Review: Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Eternal
Author: J.R. Ward
Series: The Black Dagger Brotherhood #2
Publisher: Signet
Format: Hardcover
Pages:  441 pages
Published Date: March 7th 2006
ISBN #:  0451218043
Genre: Paranormal Adult Fiction

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him. Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...

Hot Vampires...Do I really need to say more. Just teasing, but seeing as this is a review I'll talk a bit more about said hot vampires.  As you should know, seeing as my review of the first book in this series, sung it's praises, I of course started this book Lover Eternal right away.   J.R. Ward has done it again with Lover Eternal, drawing me into the Vampire world all over again and holding me in place till I finish every single last word.  Not that I would want to stop reading in the first place.  This is the second book in this fantastic series.

Lover Eternal focuses on Rhage, as you can see from the summary above has a curse on him from the Scribe Virgin, who in this book I really hated.  I felt sorry for Rhage and wanted nothing but to make it all better for him, but honestly that's what Mary is in the book for.  She has battled cancer and is a volunteer and at first she rejects Rhage, which of course makes him wonder why.  She is thrown into his world by mistake, but needs his protection more than she even realizes at first.  Of course they end up falling for each other, even if they don't want to admit it at first.  

The only thing I wanted more of in this book was the hot vampire bedroom scenes.  In the first book in this series, there was plenty of hot vampire sex, in this book it's a bit toned down.  Honestly though, it doesn't take away from the actual story, so all in all I enjoyed this book.

I love the world that author J.R. Ward has created in this series, it's one that even if I wait a month or two to read the next book, I know for a fact I can jump right back into and know exactly what's going on. It's a world I hope she never stops writing in, but then again I say that about a lot of books.  I really loved the character Mary in this one, yep it's not the vampire that's my favorite for once.  I love how strong willed she is and how much she ends up loving this cursed vamp.  It just shows that love preservers.  I enjoy that about The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, there are so many ups and downs in these books, but each "brother" ends up finding that one person that is their perfect mate.  

I have heard this book compared to a Vampire version of Beauty and the beast and I have to say I agree with that comparison.  I really hope that J.R. Ward comes back to show more of their story though. Also we get to meet John Mathew for the first time in this book and I love this character so much.  I can't wait to read more about him in the future books. 

Again my favorite line in this book is only two lines...

“You are a manipulator." "I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer.”

Here at Ali's Bookshelf we accept books in exchange for a honest review. The book above though I bought for myself, but still wanted to review it. We also use Amazon Affiliate links at times

Teaser Tuesday #72

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser. 

Butch ran his hand over the worn wood again. The familiar shape and texture felt like home, something he hadn't had for years. Just touching it soothed the part of him that craved reconnection with his family,his true self.

So what did you think? I know one thing, this cover is awesome and so far the book is as well.  It's being released on the 20th of October.  So make sure you get your copy then.  I'll also be posting my full review around that time as well. 

 

It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Journey!

So this week I'm still participating in that reading challenge I mentioned last week.  So I have a few extra books that I want to try to read as well.  But for now here is this weeks list. 

Reading Today:

When sixteen-year-old Eden Munro agrees to spend the summer with her estranged father in the beachfront city of Santa Monica, California, she has no idea what she’s letting herself in for. Eden's parents are divorced and have gone their separate ways, and now her father has a brand new family. For Eden, this means she's about to meet three new step-brothers. The eldest of the three is Tyler Bruce, a troubled teenager with a short temper and a huge ego. Complete polar opposites, Eden quickly finds herself thrust into a world full of new experiences as Tyler's group of friends take her under their wing. But the one thing she just can't understand is Tyler, and the more she presses to figure out the truth about him, the more she finds herself falling for the one person she shouldn't – her step-brother. Throw in Tyler's clingy girlfriend and a guy who has his eyes set on Eden, and there's secrets, lies and a whole lot of drama. But how can Eden keep her feelings under control? And can she ever work out the truth about Tyler? Did I Mention I Love You is the first book in the phenomenal DIMILY trilogy, following the lives of Eden Munro and Tyler Bruce as they try to find their way in an increasingly confusing world.

What Else I Plan To Read This Week

Meet the Mitchell brothers of Fool's Gold, California—five gorgeous men who've left a trail of broken hearts in their wake… Maya Farlow learned the hard way to depend only on herself, so when she fell too deeply for the bad-boy charms of Del Mitchell, she did the only thing she could—she ran. Stunned, Del left Fool's Gold to make his name and fortune in extreme sports. Now ten years later, Maya's been hired to promote her hometown's new slogan, The Destination for Romance. The celebrity spokesman is none other than Del, the man she dumped but never forgot. Awkward! Although Del's not the type to hold a grudge, he's determined to avoid falling a second time for the woman who broke his heart. He's a daredevil, not an idiot. Trouble is, in all his adventures, he never found a rush as exhilarating as Maya's kiss. Maybe risking his heart will prove to be the biggest thrill of all…

So there's my list for the week.  What about you, what are you reading? 

 

Book Blogger Hop #11

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog.  I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps.   

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop! 

This Weeks Question is:

Do you belong to Shelfari, Goodreads, LibraryThing, and other similar sites? If so, can you list all of the book sites you belong to so others can take a look at them?

Right now I belong to Goodreads and Library Thing.  I don't really use Library thing that often though, I normally just stick to Goodreads.  I used to belong to a few more like Shelfari, but I found that keeping up with so many was hard to do.

 What about you, do you belong to any book sites like Goodreads, if so which ones? 

 

Review: A Shade of Vampire

Title: A Shade of Vampire
Author: Bella Forrest
Publisher: CreateSpace
Series: A Shade of Vampire #1
Published Date:  December 17th 2012
Format: Ebook
Pages: 154 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
ISBN #: 1481280767

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake. A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood. She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine. An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains. Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince. Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night. Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

To say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book is an understatement,  I bought this book from Amazon due to an ad I saw on Facebook. Yep I actually did that.  I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately and this book and cover just jumped out at me. I started reading it that very minute, well as soon as it downloaded onto my Kindle, and didn't stop till I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.  I finished A Shade of Vampire the next night and bought the second book in the series right away.  So yes, this is a book that I couldn't put down.

The main character in this book's name is Sofia and I really connected with her, she became my favorite right away.  I haven't read a vampire book in awhile, like I mentioned above, and this one didn't disappoint.  Sofia is kidnapped and brought to the Shade, as they call it, a place where a group of vampires live.  She was meant to be part of the royal prince's harem, but when he wakes up from a long long sleep, he connects with her in a way that even he doesn't understand. Honestly, when he first wakes up in this book I could have sworn he was going to kill her right then and there and be done with it.  That would have made for a very short book though.

The dynamic between Sofia and Derek is one that I haven't seen in a book in a long time.  You can feel the connection through the words perfectly.  I really enjoyed the descriptions in this book as well, the author has a way of describing the Shade that makes you want to go there in person. With the Vampire houses in the air, up in the trees and the perpetual night, due to a witch keeping it that way.  Really enjoyed the mixture of witch, vampire and human in this book as well.  

The ending of this one is a bit sad though, so fair warning.  I won't give any spoilers, just remember to grab a box of tissues and keep them by you as you read the last chapter.  

I really don't want to say this book is like Twilight, because honestly its better, as far as the writing, really I don't know which book to compare this book to.  I do recommend this book to anyone that has wanted to read a vampire book, but has been putting it off like I had.  Anyone that is looking for something different to read, this book is exactly what you are looking for.

Oh and before I forget I want to mention the cover and the other covers of this series, yep it's a series of eighteen books by the way.  Figured I would give you that heads up before you start it and get mad at me for getting you hooked and there are so many books. But anyway, I adore these covers! The colors and images are fantastic and the fonts fit the books perfectly.  Also the titles are AMAZING! 

“No. In my eyes, she was most beautiful because at a time when she had every right to be terrified, she managed to show comfort to another person who needed it.”

If you don't already know the rating I'm about to give this book...I'm going to give A Shade of Vampire

Here at Ali's Bookshelf we accept books in exchange for a honest review. The book above though I bought for myself off of Amazon after seeing an Facebook Ad. We also use Amazon Affiliate links at times

Review: Enclave by Ann Aguirre

Title: Enclave 

Author: Ann Aguirre 
Series: Razorland #1

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 259 pages

Format: Hardcover

Published Date: April 12th, 2011

ISBN #: 0312650086

Genre:  Young Adult/ Dystopian

New York City residents, decimated by war and plague, live underground in Enclaves, barely past age 20. Deuce 15, trained as Huntress, pairs with odd Fade, who was boy Topside. Elders ignore warning, exile both. Monster Freaks, more organized, killed nearest Enclave. Guided by old memories, in gang-infested ruins, pair face apocalyptic world with new dangers and feelings.

First off, I want to mention that I haven't been reading Dystopian books in awhile mainly because I was burnt out on them, but for a TBR challenge, I picked this one up because it had been on my shelf for a long time. As I was reading, I was pulled into the world right away and that was mainly because of the authors way of describing the way the people in the book had to live. 

My favorite character throughout this book has got to be Deuce.  She's braver than she thinks and even gives herself credit for.  She's strong and I love that about a female lead character.  Yes, Fade is fantastic and I love him as well, but Deuce is still my favorite.  I'm actually really excited to read the next one in this series, mainly because I want to know what happens to her. 

The world author Ann Aguire built for this book is fantastic, they end up living under ground because they were told that the world above was a waste land full of monsters, that to me seem more like zombies, but that's probably because I love zombies right now.  There are many other strong characters in this book and I loved the friendships that Deuce has in the beginning and the ones she builds throughout the story.  I'm really not sure I could live in the cave like they did though or follow the rules that they had to follow.  No touching and no matting unless that was your job.  In that part this book kind of reminded me of The Giver, but there is so much more action in this book than most dystopian books I've read.

Another thing I really loved about Enclave is that the romance isn't the center of attention, the action in this book is and the story about Deuce herself.  Time after time I get really annoyed by how romance is always the most important thing in young adult books, in this one that isn't the case. 

The twists and turns of this book are just another great reason why I couldn't put this down, I wasn't sure where the author was going to take it till the end of the first book and if I'm being honest I have no idea where the second will go. I do know one thing I can't wait to find out.

My favorite line from this book is simply that...one line.

“I never belonged anywhere until I met you.”

Recommendations:

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes dystopian books or anyone that loves a lot of action in the books they read.  If you want a book that will pull you in right away, this is the book for you.

If you don't already know what rating I'm going to give Enclave just by the review above, let me show you...

Here at Ali's Bookshelf we accept books in exchange for a honest review. The book above though I bought for myself at a bookstore signing. We also use Amazon Affiliate links at times