If there is one thing eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky wants, it’s to get off the iceberg she calls home. Being kissed before she graduates wouldn’t hurt either.

Then a near-fatal car wreck changes everything. Government agents step in and save Aurora’s life in exchange for her services as a vampire hunter. In Alaska. Basically she’s a glorified chew toy. All thanks to her rare blood type, which sends a vampire into temporary paralysis right before she has to finish the job… by hand.

Now Aurora’s only friends are groupies of the undead and the only boy she can think about may very well be a vampire. And if he’s a vampire, will she be forced to kill him?

For ages 16+

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Aurora Sky started out really strong. It’s about a girl who gets into a fatal car crash, and is revived on a military base. They renewed a lot of her important organs, but there was a catch. They also implanted a virus in her body. Now Aurora must get mandatory shots in order to stay alive. They put this virus in Aurora’s body so that her blood will be fatal to any vampire who bites her and sucks her blood. But Aurora doesn’t want this life. It’s something that she can’t get out of, and her life slowly starts to spin out of control.

I was a big fan of the very beginning of Aurora Sky. I thought that it was well-written, the characters were interesting and relatable, and the idea of the book was eye-catching and fascinating. I find the concept of vampire hunters really interesting. This is something that the YA community really hasn’t gotten a chance to read about. We’ve read about vampires before, sure, but vampire hunters? That’s a new idea…and one that I like!

The character of Aurora got on my nerves a little bit as the story progressed. Obviously she had some major changes happen to her, and she spiraled out of control. All of a sudden she was drinking, having sex, being a disrespectful little brat, and…well, she was just really upset. I don’t like reading about characters who are so out of control and depressed. This is just a personal thing though. I know that there are a lot of people out there who enjoy these types of characters.

I was also a bit bothered by the amount of sex and romantic scenes included in the book. I would categorize Aurora Sky as a new adult book, so it was perfectly acceptable for that genre. However, I had to skim a lot of those scenes. I’m not opposed to romantic scenes, but it bugs me with high school students. I know they do stuff…I was a high school student once…but it’s a little uncomfortable for me to read about.

The story itself was a little predictable, but I actually ended up really liking the storyline. Nikki Jefford’s is a very strong writer, and I found myself really drawn to the words that she created. I was also a BIG fan of Fane, the leading male character. He was SO gorgeous! I would recommend the book simply for him! You have to read about him!

Overall, I thought that it was a great first book in the Vampire Hunter’s series. I didn’t fall head over heels in love with it, but it kept me interested. Again, this is a New Adult book, so there are some scenes maybe not so appropriate for the younger crowd. Other than that, I would recommend that fans of paranormal reads give this one a chance!

Pages: 242

Publisher: Createspace

Publication Date: December 9th, 2012

Rating: :

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She is the author of the Spellbound Trilogy and upcoming Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter series. Nikki married Sebastien, the love of her life, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They now reside in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands, 70 miles northeast of Forks, Washington. (YAY for another WA girl!)

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Giveaway:

We are hosting two awesome giveaways. The first is for an Aurora Sky Door hanger (can also be used as a bookmark.) The second is the grand tour prize. The giveaway will be open internationally and will run from March 25, 2013 to April 5, 2015. The winner will receive their prize the week of April 15th.

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What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

I remember when I read Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein. I remember that it tugged at my heart and threw me for an emotional roller coaster ride. The story, the writing, the characters…it was all just so beautiful, and I remember that I wanted more. I read about Amy, sure, but I wanted to know more about Lila and Cassie. So, I was thrilled when I learned that Lisa Burstein was writing Dear Cassie, and I was not above begging and pleading if I had to to be a part of the Dear Cassie Blog Tour over at Rockstar Book Tours. Thankfully, it didn’t quite come to that.

Dear Cassie was so emotional and beautiful. It was so….raw. In Pretty Amy, we only got a small taste of Cassie. We learned that she had a horrible home life, she was emotionally screwed up, she did drugs, she didn’t really care about her life, and she had absolutely no taste in guys. Dear Cassie takes off right after Pretty Amy, and Cassie is sentenced to go to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp (somewhat of a boot camp) for 30 days. There she is forced to write about her troubles and her thoughts, interact with both friends and foes, do physical labor, suffer from poison ivy, and accept herself and her past.

I loved Dear Cassie so much. As someone who doesn’t overly love contemporary books, I get so extremely excited when I find ones that I fall head over heels in love with. And that’s exactly what happened with Dear Cassie. Cassie’s character was strong but weak at the same time. I found so much inspiration and strength in her. And those times that she wanted to fall down, I just wanted to pick her right back up and set her on her feet. I haven’t loved a character as much as I loved Cassie in a very long time, and kudos to Lisa Burstein for giving life to her.

This book does focus a lot on the topic of abortion, which could possibly offend some of you. I found it to be beautiful and heartbreaking. It’s not my place to say whether or not I agreed with Cassie’s decision, but it was a wonderful experience watching her come to terms with her decision. It was really hard, though, for me to read about her constantly punching her stomach (after the baby was already gone), because it was just too painful. I can’t imagine being in that type of position and it was just utterly heartbreaking.

On a negative note, I hated Ben’s character. Ben is a guy at Turning Pines Wilderness Camp, and he develops this weird thing for Cassie. I kind of wanted to see her end up with noone. I didn’t even want a semi crush or relationship in the book, because I felt that Cassie really needed to learn that she could survive without a man in her life. I also found Ben to be very controlling, something that I can not stand in men.

The ending of the book infuriated me. It’s not what I wanted or expected, and I’m hoping that maybe there will be another book about Cassie. Her story is really unfinished right now, and I hate when books end that way.

Overall, I flat out adored this book. It was beautiful, romantic, sweet and heartbreaking. It discussed topics that were difficult to read but necessary for the story. Dear Cassie was such a realistic story, and I cannot wait to read more from Lisa Burstein in the future.

Pages: 352

Publication Date: March 5th, 2013

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Rating: :

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About Lisa:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.

She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.

PRETTY AMY May 2012 Entangled Publishing THE NEXT FOREVER January 2013 Entangled Publishing DEAR CASSIE March 2013 Entangled Publishing

Stalk Lisa: Website   Blog   Twitter   Facebook   Goodreads

Giveaway:

1 paperback copy of Dear Cassie (U.S. only)

1 ebook copy of Dear Cassie (International

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In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch–a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood–or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

Like most of you reading this, I have been a huge fan of Richelle Mead for years now. I devoured her Vampire Academy series, and I was crushed when it ended. I wasn’t an overly huge fan of Sydney in the VA series, but I was willing to give Bloodlines a chance. I remember that I read Bloodlines, and I just thought it was ok. It wasn’t Richelle’s best work ever, but there were also a couple books in the VA series that I was severely disappointed in. So, I read The Golden Lily when it came out, and I was impressed! It wasn’t the best book that I had ever read, but I liked it, and I was really excited to read The Indigo Spell when it came out. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it. At all.

I’ve always found Sydney’s character to be a little bland. I know that’s how she’s supposed to be, but I don’t really think that that makes for good reading. I want her to develop a spark. Yes, that spark is slightly developing, but I shouldn’t have to wait until book 4 or 5 to really start to see it.

The one upside about this book was Adrian. Adrian. Adrian. Adrian. I love him. I loved him more in VA, probably because I like Rose a lot better than Sydney, but he still has that charming, adorable, flirty, sexy quality about him in this series. He was the only reason I stuck with this book as long as I did. And he was the only reason that I skimmed the last half of the book.

I know that everyone was all excited about the whole Marcus Finch thing,  but honestly…I just didn’t care. I didn’t care when it was mentioned in The Golden Lily, and I don’t care now. Who cares who Marcus Finch is? And  I ended thinking that while reading The Indigo Spell. There was nothing special about Marcus Finch. If anything, I thought he was a creep. So, I didn’t really understand the whole hoopla about that, and I still don’t. I actually wish that that whole plotline would have been edited out or just edited better..

I did find the magic portion of The Indigo Spell very interesting, but I was so sick of having Sydney whine about using magic. She’s definitely come to terms with it a lot better than she had in the previous books, but seriously…get over it! I feel that Sydney just wants to be this giant goody two shoes, and I’m sick of it. I want her to be interesting! I want to root for her and Adrian…and I want to read an amazing book in this series…but I’m starting to think that that’s not going to happen.

I’m sorry, guys, I know how much a lot of you loved this book and love this series. And really…my review really doesn’t mean that much. The Indigo Spell has a 4.53/5 rating on Goodreads out of 2,059 reviews. That has to mean something, right? So, I think it comes down to the fact that this series just isn’t for me. I will be continuing the series, because I love Adrian so much, but I will not be buying another book in this series.

Pages: 401

Publication Date: February 12th, 2013

Publisher: Razorbill

Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “Because I can’t help doing it,” he said with a shrug. “And hey, if I keep loving you, maybe you’ll eventually crack and love me too. Hell, I’m pretty sure you’re already half in love with me.”

“See? Things are already looking promising.”