The Girl Who was Supposed to Die by April Henry

The Girl Who was Supposed to Die:
“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

For a short read this book was fast paced and filled with mystery and thrilling twists. The storyline was believable and the narrative was honest and direct. April Henry is a gifted writer of suspense for young adults, and from the very first page I was completely ensnared within Cady’s fear. Seriously, the opening lines are of the girl discovering she has had her fingernails pulled off and now some strange men want to kill her. Cady has no memories of who she is or why she is about to be killed, so she fights back. Surprisingly well, I might add, but that only increases the mystery surrounding Cady and her predicament. As Cady searches for the truth, someone is out to make her look as if she is untrustworthy. But a chance meeting with a guy named Ty gives her the opportunity to find a safe haven while searching for answers. Pulling Ty into her problems is not something she wants to do, but he insists on staying with her until they figure out what is going on. When the officer Cady originally turned to for help turns up dead they know that the danger is getting closer and that they are running out of time. Following the only lead they have, Cady and Ty make their way to Cady’s hometown, and it’s there that Cady discovers the truth and just how far the people after her are willing to go to protect their secrets.

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

Lover Enshrined:
Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is obligated to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive, and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body, but his heart for herself. She is drawn to the noble responsibility behind the emotionally scarred male. But Phury has never allowed himself to know pleasure or joy. As the war with the Lessening Society grows grim, tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, and Phury must decide between duty and love....

Like the rest of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books by J.R. Ward, Lover Enshrined is about more than just the main characters. The only real action in the book occurred with anyone other than Phury, and although this book was rife with sexual tension, I can say that this was not a favorite for me. In all honesty, I was more absorbed with the secondary characters and their plot lines rather than Phury and Cormia’s story. I really didn’t feel their relationship, it felt like they barely spent any time together on the pages…and yet, they were “fiercely” in love. Phury was a drug addict but that didn’t change the fact that he was a person of worth—someone willing to give up his freedom for the good of the race—but I felt that he was rather washed out of his own book. Phury spent countless hours wasted on drugs, managed to get himself kicked out of the Brotherhood and nearly lost Cormia because he can’t look past his own history. The only time he managed to endear himself to me was in the end when he finally took control for himself—as the Primale he has the ability to make new rules—and he chooses to obliterate the idea of a Primale and free the Chosen women who are to bear his children, giving them the CHOICE of remaining a Chosen. He also makes great progress in cleaning himself up, he has the chance to go back to what he knows and remain a drug addict, but in the end he chooses a clean life with Cormia by his side.  As a whole I enjoyed the book, but if it was based on Phury and Cormia alone, then no, this is not something I could recommend to others outside of the BDB fandom. 

Why Haven't I Read You? (40)

Every Wednesday I’ll choose a book off one of my (many, many) shelves that I haven’t read for some reason or another, and include the first few lines from the first page.

Feel free to join in, and comment about the books I feature if you have read them!

Lucy hunched over the corpse and felt a tiny bubble of hysterical laughter gurgle up. But as she stared at the lifeless turtle stretched out on the rough plank, the laughter died abruptly. The tang of fresh blood was unpleasant. She should have butchered it outside, by the shore, but the hour was getting late and she’d felt exposed in the sand. Besides, she had never actually done a turtle before, never noticed how the wizened face and papery eyelids made it look like a very old person.

Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

Goodreads

Future Favorites (154)

Future Favorites is an awesome blog feature created by Alex over at Electrifying Reviews. I post about a book that is yet-to-be-released that I can't wait to read!

Now and For Never by Lesley Livingston

Release Date: April 29, 2014 by Razorbill Canada

Past and present collide on the high seas when Clare and Allie hurtle back in time once more in a perilous attempt to retrieve Marcus Donatus—Allie’s blast-from-the-past crush—and put an end, once and for all, to the Time Monkey Shenanigans. But when Clare and Allie unexpectedly find themselves temporal stowaways on a Roman warship full of looted Celtic gold, sailing straight for the heart of a magic-fuelled maelstrom, there’s not much they can do but hang on for the ride—and hope Milo can tap into the Druid lore trapped in his genius brain to help bring them home, before it’s too late. The only thing that’s going to save Clarinet Reid and Allie McAllister now is if they join forces with old enemies, new loves … and unexpected friends.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (168)

Books I read over the last few weeks:
Dark Peril by Christine Feehan
Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev
So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev

The book I’m reading now:
Lover Enshrined:
Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is obligated to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive, and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body, but his heart for herself. She is drawn to the noble responsibility behind the emotionally scarred male. But Phury has never allowed himself to know pleasure or joy. As the war with the Lessening Society grows grim, tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, and Phury must decide between duty and love....


Books that spark my interest this week:
Crash by Lisa McMann
Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

My Bookish Wants & Gots (74)

My Bookish Wants & Gots is a feature over at The Book Vixen. I list the books I want - which can be old, new, or upcoming releases - and the books I recently got.

The Wolf Within by M.J. Scott

Goodreads

Vampires, werewolves, warring couples. And that’s just the day job. Ashley Keenan is a normal girl in a world that’s left normal behind. She just wants to keep her head down and try to have a life. But she hadn't counted on the reappearance of Daniel Gibson, ex-lover, now a werewolf and the man she’s never quite forgotten, even if she can’t bring herself to date a supernatural. Worse, he’s back because the vampire who killed her parents just might be coming after her. It's a fight to guard her heart and her life and sometimes to survive you have to learn to love your inner monster...

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

Goodreads

Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family's construction business with an iron fist - and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers bust on his compulsive list-making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen didn't plan for was Avery McTavish...

Avery's popular pizza place is right across the street from the inn, giving her a first-hand look at its amazing renovation - and a newfound appreciation for Owen. Since he was her first boyfriend when they were kids, Owen has never been far from Avery's thoughts. But the attraction she's feeling for him now is far from innocent.

As Avery and Owen cautiously take their relationship to another level, the opening of the inn gives the whole town of Boonsboro a reason to celebrate. But Owen's hard work has only begun. Getting Avery to let down her guard is going to take longer than he expected - and so will getting her to realize that her first boyfriend is going to be her last...

Tempest’s Fury by Nicole Peeler
Goodreads
Jane's not happy. She's been packed off to England to fight in a war when she'd much rather be snogging Anyan. Unfortunately, Jane's enemies have been busy stirring up some major trouble -- the kind that attracts a lot of attention. In other words, they're not making it easy for Jane to get any alone time with the barghest, or to indulge in her penchant for stinky cheese.

Praying she can pull of a Joan of Arc without the whole martyrdom thing, Jane must lead Alfar and halflings alike in a desperate battle to combat an ancient evil. Catapulted into the role of Most Unlikely Hero Ever, Jane also has to fight her own insecurities as well as the doubts of those who don't think she can live up to her new role as Champion.

Along the way, Jane learns that some heroes are born. Some are made. And some are bribed with promises of food and sex.

Pawn by Aimée Carter
Goodreads
YOU CAN BE A VII IF YOU GIVE EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked - surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed, and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev

So Silver Bright:
Act Three, Scene One
Betrie thinks her quest is almost done. With the help of Ariel and the rest of her friends, she has managed to find her father and rescue Nate from Sedna, the Sea Goddess. Now, all she has to do is reunite her father, the Scrimshander, with her mother, Ophelia, and she will finally have a true family of her own.

Exit Stage Right
However, things are never easy for Beatrice Shakespeare Smith. Her father has vanished, Sedna is out for revenge, her own actions have trapped the Théâtre Illuminata in a strange kind of limbo, and the stress of her in-between state is tearing apart the fragile threads of her mother's sanity. Bertie's best hope for salvaging the situation may lie in a summons by Her Gracious Majesty, Queen of the Distant Castle, and the hope of winning the magical boon given to the best performance.

Bertie is caught between her growing responsibilities to home and family, and the dream of flying free - just as her heart is torn between her two loves, Nate and Ariel. With so any forces pulling on her, how will Bertie be able to choose which wish to make come true?

The flowery writing style of the Théâtre Illuminata trilogy by Lisa Mantchev was (for me) best taken in small doses, and that is one of the reasons it took me so long to finish these books. The language is heavier adding an almost poetic ambiance to the words. And there were also times that modern language would be mixed in with old-world speech patterns, and it disrupted the flow of the story for me. On the more positive side of the spectrum and what I found fascinating in this trilogy was Lisa’s re-working of classic characters and bringing them into a new light. Her characters were vibrant and full of life, and in keeping with the first two books the scenery was fabulously and vividly imagined. Bertie, Nate and Ariel were three interesting characters, and each of them managed to grow in their own way, although it was definitely Bertie that I saw the most changes in. She changed from a foolhardy and flighty girl into a more conscientious young woman. When she discovers just how much damage her word-magic can do, she makes the decision not to rely on her magic and instead relies on her own intellect. Nate was one of those old school romantic heroes that I instantly fell for, and although it takes the girl to save the boy in this story, it didn’t take away from his character at all. Ariel loves Bertie and wants to stay by her side, but in his heart-of-hearts he is an air elemental and wishes only to be free. All three books are filled with mischief and magical adventures that captivated me from start to finish. The love triangle was a sweet addition to the story and although it was a bittersweet ending, I’m left without any lingering doubts or questions about the conclusion.

Forgotten Fridays (83)

I invite and welcome anyone interested to post their own Forgotten Friday and join in the fun! I feature a book that I have read and have forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Some books might recent reads and some might be older reads, but I hope this helps these (sometimes forgotten) books earn a spot on your own TBR pile!

Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
First Published: October 2009
Series: Jane True
Goodreads
My Review

Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever rub the genie's lamp.

Thursday Thirteen (31)

Thursday Thirteen is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it.
*All of my lists are in no particular order.*

Why I STRONGLY Dislike Winter

1. As pretty as it can be...It's cold.

2. It's Icy.

3. The snow.

4. Having to put on layer upon layer of clothes.

5. Did I mention the snow?

6. Longer nights.

7. -30ºC(+) Temperatures (Polar Vortex)

8. Deep. Deep. Deep. Deep. Snow.

9. Shoveling snow.

10. Being stuck inside all the time because you loathe winter sports and the cold.

11. The damage ice can do.

12. Having to walk the dog.

13. Digging your car out of the snow.

Why Haven't I Read You? (39)

Every Wednesday I’ll choose a book off one of my (many, many) shelves that I haven’t read for some reason or another, and include the first few lines from the first page.

Feel free to join in, and comment about the books I feature if you have read them!

“’I will never really leave,’ said the unicorn. Diamond sparkles floated from the tip of its glittering horn. ‘I will always live in your heart.’” I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and forced myself to continue reading. “Then the unicorn turned and galloped away, its fluffy pink tail swinging merrily as it spread its iridescent wings to the morning sunshine. Oh, no. Not wings too.

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Goodreads

Future Favorites (153)

Future Favorites is an awesome blog feature created by Alex over at Electrifying Reviews. I post about a book that is yet-to-be-released that I can't wait to read!

The Last Forever by Deb Caletti

Release Date: April 1, 2014 by Simon Pulse

Endings and beginnings sit so close to each other that it’s sometimes impossible to tell which is which.

Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets that more than Tessa. After her mother died, it’s all she can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. And then there’s her dad. He’s stuck in his own daze, and it’s so hard to feel like a family when their house no longer seems like a home.

Her father’s solution? An impromptu road trip that lands them in a small coastal town at Tessa’s grandmother’s. Despite all the warmth and beauty there, Tessa can’t help but feel even more lost.

Enter Henry Lark. He understands the relationships that matter. And more importantly, he understands her. A secret stands between them, but Tessa’s willing to do anything to bring them together—because Henry may just be her one chance at forever.

Thursday Thirteen (30)

Thursday Thirteen is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it.
*All of my lists are in no particular order.*

Randomness I’ve Found on Tumblr

Yeah, I know, but he has an excuse - he grew up in a house full of cats…