REVIEW: Boys That Bite by Mari Mancusi

Title: Boys That Bite (Blood Coven #1)
Author: Mari Mancusi
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: April, 2006
Paperback: 262 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Young Adult
Rating: 9/10

Description: My mom is so going to kill me if she finds out I'm turning into a vampire...

Okay, so technically she can't because I'm immortal. Well, not yet. See, due to the worst case of mistaken identity with my dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth hangout called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for my innocent neck instead of hers. Now, if I don't reverse it in time, Magnus will be my blood mate forever and I'm doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. Believe me, it seriously bites!

After the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, it's up to me, my sister, and Magnus to find the one thing that can solve my problem--the Holy Grail. No joke. I seriously hope I can get out of this on time because, somehow, I scored the hottest prom date in my school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. And I do NOT want to be a vampire for the prom--let alone the rest of eternity.

My Thoughts: Very fast read and entertaining first book of a new to me young adult series by an author whose work I’ve only read are time travels. I have noticed I have become more drawn to and intrigued by paranormal young adult stories. Not sure why. Perhaps the characters seem less jaded and cynical to me than in the adult counterparts. Maybe it’s that whole “the future is so bright, I gotta wear shades” mentality that seems to permeate all of the young adult books I have read lately. It’s not a bad thing really; the difference is so intriguing because there’s a sense of adventure and wonder and yes, even innocence in the story that isn’t always present in other series.

This story revolves around identical twins, Sunshine and Rayne McDonald. Ironically, these identical twins couldn’t be more different. Sunshine is a dedicated student who maintains a good grade point average, is on the field hockey team and is currently the understudy to the lead in the school play. She has a major crush (who doesn’t?) on Jake Wilder who doesn’t know she exists and who is also in the school play. Rayne has no interest in school, devoted to maintaining a Goth persona and wants to be a vampire. Rayne all but twists Sunny’s arm into accompanying her to a Goth hangout called Club Fang. Sunny meets Magnus who turns out to be a vampire and who proceeds to bite her, not realizing it was supposed to be Rayne he was to bite. Now Sunny will become a vampire in one week unless she and Magnus can find a way to reverse the change.

This story was a lot of fun. Sunny’s transformation to the undead was quite humorous and I loved her and Magnus together. Initially, Rayne seemed very self absorbed but she grew on me and I ended up liking her a lot too. Some of the things Sunny experiences as she gets closer to becoming a vampire were very entertaining. The smell of food causes her to be physically ill, her initial taste of blood and her surprise at how much she enjoyed it and the unexpected effects of the Vampire Scent having on guys around her. Sunny is adamant she doesn’t want to be a vampire even though she is developing feelings for Magnus and he for her. I enjoyed the conflict. Magnus is willing to do anything to help Sunny get her humanity back in spite of the virtual rejection he is feeling at her reaction to being a vampire.

Along the way, Sunny’s mother is convinced she is on drugs, Sunny is called upon to take over the lead in the play, Sunny and Magnus witness the slaying of the vampire leader and have to travel all the way to England to obtain the cure before prom. Oh, and she still needs to buy a prom dress…

The ending came as a surprise and ends on a big cliffhanger lead in to the next book. I will definitely be looking for the next book in the series so I can find out what happens next. Overall, if you enjoy reading a vampire series featuring young adults and prefer it to be of the lighter variety, I highly recommend this book.

REVIEW: No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Title: No Mercy (Dark-Hunter #19)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher: St. Martin’s
Publication Date: September, 2010
Hardcover: 343 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy
Rating: 8/10

Description: Live fast, fight hard and, if you have to die, then take as many of your enemies with you as you can. That is the Amazon credo and it was one Samia lived and died by. Now in contemporary New Orleans, the immortal Amazon warrior is about to learn that there’s a worse evil coming to slaughter mankind than she’s ever faced before.

Shapeshifter Dev Peltier has stood guard at the front of Sanctuary for almost two hundred years and in that time, he’s seen it all. Or so he thought. Now their enemies have discovered a new source of power--one that makes a mockery of anything faced to date.

The war is on and Dev and Sam are guarding ground zero. But in order to win, they will have to break the most cardinal of all rules and pray it doesn’t unravel the universe as we know it.

My Thoughts: I have loved this series since the beginning and have loved each book, some more than others and this one is no different, but I sense a change in me as I feel a shift to this series coming. Long time fans of this series already know the history of the characters so I won’t rehash it here. My only gripe with this story and series overall is there was too much focus on the conflict between Ash and Nick. This story is supposed to be about Sam and Dev. I don’t care much for the changes I am seeing in Nick and I’m heartbroken at the relationship now occurring between Nick and Ash. Please stop rubbing my nose in it and resolve it already...

Now with that out of the way, I can focus on this story. I loved the pairing of Sam and Dev. I thought they were perfect for each other, both strong and fierce but both carrying deep pain and scars that make them vulnerable. And as I’ve come to expect from this series, these two have great chemistry in and out of the bedroom. There is refreshing comedic banter and high adrenaline fight scenes.

Sam is not a typical Amazon warrior. Not only was she Queen but she was married, which is the exception to the norm. When she is betrayed and her husband and child are murdered in front of her, she sells her soul to Artemis as she lies dying and becomes an immortal Dark-Hunter. Fast forward 5,000 years to modern day New Orleans and she is now assigned to guard Nick as he is a high commodity now that he’s becoming evil. When she meets Dev Peltier, they feel an instant connection and attraction though Sam thinks he’s just a “horn-dog.” She’s right. He is. But, she’s OK with it (and frankly, so was I). One of Sam’s powers is that she can pick up everything that has happened to someone just by touching something of theirs or something they’ve touched. As a result, she has lived an existence all these years of one filled with pain, agony and heartbreak, reliving the painful events of others. Fortunately for Sam, she does not experience that when she touches Dev.

Dev has carried guilt most of his life as his mother blamed him for the death of his two brothers. Here is a guy who just wants to be accepted and loved, but who was rejected and blamed for something that wasn’t his fault. Experiencing something like this would make the strongest of men very leery of relationships and very distrustful of people in general. Dev is a very easy man to like. His sarcastic wit and humor are great ice-breakers and Sam feels immediately at-ease when she meets him.

Sam becomes hunted by the Daimons when news of her abilities reaches their leader, Stryker. He’s hell-bent on finding a way to lift the curse of their race and find Apollo’s weakness so he can kill him and will use all means necessary to force her to help him. The Daimons have discovered a way that they can walk in the daylight, which will put the Dark-Hunters at an extreme disadvantage. As evil as Stryker is, I have a grudging respect for him. I don’t know if he will ever be redeemed, but this character intrigues me. Savitar also makes an appearance in this book and, as always, I can’t get enough of him either. I would really love to see him get his own story.

Though there are some unresolved issues between Sam and Dev at the end of the book, I found their story to be very good. I expect they will show up down the road in future books as these characters are prone to do. Overall, I highly recommend this series if you are looking for stories that make you smile, excite you, get your blood boiling and highly entertain you.

REVIEW: Bloodline by Jill Jones

Title: Bloodline
Author: Jill Jones
Publisher: St. Martin’s
Publication Date: June, 2000
Paperback: 336 pages
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: 5/10

Description: Victoria Thomas is one of the FBI's finest criminal profilers, a career born of the tragic, unsolved murder of her younger sister. She's also a closet "Sherlockian," involved in a group that follows the famous English detective. This hobby leader her to London, to a symposium on Sherlock Holmes, where she finds unexpected passion...and a chilling murder mystery involving a modern-day Jack the Ripper.

He's murdering women and leaving clever, diabolical messages for Victoria to follow. He's teasing her, taunting her, daring her to find him. For he, too, is following his calling—answering the terrible demons of his bloodline, proving he is every bit as elusive as his infamous ancestor.

In the chilling Bloodline, Jill Jones weaves a spellbinding tale of icy suspense, haunting romance, and lost history, that spans from the time of Jack the Ripper in 1888, to this very day.

My Thoughts: I’ve long been fascinated by the unsolved Jack the Ripper murders in 1888 and have my own personal speculation on who Jack was. For the most part, I enjoyed this story that centers around an FBI profiler who is battling her own personal demons trying to solve the murder of her sister several years before. After an especially grueling case, Victoria is all but ordered to take a vacation. She shanghais childhood friend, Trey, and they depart for London to attend a weekend seminar featuring a speaker from Scotland Yard about the unsolved Ripper murders.

For the most part, I enjoyed the story that mixes the historical facts with the growing romance between Victoria and Jonathan Blake. Throw in a Jack the Ripper copycat killer who is murdering women and has chosen Victoria to receive his dark messages and graphic and disturbing gifts. The identity of the modern day Ripper provided a satisfactory closure as well. My problem with this book was instead of ending the story with the killer being captured and Victoria and Jonathan riding off into the sunset, the story continues and goes off the deep end into a conspiracy theory about the 1888 Jack’s identity and a bunch of cloak and dagger moments and cover-ups.

I may be in the minority here, but though several theories about Jack’s identity make logical sense, I personally feel that there being no resolution is a big part of the appeal of this case. If you can overlook the last chapter, maybe even skip it all together, you may enjoy this story overall.

REVIEW: The Confession by John Grisham

Title: The Confession
Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: October, 2010
Hardcover: 432 pages
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Rating: 10/10

Description: John Grisham delivers his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. Filled with the intriguing twists and turns that have become Grisham’s trademark, this newest novel will prove once again that no one keeps readers in suspense like America’s favorite storyteller. An innocent man is days from execution. Only a guilty man can save him.

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

My Thoughts: With 24 published books under his belt, John Grisham’s newest release is by far the most disturbing but riveting story I’ve read in a long time. Grisham is an author who I know will pull out all the stops to deliver a well-told story that draws me in. This story was disturbing to me because the idea that an innocent man is convicted on such flimsy evidence and a forced confession appalls me on so many levels. Worse is that he spends the next nine years living in the most deplorable of conditions on death row in virtual solitary confinement. The perks and benefits of freedom that most of us enjoy and usually take for granted is keenly felt by me knowing Donté lives in conditions worse than that of a caged animal and is facing death. The story held me captivated and riveted to the edge of my seat in tense anticipation of what would happen next. Is Travis Boyette really the killer or another wacko seeking notoriety? Will he get to Texas on time to stop the execution? Even if he gets to Texas, will the authorities listen to him?

I did not like Travis Boyette one bit. I felt like he was messing with people and playing games, especially when he would waffle back and forth with Pastor Schroeder about coming forward and admitting his guilt. Boyette’s interest and inappropriate comments about the Pastor’s wife gave me the creeps and I was on edge thinking he was going to attack her.

I really liked Keith Schroeder, the Kansas Lutheran minister to whom Travis Boyette confides. I could really feel the anxiety he was feeling wanting to do the right thing but not sure what that is. I admired his resolve to personally take Boyette to Texas, though it could mean legal trouble for him down the road as he would be obstructing justice by helping Boyette abscond while on parole.

I liked Donté’s lawyer, Robbie Flak. He is like a pit-bull in his defense of Donté. He goes the extra mile, working tirelessly to stop the execution and though he comes across as a bit fanatic at times, it’s obvious to the reader that he is devoted to his profession and that it’s more than just a job for him.

Whether you support or oppose the death penalty, this story will make you think, it will disturb you, it will give you hope and it will disappoint you. Most of all, it will keep you holding your breath, turning each page to see what happens next.

REVIEW: Good Girls Do by Julie Kenner

Title: Good Ghouls Do (Beth Frasier, #2)
Author: Julie Kenner
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: September, 2007
Paperback: 240 pages
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 4/10

Description: As the vampire population at Waterloo High continues to grow, Beth Frasier realizes that she's on the frontline of saving not only the school, but her hometown. And only one thing is for sure: She's got to find the head vampire and kill him...quickly!

Her only problem? With her classmates quickly turning over to the dark side, Beth doesn't know who to trust or kill.

My Thoughts: The second book in the Beth Frasier series leaves a huge cliffhanger and with only two books currently published, I’m left wondering what will happen next. We find out who Beth’s maker is, but his death does not give Beth or Clayton their humanity back. We are also given a glimpse into a potential triangle between Beth, Clayton and Kevin the vampire hunter.

This book focuses mainly on Beth’s fears that Clayton is trying to kill her so he can regain his humanity after several attempts are made on her life. Beth is also trying to make the formula that will allow vampires to walk in the sun. Though there is some minimal progress and success, it’s not what she or the other vampires were anticipating.

We see more of Beth’s father in this story and are given the news that Beth will be moving in with her father while her mother is in Paris, France for several months working.

Overall, this was an OK story that has some potential to be a really interesting series. I’m still curious to see where it will take me next so I will be looking for the next book when it is published.

New Additions To The TBR Pile In April

Do they count as new additions if I've already read them? :o)

The Confession by John Grisham

Description: John Grisham delivers his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. Filled with the intriguing twists and turns that have become Grisham’s trademark, this newest novel will prove once again that no one keeps readers in suspense like America’s favorite storyteller. An innocent man is days from execution. Only a guilty man can save him.

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

Knock 'Em Dead by Rhonda Pollero

Description: Finley knows it can't be good news when she's awakened at 5:40 a.m. by someone knocking on her door. Her hunch proves correct. Finley's pal Jane is hysterical and clad only in a negligee. It all started when Jane went out on a blind date the previous night with a hunk named Paolo --- and ended when she woke up next to his corpse. Finley knows Jane wouldn't hurt a fly, especially one with a zipper. Too bad the police don't agree...

Having survived her own ordeal of questioning and criminally bad coffee at the local cop shop, Finley's got to post bail and hire an attorney for Jane. But with most of her cash tied up in credit card debt, she knows she has to do the unthinkable: hit her mother up for money. As if attempting to thaw out the Ice Queen isn't hard enough, there's the unthinkable, part II: resisting McGarrity. Yes, dangerously sexy P.I. Liam McGarrity has offered his services ... for a discounted rate. To prove her theory that Jane and Paolo were drugged by the real killer, Finley will have to buckle down and work with Liam. She'll just have to remind herself that she already has the perfect boyfriend in her FedEx pilot Patrick.

But this case is booby-trapped with more serious pitfalls than wicked temptation. For starters, there's the fact that two knives were used to kill Paolo. Then there's a suspicious string of robberies. And when someone tries to run Finley's car off the road, she's got to act quick to find a killer who wants to see her underground...

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Description: At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk

Description: Scandal, celebrity and secrets on the sunset strip...

Angela Clark can't believe her luck ... she's living in New York with a dream job and a sexy boyfriend...

Sent to Hollywood to interview hot actor and fellow Brit James Jacobs, she's in at the deep end amid the thin and beautiful of Rodeo Drive. The only person who seems genuine is James, despite his ladykiller reputation. But then the paparazzi catch them together at Chateau Marmont, and Angela finds herself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons...

Can she convince her boss, her best friend and --- most importantly --- her boyfriend not to believe all they read in the papers? And will Hollywood ever win Angela's heart?

Betrayed by P.C. Cast

Description: Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night. She’s come to terms with the vast powers the vampyre goddess, Nyx, has given her, and is getting a handle on being the new Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all, Zoey finally feels like she belongs--like she really fits in. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. Then, when she needs her new friends the most, death strikes the House of Night, and Zoey must find the courage to face a betrayal that could break her heart, her soul, and jeopardize the very fabric of her world.