Review: Switched / Trylle / Amanda Hocking

Synopsis (Amazon)

Switched - the first book in the Trylle Trilogy...

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right.

With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

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My Take
5 STARS

W-O-W! This book ended up being so much more than I expected! I found at times, I just couldn't put it down. The characters are well defined and interesting. The storyline flows well and the whole book has a nice pace to it. I really felt the tension between Wendy and Finn. I'm not going to discuss what happens in the story cause I hate ruining a good read for someone else. All I can say is that Switched is a definite MUST read!

Amanda Hocking has proven her star-author quality with this book. I am sure with time I will have a whole shelf on my bookcase with her books.

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Contest

There is only a few days left to enter to win a copy of Kissing Coffins! Deadline for entry is December 1st! Visit the contest page for more information.

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Review: Sex and the Single Vampire / Dark Ones / Katie MacAlister

Synopsis (Goodreads)

If Allie doesn't find a ghost soon, her short career as a "Summoner" with United Psychical Research Association will be a thing of the past, so naturally she is delighted to find what she thinks is the tortured spirit of a gorgeous, naked, wounded man. But the cranky spirit, who looks exactly like the dishy man who has been haunting Allie's dreams, doesn't need her help since he isn't a ghost, but rather Christian Dante, best-selling author of vampire romances and Moravian Dark One. Of course, Allie wants some answers from the arrogant and domineering Christian, but he is more interested in working out the exact nature of their relationship, since fate has chosen Allie as his "Beloved."

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My Take
3 STARS


This is the second book in MacAlister's Dark Ones series. In the first book, A Girl's Guide to Vampires, Joy promised to help find Christian's Beloved. In this book, Sex and the Single Vampire, Joy fulfills her promise.

We meet Allegra Telford (Allie), a summoner. She can summon ghosts, poltergeists, demons, and the like, but has a hard time releasing spirits. Upon a visit to a haunted house to practice her summoning, she finds the handsome Christian and mistakes him for a ghost. Soon after, she finds herself face-to-face with Christian at a book signing (that Joy had set up to help find his Beloved). Allie has a lot of questions Christian, and is roped into helping save Christian's friend, Sebastian, from some really bad people.

Ok, so this book was better than the first book in the series, however, I am come to realize MacAlister has a real annoying quirk with her writing. Her female characters' always have some annoying phrases, or words. In this book, it's the word "poop". Allie seems to use this word constantly. As far as the story line goes, I liked it, not exactly unique, but I liked it. The only editing mistake that stood out to me was found on page 160, so at least the book is not riddled with editing errors.

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A Great Place to Get Books!

Have you discovered Thriftbooks.com yet? If not, you should check it out!

This is a wonderful website with thousands of great used books. There are many, many books priced at $3.95 (US Dollars) and, the best part--FREE SHIPPING! That's right--FREE SHIPPING! It doesn't get much better than that. I have placed three orders through Thriftbooks and have been very satisfied.  It took about a week (maybe a little more or less depending on where you live) to receive my order.  The books arrived in the condition which were specified. If you haven't checked out this site, there is no reason why you shouldn't.

If you have ordered from Thriftbooks before, please comment on this post and let us know your experience!

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Review: A Girl's Guide to Vampires / Dark Ones Series / Katie MacAlister

Synopsis (Goodreads)

All Joy Randall wants is a little old-fashioned romance, but when she participates in a "Goddess evoking" ceremony with her friend, Roxy, Joy finds out her future true love is a man with the potential to put her immortal soul in danger. At first the ever-practical Joy is ready to dismiss her vision as a product of too much gin and too many vampire romances, but while traveling through the Czech Republic with Roxy, Joy begins to have some second thoughts about her mystery lover because she is suddenly plagued by visions of a lethally handsome stranger. Then, when she and Roxy attend a local GothFaire, Joy meets Raphael Griffin St. John, head of security, and she becomes even more bewildered because the dark and dangerous Raphael seems too close to her dreams for comfort
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My Take
2 STARS

Spoiler Alert!

A Girl's Guide to Vampires is the first book of Katie MacAlister's Dark Ones series. I was introduced to this series with book 9 (Much Ado About Vampires), which was a very good book; this one not so much.

The argumentative banter between the two best friends, Joy and Roxy, were bordering on the edge of very annoying. To be honest, I wasn't really sure if I even liked Joy's (the heroine) love interest in the book, Raphael.

Joy is the Beloved of Christian (vampire), but she refuses Christian to be with Raphael (human). My rant I suppose is this is a vampire series, yet the first book in the series the leading female refuses the vampire to be with a human. I believe this was a odd direction to take in the first book of the series. With that said, Joy promises Christian she will find another Beloved for him.

I am so glad I read book 9 of this series first. If I had not, I'm not sure I would've even decided to give the rest of the series a try after reading book 1. I will continue with the series because I have faith that the series does get better.

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November Releases

I finally got around to updating the New Releases page. All November releases have been listed. The information contained on the page is from FictFact.

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Review: Sexiest Vampire Alive / Love At Stake / Kerrelyn Sparks

Synopsis (Goodreads)



The secret is out . . . Vampires do exist!
When a video reveals to the world that vampires live among us, it’s up to “young” vamp Gregori Holstein, VP of Marketing, to persuade the U.S. government to declare the video a hoax. But first the president wants a favor, one that requires Gregori to spend forty-eight hours in very close contact with the First Daughter.
Abby Tucker would rather spend her nights in a lab than attend her father’s state dinners. She’s dedicated her life to finding a cure that will save her dying mother and needs only two more ingredients. To find them, she’ll have to venture into the most dangerous region of the world—with a vampire. Her Armani-clad escort may be Undead, but he still makes her heart race. And the greatest danger won’t be the predatory hordes lying in wait for them; it will be her undying desire for the Sexiest Vampire Alive.
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My Take
4 Stars

Kerrelyn Sparks does it again! Sexiest Vampire Alive is a great addition to the Love At Stake series.

The top-secret existence of vampires has gotten leaked to the public, and now vampires are in fear of being hunted by humans. Head-Honcho Vampire Roman, along with McKay S&I, have entrusted harmless, bottle-fed Gregori with convincing the government that vampires are not a threat to humans. Gregori also has to convince the government that an alliance with the vampires will benefit both sides, but first the vamps want the leaked video to be declared a hoax to keep their existence safe.

Abby, a scientist, has chosen not to share the spotlight with her President father. She would much rather work long hours in a lab trying to find a cure for her dying mother.

We've been waiting to see womanizer/playboy Gregori find a woman he can settle down with--only the woman he wants happens to be the daughter of the President of the United States.

This was definitely a fun, easy read! I can't wait for the next installment in the Love At Stake series!

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Review: Thirteen Hours / Deon Meyer

Synopsis (Goodreads)

An unputdownable thriller from South Africa's #1-bestselling crime writer.

Some would call Detective Benny Griessel a legend. Others would call him a drunk.

Either way, he has trodden on too many toes over the years ever to reach the top of the promotion ladder, and now he concentrates on staying sober and mentoring the new generation of crime fighters — mixed race, Xhosa and Zulu. But when an American backpacker disappears in Cape Town, panicked politicians know who to call: Benny has just thirteen hours to save the girl, save his career, and crack open a conspiracy, which threatens the whole country.

A potent, suspenseful thriller, and a brilliant portrait of life in the country that will host the 2010 World Cup.
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My Take


Thirteen Hours was a very intriguing read and forced me to really focus. The characters are well defined, great detail throughout the book, and the overall story was really good. Everything in this book takes place within a thirteen hour period. The book is a long read at 584 pages, and jam-packed.

I know literally nothing about South Africa, which is the setting of the story (Capetown), or the language. Although this book was translated from Afrikaans to English, there were still some words that I had no idea what they meant (maybe they couldn't be translated...I don't know). Some of the names were hard to remember (and forget pronouncing them!) for me, so I made up nicknames for some of the characters. Within the chapters, there is a lot of switching back and forth between scenes, but I found that very necessary being that everything takes place within thirteen hours. It sometimes confused me a bit, but I kept moving on.

Even with all the above working against me reading this book, the story is just that good that I had to keep reading. Meyer tells a good story, and I think I see another Deon Meyer book in my future.

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