. Losing faith and losing her sister Faith, which was kind of catchy I thought. Since Brie doesn't have much faith in religion--which is sort of an issue in the book, for Faith does have a strong foundation with religion. What I liked most was that it didn't have a preachy feel. And I liked Brie a lot because she was kind of like me in some ways in regards to religion, she believed in it some, had the religious foundation in her life, but wasn't completely swayed by it like her sister.

Things really get intense when the police decide to rule Faith's death as a suicide and that drives Brie to act. She knows her sister wasn't capable of suicide, but some things just don't add up. Her sister had packed up boxes prior to her death and her behavior hadn't been normal since she didn't feel like going to her religion youth group either.

Brie is then determined to find out the cause her sister's death by digging further and further into her sister's life. She begins to realize that she didn't really know her sister as well as she thought she did and is saddened by it. Plus other things are changing with Brie as well, her friends and boyfriend are treating her different since her sister's death, whispers and whatnot. Brie begins to feel like an outcast and makes a surprising new friend in the process.

It's hard to go into all the details, but the story was rather interesting. Like I said I usually only read paranormal books because that's where my interest lies, but something about the mystery of this book drew me in. I couldn't put it down because I wanted to know what had happened to Faith myself. Despite the supernatural pull, the book was still very interesting. I don't know if more will be happening in this book or if it was a stand alone, but it was an enjoyable read.

Overall I give it 4/5 stars