The Vampire Games by Stephanie Archer

The Vampire Games
by Stephanie Archer

Release Date: January 31st 2016
Rate: 3.5 stars (Enjoyed it)

Synopsis:

My name is Bianka, and I live in a world a lot like yours. Or at least, I used to.

Then I got harvested.

Taken into eerie darkness underneath the surface of my world, I’ve learned that cities like mine – Hidden Oaks – are just places that the vampires keep humans until it’s time to drink their blood. Now it’s my turn. They’re harvesting me.

But I’m fighting hard, and the vampires have noticed. A sponsor is buying me. A handsome, mysterious vampire with piercing eyes, who wants me to fight other humans in The Vampire Games. If I lose, I’ll be harvested. If I win, I’ll join my sponsor, Phillip, as one of them.

I’ll be turned into a vampire.

All I must do to spend an eternity with Phillip is sell my soul.

The scary part? I’d do a lot worse for him than that.

I have had The Vampire Games in my TBR for a while now. Everything that resembles the hunger games even if you add the paranormal aspect to the story makes me a bit skeptical because this could end up as a major fangirling moment for me or end up hating the story. Hence why it took me so long to finally start this book.

To sum up the story a bit, the main character, Bianka, has no clue what's happening in her city. Humans are harvested for the vampires who apparently rule the world without the humans even knowing. Even though she ended up in a "nice cage" she tried to run. But instead of getting away from that awful place she goes and tries to help her friend, Mark. This leads her to enter the vampire games after she has been bought by her first vampire savior, Phillip. The prize of winning the vampire games? Becoming a vampire. But Bianka has another thing in mind if she wins the games. And so their story begins.

From the beginning Bianka was presented as a strong female character that knows how to adapt to every single situation and most important how to survive. She's also kind and good since she ends up going back to save her friend instead of running when she had the chance. Phillip on the other hand, was shown as an antagonistic savior. He tried to do the right thing among her kingdom and when saving Bianka. However, he assumed that everyone wanted to be a vampire and that's where he was wrong.

The romance between these two very different characters is a progressive one as well as awkward. The characters are drawn to each other but the situation of Bianka fighting for her life and Phillip being a vampire come between them more than once. I liked that Bianka wasn't too eager to jump into a relationship or something like that just because they were supposed to be together.

The world was well-built and the writing helps the reader to create a clear vision of what Stephanie Archer's world would look like. However, was nothing that we haven't read before due to the big games, trying to win to save their lives, etc. 

For my liking, when I ended the book, it gave me the impression that the book was too short and that mostly everything in the story was hanging in the other. Nothing was solved. Only Phillip and Bianka's relationship and that the world was not what Bianka thought it was which was solved in the first chapters. I would say that the impression the story gives to the reader is a bit weak.

Despite this not so original dystopian topic, the whole story is a good one that I truly enjoyed and easily devoured in less than an hour and a half. So I highly recommend it to all those YA paranormal romantics out there. Give it a try. I will definitely be waiting for the next book and see what's going to happen between the two main characters.

The Beautiful and the Damned by Jessica Verday

The Beautiful and the Damned
by Jessica Verday
272 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: October 1st 2013
Rate: Average+

Synopsis:

Cyn’s blackouts have deadly consequences in this sexy, suspenseful spinoff to the New York Times bestselling Hollow series.Cyn and Avian are far from a perfect match. She’s a witch who casts spells on men so she can steal their cars. He spends his time being judge, jury, and executioner to the truly evil in the supernatural realm.

When the blackouts Cyn’s been having ever since her time in Sleepy Hollow start escalating, she finds herself unable to remember where she’s been or what she’s been doing. Frightened, she seeks guidance at a local church, and it’s there she meets Avian.

The unlikely pair soon discovers that her blackouts are a side effect of what she truly is—an Echo—a conduit for souls of the dead. The only way to prevent Cyn from losing complete control is to return to Sleepy Hollow and vanquish the source of her power—but she may not survive the process. And if she does? She won’t ever be the same...

The Beautiful and the Damned completely confused me. At first, without reading the synopsis, I was a little lost and didn't understand what was Avian or if there were more like Avian and Cyn and how many types of demons were in this story. 

I kept reading it because Cyn's story was pretty intense and interesting. I felt sorry for her for finding her boyfriend brutally murdered to her side, and living with the fear of thinking about the possibility of her being the murderer. I seriously wanted to know what happened to Hunter and if it was really Cyn who murdered him. 

She's an Echo. She has the ability to cast spells on me so she can compel them to do whatever she wants. But she's a different Echo, she's not selfish as the others, and only uses her ability to steal cars, and then return them, to feel the adrenaline rush and when its only necessary. But being an Echo also mean being a conduit for souls of the dead. And that means that from time to time, a soul that is not Cyn's soul takes control of her body.

In this story, you also read Avian's point of view. He's half demon, half angel and a revenant. I'm still kind of processing this. He could be categorized as the bad boy in the story and although he's an asshole to Cyn, you know these two have to end up together. 

I liked how the author uses the story to "free" Avian. He was tormented by the death of another Echo he fell in love with, and he's described with black winds. But after saving Cyn he's described with white wings. I think those last chapters were my favorite from the book.

And my favorite character in the story? The hellhound. I know. But from what I read, he was in the "good" side, in Cyn and Avian's side, so he earned points and it's described as a dog. I love dogs. I couldn't help but like him. And he also "saves the day". If you read the book, you'll understand why I just say that.

The plot was pretty interesting and had a lot of potential, but as I said at the beginning of the review, I felt a little bit lost during the story and when they explained Cyn and Avian's "world" I still felt like something was missing or that it was not accurate enough. It's not a problem of not understanding what Cyn is or what Avian is (although Avian was difficult to understand what he was), but their surroundings and the other creatures. Because there're more.

The ending was a almost perfect ending. I liked the ending, but I was heart-broken. I am one of those readers who need a happy ending to love the story and even sigh after reading it. Ms. Verday wrote a realistic and almost happy ending, but I was hoping for more conclusion since it's not a series. At least not now. I hope we have more stories about Cyn and Avian. I would definitely read them all!

The Beautiful and the Damned has the perfect title for Cyn and Avian's story. This dark paranormal romance is one of those stories that you enjoy reading if you are a Young Adult addict. I recommend you to enter Ms. Verday's world and read this book. 

Jessica Verday is the New York Times bestselling author of The Hollow Trilogy, published by Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. She wrote the first draft of THE HOLLOW by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. The first draft of THE HAUNTED took fifteen spiral-bound notebooks and twenty black pens. THE HIDDEN took too many notebooks and too many pens to count. Find out more at jessicaverday.com.

Florid Eyes by Nicky English

Florid Eyes

Nicky English

259 pages

Publisher: Self-Publisher

Release Date ebook: May 8th, 2013

Genre: Thriller/Romance, Fiction

Rate: Enjoyed it +

Violet Lancaster is a PhD student at Georgetown University and with clear ideas and a high moral. Violet is determinate to make a name for herself in Washington D.C by working hard and not because of the money or, like other people, because of their parents.

But everything Violet has been fighting for in the last years is turned upside down when she runs into an unknown man who appears to be in danger.

Since she saw him in that dark alley, she cannot take him out of her mind, but soon she would find out how/what this mysterious and handsome men is.

Josh Levinson, the men from the alley, was born in Philadelphia in the year 1776. He is a vampire, and when he sees Violet in the alley he finds that he is really attracted to her.

When Violet starts to see Josh everywhere she goes, the attraction between them starts to grow. Together they will go to a dangerous journey, where the final price will be the freedom of Josh, a cure for vampirism.

Would they survive this journey? Would love be enough to survive to all the danger that is coming?

First of all, we would like to apologize to Nicky English for the delay; we’ve been so busy lately with the university and all that we barely had enough time.

As for the book, we have to say that it was an amazing reading. We did not see what was going to happen next. We totally agree with Nicky. She wanted a good Vampire novel that wasn’t like any other, and she made it!

What make Florid Eyes different is that we are not dealing with horny teenagers, but adults! Don’t get us wrong we love our horny teenagers (just go and take a look at our TUABFC team section and see for yourselves), but it was really nice to have a good vampire novel with mature characters.

One of the many reasons Florid Eyes is not like other vampire novel, is that the book is not all about forbidden love, it has its romantic moments, but the book is not just that. Florid eyes goes beyond love, it has mystery, courage, a search for something important; no matter what may stand in their way, they are going to try everything in their hands to accomplish their goal.

We have to confess that we are in love with Violet (YES! With a girl!), she is so smart and beautiful. We loved how she stands up for what she believes, and that all she has accomplished is thanks to her hard work. We loved how she decided to help Josh, even though she was putting herself in danger, and all because of her convictions. Violet is one of the the reasons that make Florid Eyes stand out from other vampire novel, having a smart girl that with her own life. We were so glad to see for once that the girl wasn't the one in danger, it was the other way around. 

About our beloved Josh, I could not say anything bad about him. He is so noble, strong minded, and last but not less important, super HOT. He did not love what he is, but he did not refuse his nature; he feed on human, not some poor little animal, but he chose very carefully his prey. The fact that his diet consist on humans didn’t make him a bad guy, actually it made him look like a pure soul because he only feed on bad people (murderers, violators, etc).

As for other characters, I don't really know what to think of Josh’s grandfather, I'm kind of lost here! But one thing I am totally sure is that he did make me pee in my pants. He scared the hell out of me! He is so polite and so scary at the same time. However, I think that his intention, deep down, is good, tough he has a really weird of showing it.

Even thought I loved the characters, and the plot was really smart and enjoyable, I have to point out that Florid Eyes was written in third person. I would have liked it more if Violet and Josh were the ones telling the story. By saying this, I am not implying that Florid Eyes was bad written, we are just saying that it may have been nicer and it would feel closer and more personal. I have to add that Nicky has a big talent, and despite writing Florid Eyes in third person, she did an excellent work because she makes me love Florid eyes.

The end of the book was something unexpected, I loved it and, at the same time, I hated it. I am not saying anything more for your own sake. I'm dying to know more about the sequel of Florid Eyes! (We have heard Nicky is thingkink to call it "Dripping Heart"!)

Books addicts, to put an end to our review, we want to encourage you to give Florid Eyes a shot, it won’t disappoint you. It is an entertaining, explosive, unique and a new Vampire novel.

          

Do you prefer ebooks?

Dark Secrets (Dark Secrets #1) by A. M. Hudson

Dark Secrets (Dark Secrets #1)

A. M. Hudson

402 pages

Release Date: May 12th, 2012

Rate: Enjoyed it

If you were looking for a vampire story with a fresh ending and plot this is your story. A. M. Hudson creates a strong, yet emotionally weak character that has suffer the loss of not one, but two loved ones: her mother and her little brother and she blames herself for what happened that night.

After some struggling with dealing with the memory of that night, the main character, Ara Rose, finds herself drown to David a hot and inaccessible boy. He's known to be all mystery guy and no girl was able to inspire some interest in him until Ara Rose shows up. The insta-connection between the characters is obvious and from the first lines of this book you know that Ara Rose would do anything to be with David.

If you're comparing right now this book with obviously the YA most famous book of vampires, Twilight, don't. Because Ara Rose has a logic mentality. She's freaked out, like not talking to David and not wanting to see him, when she finds out about him. Bella is all like bite me! No, girls, Ara Rose has some sense of danger here. Not saying we don't like Twilight!

What we liked about David is that he accepts what he is and he understand why, the person who turned him, did it. It's nothing like he was dying and that person took him off from his misery. Not at all, was something practical and logical. He also makes some confessions to our main character like that he enjoys killing and it's not ashamed of it. I mean, it's his nature, it's what he's now. He would be lying if he would say that he didn't enjoy it and he makes clear to Ara Rose that. No matter how much he loves her, he's afraid that the beast inside him, his vampire side, wins over his heart. So we get back our bloody, merciless vampire stories without loosing the part of love story and fighting for what is worth in life. 

About Ara Rose... We have mixed feelings for her. I totally understand her loss. She thinks it's her fault what happened back in Australia to her family and she's mourning. I understand that. What I don't understand is the part where she swears to David that without him her life has no meaning and when the other australian (that was a mixed feelings, too. Later we would talk about it) boy shows up at her door claiming that he always love her and was about to proposed when the accident happened and she accepts now his proposal, I was like: What the hell happened here?

Seriously? If you love someone that you can barely breathe without him or that you cannot think of a life without him, you don't go marry another man after he says you and him cannot be together for what he is. For God's sake! He's a vampire! He'd have to turn Ara Rose, meaning she could die in the process, just to be together. He's not willing to do that, to lose her that way and she goes all girly crying and saying she doesn't want to see him again and marries the australian boy? Come On! I know you can feel the frustration here.

And for the australian boy... We don't like him, because you could have figured out by now that we're on team David at the moment, but the guy is sweet and clueless and hot and... sweet. He's just too damn sweet and australian! That accent is like a huge plus to be on his team. He confesses her undeniable love to Ara Rose and explains everything that happened that night, the night of the accident; his point of view. And then we feel bad for him and angry with Ara Rose to act like a baby and wake up her mom just to pick her up when she could have walked to her house, because she was near.

Wow... too much feelings here. But guys, you should read this book, because it's not another vampire story, it's much more and we have the strong feeling that you're gonna love it.

A.M. Hudson loves her life in Australia and, despite wishing it would snow at Christmas, couldn't imagine living anywhere else in the world.

She fell in love with her husband at just sixteen, and since then, has added three boys to the mix.

A. M. prides herself on writing the shocking, the depthy and the highly-emotional subjects other writers steer away from. She addresses the uncomfortable with conviction and enjoys taking stories down dark paths.

Some of her heroes are Stephen King, Walt Disney, Hamish and Andy, Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars, and with influences like these, one can only imagine what stories will unfold.

When she's not writing, A. M. reads books, watches movies and chats with fans on facebook. 

http://www.darksecretsseries.com/index.html 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-Secrets-Series/182780011734465

Smashwords & Amazon

Win a Kindle eReader

**AUSTRALIA, US, UK & NEW ZEALAND ONLY**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Reading Nurse's Giveaway: Richelle Mead

Book Addicts!

We have great news. Our beloved A Reading Nurse went to the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego where she met Richelle Mead. Yes, Book Addicts, our friend is really lucky!
That's why she is hosting two amazing giveaways. One offering a signed hardback of Gameboard of Gods, a chapter sampler and a keychain. The other one is a signed paperback of Bloodlines and a chapter sampler. Are you excited guys?

But that is not all! She is still hosting the Nantucket Blue Giveaway we told you about, but there is another one! She's offering the opportunity of winning an ARC of Burning written by Elana K. Arnold provided from the publisher of the book. This one is just for residents of the US. 

Summer is here and we have a lot of surprises for you, Book Addicts! And this is the beginning. So don't miss this amazing opportunity and go for it! And, of course, good luck!

       

Direct Links to the giveaways:

Richelle Mead Giveaway

Nantucket Blue Giveaway

Burning Giveaway