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Title:  Fever Moon

Author:  Karen Marie Moning

Published:  July 2012 by Del Ray

Genre:  Paranormal, Graphic Novel

Click to buy Fever Moon from Amazon

I love all books by Karen Marie Moning.  If she writes it, I buy it.  I was eagerly anticipating this book so much and I was nowhere near a book store where it was sold on the release day!  No worries though, I found it at Barnes and Noble two days later.

This is only my second time reading a graphic novel (the first being The Exile by Diana Gabaldon).  While the characters were pictured differently in my mind, I still enjoyed it.  Actually though, by the time I finished reading it I couldn’t imagine the Fear Dorcha looking any different than he did in the novel.

This story was centered around Mac in the fever world, and you also got to see Dani, Barrons, Dreamy-eyed-guy, the Unseelie King, and a few others.  The illustrations were great; I love to see others’ perceptions of the characters.  My husband even walked by and said that he liked the pictures too.

So if you have read the Fever Series and need a little something to keep you satisfied until Iced comes out in October, satisfy your cravings with Fever Moon.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Happy Friday,

~Pam

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Title:  Once Burned

Author:  Jeaniene Frost

Published:  June 2012 by Avon

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Click to buy Once Burned from Amazon

Leila tries to hide her powers by traveling with the circus.  She had an accident when she was younger which gave her some unique psychic abilities, along with an electrical current that runs through her body and shocks those that touch her.  Leila figures that the safest place for her is the circus; her fellow performers accept her, and if any circus patron ever gets suspicious, the circus is always on the move.

Leila is practicing her circus routine when she gets ambushed and kidnapped by a few vampires.  They force her to use her psychic powers to locate the vampire named, Vlad.  Something different happens when she locates Vlad however; he can see her, and he’s not too happy about being spied on….

I love Jeaniene Frost’s Cat and Bones series, especially the first few books.  Ms. Frost also wrote a few books with the secondary characters from that series, but this one is much better.  I’ve always been interested in Vlad, especially because he is the original Dracula.  I loved the fast pace of the book, it flowed beautifully and I never got bored.  I wish there was a little more leading to Vlad and Leila getting together, but that’s my only complaint.

So if you enjoy the Cat and Bone’s series then definitely pick this up.  If you’ve never read the other series, you can still read this one first; it’s the first book in a new series.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam

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Title:  Point of Retreat (Slammed #2)

Author:  Colleen Hoover

Published:  2012 by Colleen Hoover

Genre:  Young Adult, Romance

Click to buy Point of Retreat from Amazon

This is the second book in the Slammed series.  Will and Layken are living life as best they can, being young caretakers for both their brothers and they are doing a pretty good job.   Although life is really busy caring for their brothers, Will and Layken are still making time to go to college.  They are happy in their relationship, and things are going pretty well.  At least until Will finds out his ex-girlfriend is in one of his classes.  Will he find himself having feelings for her again, or will he remain loyal to Layken?

If I had known that this book was written in Will’s point of view, I probably wouldn’t have read it.  I know that’s kind of narrow-minded of me, but I like to read what I enjoy, and what I enjoy is generally a females POV.  That being said, I’m glad I did read it because it was pretty good.

There is one conflict in the book with Will’s ex-girlfriend that I could definitely see coming, but then there is another one that comes out of the blue and completely caught me off guard.  I definitely didn’t like this book as much as Slammed, but it was still an enjoyable, fast read.  There is supposed to be a third book in this series, but I think I’m going to stop after this one.  I don’t regret reading this book at all; I am just losing a bit of interest.

My Rating:  3 ½ out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam

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Title:  Slammed

Author:  Colleen Hoover

Published:  2012 by Colleen Hoover

Genre:  Young Adult, Romance

Click to buy Slammed from Amazon

Layken, her nine-year old brother Kel, and their mom, have just arrived in Michigan after driving there from Texas.  Within a few moments her brother has made a friend, Caulder, who is also nine, and they begin playing zombies.  Layken gets out of the U-Haul to join the kids when she sets eyes on Will, Caulder’s older brother.

It turns out that Will and Caulder live right across the street.  Will and Layken find themselves drawn to one another and they don’t waste any time going on a first date.  Will takes Layken to a slam, where Layken pretty much gets blown away by the people performing their poetry and she convinces Will to slam as well.

Things are going great for them, until something happens in which they realize that it would be impossible for them to be together.  Feelings are hurt and life moves on as it does.  Will they be able to overcome this obstacle to be together?  Is it something that they are even able to overcome?

What’s a slam, you ask?  Its poetry, but it’s not just reading words.  It’s performing them.   Slamming is pretty powerful, just like this book.  This is a young adult book, but it’s not like the rest of them.  This book deals with real life problems, and how even when it really sucks, life does go on and you just have to go on with it.

I read this book within 24 hours.  It was really well done, and if you choose to read it, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it.  There were parts that definitely made me cry (a few times), but I’m going to leave you with a part that made me laugh.  This scene is between Layken and her new friend Nick.

“Hey, Layken,” Nick smiles as he sits in his new spot nearest me.  “Got another one for ya.  Wanna hear it?”

In the past week alone, I’ve had to endure at least three Chuck Norris jokes a day from Nick.  He incorrectly assumes that since I’m from Texas, I must be obsessed with Walker, Texas Ranger.

“Sure.”  I don’t try to deny him this privilege anymore, it doesn’t work.

“Chuck Norris got a g-mail account today.  It’s gmail@chucknorris.com.”

It takes me a second to process.  I’m normally quick with jokes, but my mind has been sluggish lately, and for a good reason.

“Funny,” I reply flatly in order to appease him.

“Chuck Norris counted to infinity.  Twice.”

As much as I didn’t feel like laughing, I did.  Nick did annoy me quite a bit, but his ignorance was endearing.

~Slammed by Colleen Hoover (I can’t give you the exact page number, because my Nook is telling me there are 1112 pages in this book, when there are only 314 pages.  Silly Nook.)

Go read it.  You won’t regret it.  I’m off to read the next one in the series!

My Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam

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Title:  The Bride

Author:  Julie Garwood

Published:  June 2011 by Penguin Group

Genre:  Romance

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The year is 1102.  Alec Kincaid, a widow and a Scotsman, is told by his king that he must pick a wife from a certain English family.  To Alec, this is not a big deal, for he sees a wife as nothing more than an accessory and something that he won’t give much thought to.

It is a much different story for Jamie’s family.  Her three sisters are in an uproar when they learn that because their father did not pay his taxes, their king told him that two of his daughters are to be married to two Scotsmen.  What’s worse is that there is an awful rumor attached to Alec Kincaid, that he killed his previous wife.

Jamie is the only sister with a level head on her shoulders, and she is also the sister that Alec picks.  They are married and start to travel to Scotland that very day; talk about no adjustment time, huh?  While Alec did not intend to have any feelings for his wife, he finds himself starting to care for her.  Will Alec’s clan accept an English woman?  Will Jamie be his next victim?

I thought this book was okay.  Nothing about it really had me excited.  Jamie’s sisters annoyed the hell out of me, but I suppose that was probably the point.  All they did was cry and whine and depend on Jamie, who was the youngest.  It was a bit ridiculous.  Jamie’s character was decent; she wasn’t a complainer at all.  She had a good personality, was smart, and she was a healer.  Alec’s character was okay; he was the laird of his clan and an expert fighter.  He also liked to egg Jamie on to get a rise out of her; it seemed to be his way of flirting.

I just feel like I’ve read similar stories that were much better.  It was one of those books that I just wanted to finish so I could move on to the next, but it definitely wasn’t bad enough to stop reading it either.  The Bride was an okay book, and for that reason, I rated it a 3.

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam