Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

Once Burned 

(Night Prince, Book #1)
by Jeaniene Frost

Genre: Dark Fantasy | Paranormal Romance

She’s a mortal with dark powers…

After a tragic accident scarred  her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a  person’s darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of  solitude…until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out  with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire…

He’s the Prince of Night…

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest  vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most  feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against  him – a beautiful mortal with powers to  match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them,  threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop  an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

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Existence by Abbi Glines

Existence
( Existence Trilogy, Book #1 )

by Abbi Glines 

Genre: Young Adult | Dark Romance | Fantasy

What happens when you're stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course. Pagan Moore doesn't cheat Death, but instead, falls in love with him. Seventeen year old Pagan Moore has seen souls her entire life. Once she realized the strangers she often saw walking through walls were not visible to anyone else, she started ignoring them. If she didn't let them know she could see them, then they left her alone. Until she stepped out of her car the first day of school and saw an incredibly sexy guy lounging on a picnic table, watching her with an amused smirk on his face. Problem is, she knows he's dead. Not only does he not go away when she ignores him, but he does something none of the others have ever done. He speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What she doesn't realize is that her appointed time to die is drawing near and the wickedly beautiful soul she is falling in love with is not a soul at all. He is Death and he's about to break all the rules.

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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Magic Bites
(Kate Daniels Book #1)
by Ilona Andrews

Genre: Urban / Dark Fantasy

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic…

One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels.

Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…

Kate Daniel's story begins with her learning that the only family she has left -Greg Feldman, the city's knight-diviner- has been murdered. Normally, Kate works for the Mercenary Guild, doing odd jobs to get by, but she takes on this new mission of discovering what she can through the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, the guardians of the city. Along the way, she meets up with Curran, the Beast Lord, and gets a peek into his world.

I thought I might enjoy this series since I'm a fan of Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress books, but Kate Daniel came off as a little too overpowering for me. I don't like the "kick-ass" female characters that much and the setting has a very "destroyed world" feeling to it, but also too futuristic for my taste. The magic wasn't that interesting . . . almost too scientific with boring facts and I found myself having to re-read sections to fully understand where we stood. Overall, this book just rubbed me the wrong way & I couldn't really loose myself in the story, but I may move on to the most recent book just to see if it'll improve and to find out where Kate and Curran's relationship goes.

Likes: The doctor Crest. He came off as the most realistic character.

Dislikes: The whole concept of magic rising, falling, and affecting modern technology.

Rating:

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Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Spirit Bound
(Vampire Academy Book #5)
by Richelle Mead

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy / Young Adult

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever.

Rose has returned back to the academy, after her hunt in Siberia, to pass her Guardian test with flying colors and graduate. Things are finally looking up, she has a rich and royal boyfriend (Adrian) who surprisingly she has come to care for, she's on good terms with her best friend (Lissa) and even the Queen of the Court has taken a stranger-than-normal liking to her. Yet, she's receiving haunting letters from her lost love, Demitri, and she begins to realize just how serious he is about hunting her down for a change.

I have to say . . . book #5 didn't grip me as much as book #4. I think I enjoyed the tale before more since Rose was on her own for the majority of it and we all had our doubts of who or what Demitri was going to be! But, NOW we know all that going into this continuation and I feel Spirit Bound didn't expand on the characters or tale as much as I would have liked. I do LOVE Adrian (I'm a big FAN!) and I feel bad that Rose doesn't appreciate him as much as she should, but the story does flow smoothly and finally brings to light the "turn" everyone has been waiting for in the series. A "turn" that really wasn't as big or as complicated as I believe it should have been - it was almost too easy. Overall, the Vampire Academy series continues on with a bang that I believe all followers will enjoy.

Likes: The interactions between Rose & Demitri, no matter how dangerous or heartbreaking and of course, my funny and witty ADRIAN!

Dislikes: Sadly, I felt some of the story was totally implausible.

Rating:

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Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Generation Dead
(Generation Dead Book #1)
by Daniel Waters

Genre:  Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

Phoebe is just your typical goth girl with a crush. He’s strong and silent…and dead. All over the country, a strange phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same—they stutter, and their reactions to everything are slower. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic," they are doing their best to fit into a society that doesn’t want them. Fitting in is hard enough when you don’t have the look or attitude, but when almost everyone else is alive and you’re not, it’s close to impossible. The kids at Oakvale High don’t want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn’t breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the differently biotic from the people who want them to disappear—for good. With her pale skin and Goth wardrobe, Phoebe has never run with the popular crowd. But no one can believe it when she falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids. Not her best friend, Margi, whose fear of the differently biotic is deeply rooted in guilt over the past. And especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has just realized his feelings for Phoebe run much deeper than just friendship. He would do anything for her, but what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

Phoebe's an open-minded high school goth student whose best friend/neighbor is one of the football teams top players, Adam. Their Connecticut school comes into the media spotlight when it beings to allow the highest ratio per capita of "living impaired" (really zombie teenagers, but the word "zombie" is a derogatory term in the story and everyone usually refers to them as DP = differently biotic) to attend classes. This unique acceptance is met with much tension, but a new Hunter Foundation "learning lab" is started to include both kind of students in hopes of projecting a more positive image. Throughout it all, Phoebe begins to develop feelings for the new "living impaired" student Tommy and realizes not everyone is as tolerant as she. So on top of having the responsibility of teaching her community about what DP people have to offer, she also has to deal with prejudices against her latest crush.

I admit, it took me awhile to get into this book. I would start reading, put it down, then a week later pick it up again. But after about getting a third of the way into it . . . I was intrigued. I'm a HUGE zombie fan, so that was the main reason for reading this, but overall, I liked it. It's defiantly got its undertone meanings, but you really begin to see the DP students side of their new way of "life" and some of their stories are just so heartbreaking. The ending was a bit shocking for me, so I cannot wait to begin the 2nd book in the series - Kiss of Life.

Likes: I enjoyed Adam & Phoebe's Frisbee sessions, very therapeutic.

Dislikes: How the zombies speak annoyed the heck out of me, but not so much towards the end.

Rating:

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