I'm an Aunt!- A Personal Post

I haven't been posting a lot for the past couple of weeks (sorry about that!)- but I have an excuse! It's been a busy time for me at work, working 42 hours a week, and we are short staffed at the moment so I seem to have been rushing about twice as hard. At the end of the day I'm usually so exhausted and my brain is so fried that the thought of stringing a coherent sentence together is too much, and just collapsing into bed is much more appealing!

I've also just become an Auntie for the first time and have been busy meeting my gorgeous new nephew Aaron James.

He is seriously the cutest little thing in the world. Now that I've got the ball rolling, I thought I'd share some other random facts about myself as well:

• I'm addicted to chocolate and drink a lot of tea.
• I have a thing for sunset pictures- it's something about the reddish, orangey, purpley colours that does it for me.
• Red is my favourite colour.
• My lucky number is number 2.
• I adore musicals and could happily watch Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and others over and over again. A few weeks ago I went to see Legally Blonde: The Musical in London and it was fantastic!
• I would love to go travelling one day- my dream destination is Australia.
• I'm a bit of a sun-worshipper. Whenever the sun is out (which is rarely) I love to just lie out and absorb the rays. I hate the winter when it's cold and dark all the time.
• I'm lazy- I love to sleep in late when I can.
• I'm very shy in person, especially when meeting new people and never know what to say. I worry that sometimes this leads to me getting mis-interpreted as stuck-up. But I'm really not I promise!

So that's me. I'll be back now writing properly for the blog again. I didn't know what to expect when I started the blog, it was sort of an experiment and I never thought it would get this far. I'm not very good with computers and have sort of fumbled my way through so far (confession- I still don't understand twitter at all), but I absolutely love blogging, and now spend all my time talking about books with fellow bloggers who are the nicest people in the world, and I have so much fun. I'm hoping to completely redesign the blog in the next few weeks so look out for it.
If you're still reading thanks for getting this far, and have a good weekend.
x

The Time Will Come #20

The Time Will Come is a weekly meme hosted by Jodie at Books for Company where we can spotlight those books that we've had for ages and never get around to reading.

Tempted by P.C and Kristin Cast- House of Night series Book 6

I was reading this series about a year ago, got up to book 6, and then decided that I needed to take a break from it for a few weeks. That was over a year ago, and I still haven't picked it up again now. I kind of want to see how the series ends, but there are so many other books out now that I want to read first. I will finish it at some point though... probably.

Review: Trial By Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Book 2 in the Raised by Wolves series


I liked this even better than the first book. I thought that it had a lot more going on- the characters are more fleshed out, and there is a lot more tension and action. Actually, just when you think that the trouble is all over, that all the battles have been fought and everything is going back to normal, another complication springs up, and everybody is in danger all over again.


This books starts off not long after the end of book 1. Bryn has broken from Callum's pack and is now the alpha of her own small pack with her own territory, determined to run her pack fairly and justly. Since werewolf girls are so rare and Bryn's pack has 9 of them, she becomes the target of political scheming from the other werewolf packs. Bryn is highly aware of how vulnerable her pack is- it is a very small pack consisting mainly of children being led by a teenage, human girl. Rival leader Shay especially has his eye on the prize of Bryn's pack, and sets in motion a chain of events to try to take her down.


Bryn finds a wolf from a rival pack, Lucas, tortured and bleeding on the porch of her house begging to be accepted into her pack instead of Shay's. But Bryn has to decide whether she can trust him- whether he has been sent by Shay as an act of agression, whether Shay is using Lucas as a political pawn to gain access to Bryn's territory, or whether there is another underlying threat to Lucas's presence. Bryn has no right to claim him, but her natural desire to be different from other werewolf alphas, and to help those that she sees being abused leads to her delaying and considering the best course of action for the situation. Should she hand Lucas back over to Shay to be tortured, or claim him and risk a war? As a coven of hunters with psychic powers determined to destroy all werewolves also moves close to Bryn's territory, she has her hands full trying to cope with assault from all sides.


Again in this book though, as in book 1, Bryn's boyfriend Chase is a very 2 dimensional character, he is just there- just Bryn's boyfriend Chase, occasionally leaping forward to her defence, and not contributing a lot else- the strong silent type I guess. Chase is always there for Bryn though, whether she needs someone to fight to defend her, or just someone to hold her and tell her that is going to be ok, or to comfort her after a bad dream. I also love Bryn's two best friends, musical-loving Devon, and feisty gun-wielding Lake, two people who you would never think would get on, but who actually complement each other perfectly, and make an excellent 2nd and 3rd in command for Bryn. Together they are a perfect team.


This series is completely engrossing, really delving into the idea of a pack mentality, and pack bonds of loyalty, protection, dominance and belonging. Even though they are not related they are all family to each other. I love the snarky humour between the characters, and the fast pace of the plotline, the constant sense of danger and threat, but all wrapped up in this warm pack bond. I really want to see where the story is going to take Bryn in book 3.




View all my reviews

Review: Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I went into this book with just a vague knowledge that it was a young adult book, something supernatural and with a simmering romance plot. It is all this, but it's also very eerie and haunting and a compelling mystery book full of suspense, with plenty of twists and surprises. The background mythology of the story is based on old legends with reference to the classic philosophers, and feels very believable.


Renee's grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy after the mysterious death of her parents. This strange old school is very gothic and with a heavy influence on philosophy. Renee is to learn subjects like Latin, Philosophy and Horticulture. Renee is instantly drawn to isolated bad-boy Dante, and he feels an attraction to her as well. They start sneaking around and spending time together. The relationship between them was quite beautiful, and at times quite strained, but it works and there is a definite connection there.


The book reads very much like a mixture between Harry Potter and Twilight. I swear some of the lines between Renee and Dante are taken right out of Twilight, and the emotions described are very much the same. I have a feeling that if you didn't like Twilight you won't like this either. But the relationship is very intense, and the feelings between them felt genuine. You also have the similarity to Harry Potter with the idea of the new girl at the mysterious and unusual school, where the unexpected can happen, with all these unusual classes.


This is not a light and easy read. The deaths of Renee's parents at the beginning set this book up as a hard and tragic tale, and throughout all the events and mysteries you never know what is going to happen and if the characters are going to make it through. Death drives the story all the way to heart-wrenching twist at the end. The shock reveal ending explains why Renee and Dante have such a chemistry, and explains some of the mystery of the school, and the legend of the curse upon it.


This is a very unique idea, that works well and makes for a very readable story. Highly recommended.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
At Gottfried Academy, just one kiss will take your breath away. After Renee discovers her parents dead in what appears to be a strange double murder, she is sent to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious high school dedicated to philosophy, 'crude sciences', and Latin: the Language of the Dead. Here she meets Dante, a dark and elusive student who harbors a deadly secret, but to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. Despite himself, Dante cannot control his attraction to Renee either and their desires gradually deepen into a complex and dangerous romance. But Dante's not the only one with secrets...Gottfried Academy has a few of its own. When Renee begins to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a former student, she begins to realize just how deadly these secrets are...Dark romance meets haunting murder mystery in this captivating tale of love, death and destiny.



View all my reviews

In My Mailbox 19th June 2011

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

I managed to stick to my book-buying ban for one whole week (go me!)
My TBR list increased again by 3 books this week- here's what I got this week-

From the Library:

• Huntress by Malinda Lo. I really want to read this, it sounds fantastic. A prequel to Ash (which I haven't read yet but also looks fantastic). Here's a link to it's Goodreads page- if you're interested you can see what it's about.

For Review:

• Between The Land And The Sea by Derrolyn Anderson. Supernatural story with mermaids. Goodreads.
• The Moon And The Tide by Derrolyn Anderson. Book 2. Goodreads. Both these books look so good.

Both received with thanks from the author.

Those were the books that came into my house this week. What did you get?

Happy reading!