Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

Awake at Dawn
(Shadow Falls series, Book #2)
by C.C. Hunter

Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal Romance

Kylie Galen thought her life was a mess before she went to Shadow Falls Camp. However, now that she's discovered she's not human, the problems presenting themselves are anything but normal.

She's determined to uncover the answer to her supernatural heritage, but with a ghost insisting someone Kylie loves is about to die, her newly developed sixth sense telling her someone is watching her and a rogue vampire on a murdering rampage, Kylie's quest for answers is on hold. As if her life isn't difficult enough, just when she's about to give her heart to Derek, he starts pulling away. When Lucas comes back, Kylie feels more conflicted than ever. Kylie's weekend with her mom should have been just the break Kylie needs, but it turns out to be her breaking point. Discovering her heritage may not ever matter if she doesn't survive.

As Kylie learns more about herself, the mystery of who/what she is becomes darker. Not only is she sharing characteristics with the camp vampires (i.e. desires for blood, exceptional hearing, etc.), but now she is displaying werewolf traits (i.e. super strength, body changes due to the moon cycle, etc.) as well. Yet, being unique has its mischievous perks since Kylie seems to always find herself within the camp's drama/secrets. But the unfortunate downfall of her solitary status destine her to perpetually be considered an outsider/alone. Kylie's adjustment to her original ghost-seeing abilities becomes more advanced within this story while her romance triangle becomes more complicated. Expect lots of favorite supernatural side characters to return as well as the series suspense and teen angst heats up. Yummy Read!!!

Book # 3 ( Taken At Dusk ) out soon- April 10th.

Book #1 ( Born At Midnight ) Review

Likes: The theme concept of "self-discovery" really keeps this series alive and entertaining for me, can't wait for it to continue.

Dislikes: The friendship interactions in this tale comes off as a little too juvenile for my readying taste, but I guess that is to be expected from a YA book. It's just rather annoying at times, esp. with Miranda & Della going at it every other page.

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Born at Midnight
(Shadow Falls series, Book #1)
by C.C. Hunter

Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal Romance

Kylie Galen has had a lot of crap tossed in her lap lately. Her parents are getting a divorce for who the heck knows why. Her boyfriend broke up with her because she wouldn't put out. And her grandmother died because . . . well, older people do that. But now, Kylie's acquired a stalker and she hasn't a clue what he wants or how to get rid of him . . . and she really wants to get rid of him because apparently she's the only one who sees him. Thinking she may be losing it, her parents send her off to see a psychologist who gets Kylie sent to Shadow Falls Camp. Kylie and her parents think it's a camp for troubled teens.

They thought wrong.

Kylie's surrounded by vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches and shape-shifters. And if she believes what they tell her, she's one of them. They're just not sure exactly how she fits in. As Kylie struggles to cope with the realization that these creatures even exist, and the fact that she might not be human, she's got two hot guys, a werewolf and a half-fairy vying for her attention. And they can just keep vying. Kylie's determined that before she lets her heart loose on love, she needs to unearth the truth. What does the ghost want? Who can and can't she trust? And most of all . . . What is she?

Kylie gets innocently caught up in some questionable situations upon her parents sudden divorce and gets sent away to a delinquents (aka "freak") camp for the summer . . . or so she thinks. Yet, when fellow campers begin asking "What she is?" instead of "Who?" and magic/blood become something she shockingly learns to deal with on a daily basis--Kylie beings to examine her meaning behind the word "freak" and becomes worried she may just be one herself. Throughout the challenge of discovering her past in hopes of identifying just what her supernatural status is, Kylie becomes awakened by her new hidden talents (i.e. sensing/seeing ghosts, etc.) and easily gets infatuated with two extremely different guys: 1. Derek, a sweet-tempted half-fairy who was one of her first friends at camp and 2. Lucas, a darker older werewolf who Kylie actually has a history with. Thus, with so many things in Kylie's life crumbling, can Shadow Falls Camp actually become a bitter-sweet surprise?

At first, this story came off as a bit too juvenile for my taste, but as the plot progressed and Kylie's adventures in camp became more complex -- I found myself becoming more and more intrigued. The whole story timeline accelerates quickly, happening within the span of only a few weeks, thus it becomes easy to get caught up in the overall tale. Kylie has a lot of troubles becasue of friends back home, friends in camp, family, etc. that the story never goes dull, but it can become a bit too much at times. The romance in the book is all over with many of the side-characters (young and old) heating up the pages while Kylie herself gets captivated by two guys -- so yummy relationships throughout. All in all, this was a surprising read that I found myself jumping right into Book #2 as soon as I finished Book #1 -- plus Book #3 comes out this April, yayy.

Likes: If you're a fan of paranormal/supernatural characters--this is a fun read that pretty much covers them all!

Dislikes: Kylie can have only so much drama on her plate at one time before she gets spread pretty thin and then, due to becoming overwhelmed, avoids or cuts short different parts of the story that the reader would wish to have extended. Frustrating!!

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley

Primal Bonds
Shifters Unbound Book #2
by Jennifer Ashley

Genre: Paranormal Romance

When half-Fae, half-Shifter Andrea Gray flees an abusive would-be mate, the only way she is allowed to relocate to the Austin Shiftertown is if a Shifter there claims her as mate.

Sean Morrissey, the Guardian of his clan and all of Shiftertown, is mate-less, lonely, and has a tough job--to send the souls of deceased Shifters into the after-world. He volunteers to claim her, sight unseen, but doesn't realize that one look at the gray-eyed, dark-haired Andrea will stir the mating frenzy in him. Even though the mate-claim isn't finalized, official, or yet blessed, Sean will do anything to get Andrea into his life and keep her there, forever.

Having the role of Guardian and Goddess-blessed is a powerful clan position to have, but also quite lonely. Thus, when a female Shifter comes to town seeking refuge, Sean claims the new arrival without meeting her, expecting a submissive little she-wolf who will accept him as is without his powerful and deadly title. Instead, he gets a beautiful women who looks him straight in the eye without fear, stirring the mating frenzy within him. On the other hand, Andrea is desperate to escape her caged life and is use to always looking out for herself. But in order to relocate to a new Shitertown ( Austin, Texas - whoot! whoot! ) and escape her past, Andrea must accept a new protector and a new mate-claim. A Guardian seems as good as a candidate as any, but Andrea's intense attraction to Sean is something she never expected. Yet, before their heated mating frenzy burns them both from the inside out, they must struggle with turning their "mating of convenience" into the real thing while battling old enemies during clan wars and uncovering some past secrets.

I think I became so absorbed in this story since it reminded me so much of Lora Leigh's Breeds series without the heavy sex scenes, sure you have your fun bed romps in this book but it doesn't overpower the story line. Plus, both characters are equally decisive about sex, something hard to find in Leigh's series as well. Don't get me wrong, I adore LL's series, but it's nice to have something similar but different - which a reader can easily find in Ashley's Shifter's Unbound series. Honestly, the story was enjoyable but something about Andrea bothered me (since she was either too quite or too loud) and I'll just say she wasn't my favorite female lead. Sean was likable and he played the heart-breaker character well with him being stuck in his "dark/tough" role when all he really wanted was a mate to love. . .aww! Since the series was new to me, the world created was fascinating and I would be interested in checking out book #1 in the series, but afraid I would get disenchanted quite easily with the writing style. Maybe I'll wait for more books to come out in the series before reading more and on a side note, this book would have been a solid 3.5 rating for me not for the location :) That alone kept me reading!

Likes: Set in Austin, Texas. Southern Austin at that. A place close to heart since it is nearby my home town and an old stomping ground for myself. Loved the references to street names, Austin shopping locations, etc. in the book . . . made me remember old times!

Dislikes: First - Felt a little slow paced a times and then not - as if there was A LOT going on at once and then a lull for a bit before going into full-on action again. Not a fan of the up & down roller-coaster feel in a book. So please, just give me something I can enjoy without feeling mentally exhausted after reading a few chapters before bed. Second - How many pet-names does Sean need for Andrea? It seemed like every other paragraph had a new one!

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

A Highlander of Her Own by Melissa Mayhue

A Highlander of Her Own
(Daughters of the Glen Series Book #4)
by Melissa Mayhue

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Time-Travel | Historic

TEXAS, PRESENT DAY. ELLIE DENTON's world has spiraled out of control. A strange new birthmark, animals talking to her, and her mother's ex-husband laying claim to the family ranch have her thinking life can't get more complicated. But Ellie doesn't know the birthmark's connection to her Faerie ancestors. Complicated takes on a whole new meaning with her innocent wish to find her true love.

SCOTLAND, 1304. CADEN MACALISTER has more trouble than he can handle. With his brother held for ransom
and the laird missing, the last thing he needs is another problem. But the Fae have other plans.

A mysterious woman shows up in his stables, sent by Faerie Magic to find her true love. Fighting his attraction, Caden insists she's meant for one of his brothers. With his history, he has no desire for a woman in his life—especially a woman sent by the Fae.

Only the magic of the Fae can determine whether Ellie will find a Highlander of her own...

Ellie has had to deal with a lot of shocking things recently: her Mother passed away, she's getting a new birthmark medically tested, her ranch is in danger of falling into the wrong hands, and suddenly she's communicating with animals. On top of all that, she even finds herself stuck in another place and time that isn't exactly Texas. She soon learns 'words' are a lot more powerful than one thinks and sets herself on a mission to discover her future soul-mate by accepting the past.

I love time-travel romances (plus adding faeries and highlanders makes it even more exciting) and on my trip to Texas for Easter . . . I thought reading about Texas would be enjoyable, but I found this tale almost too silly. Personally, I'm just beginning Mayhue's Daughter of the Glen series and while some books have really held my attention, this one just feel flat and was rather boring throughout. The characters of Caden and Ellie's were to drastically different that it was hard for me to really get evolved in their romance and to become absorbed in their story.

I felt the book skipped a lot of character development and because of that I really missed out on feeling emotions toward the leads in the story. Ellie was just too accepting of her situation that it was just so unbelievable and Caden too stubborn of his future that they just didn't mesh well together. Plus, I am NOT a fan of dogs in story (sorry dog lovers!) so I would skip ahead many of the parts that included Ellie's Missy & Baby. Ugh! There were a few interesting parts of A Highlander of Her Own that I liked, (the bath house scenes-being one) but all in all - it was a bore (love scenes included!)

Likes: The side-character, Dair Maxwell, added some much needed entertainment to the tale.

Dislikes: I wanted more of a well-rounded ending for Ellie and for her to personally get revenge on Ray back in present-time Texas, but how it was written out was just not what I liked. I could have imagined many other/betters endings.

Ratings:

SEE FULL POST