Shiver

This story starts out as your classic werewolf love story, but soon strays far from it. Grace was attacked by wolves six years ago, that is where she met her wolf. Every winter her wolf comes back to her yard, watching her with its yellow eyes. Grace now looks forward to the day that her wolf comes back every year, it's as if she can't live without it.
Then Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy named Sam. Sam works at a local bookstore that Grace is frequent at, they soon fall for each and start dating. As they learn more about each other, Grace feels like she knows Sam, like she's seen him before but can't quite place it. She learns that Sam is a poet/song writer, but his songs hint at a tormented past that he hides from her. When Grace learns Sam's secret, she is not as surprised as she should be, Sam is her wolf, the one that saved her from the savage attack all those years ago.
Sam must fight to stay human now, for Grace, he cannot allow himself to be taken by the coldness as he has for so many years. Is he strong enough to stay human when his whole future, and his relationship with Grace, is on the line? Read to find out.
This is a very strongly written book, as are those that follow, Linger and Forever. I highly suggest reading them, I give them a 7/10.

Carpe Diem

A few years ago I picked up a book entitled Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell. The moment I opened the book I was transported to the home of Vassar Spore, (who was named such because if a girl  named Vassar applied to Vassar elite women's college, how could they refuse her?) a sixteen year old girl who has her life all planned out. Nowhere in this master map that she has created of her life is there a surprise trip to Asia with her grandmother.

This is a very fast paced novel that will take you to places you've never been before, you will experience more things in  a couple hundred pages than you could ever imagine. Love, mystery, action, suspense, they are all in there, expect the unexpected as you start from page one. I give this book a 9/10.

The Mortal Instruments

You may not recognize the name of this series, but I know you've seen the books. The first book in this series is The City of Bones, it features a fifteen year old Clary Fray, who gets in to the Pandemonium Club at the beginning of this book. While there she sees something that she shouldn't have, a murder, the killers are no older than her. Soon, Clary finds out that everything is not what it seems. The world as she knows it has been holding out on her, hiding it's demons and angels and most of all, it's Shadowhunters. Everything is turned upside down when Clary's mom disappears, and she is attacked by a monster that until now had only existed in her nightmares. These events leave Clary no choice but to team up with this band of tattooed teenagers and their teacher, what lengths will she go to get her mom back, and what has her mom been hiding from her?

Cassandra Clare is an amazing author, and has taken this series and it's partner (Infernal Devices) to great lengths, testing the boundaries of love, family and friendship. She uses such detail that I can literally close my eyes and be in the story, with Clary and her friends, fighting a battle against an army of demons I can see clearly. This is one of the series that I have on my bookshelf, and just so you know, I buy most books on my Kindle, so it's a high honor among books to be bought to be on my shelf. There are, as of today, four books out in the Mortal Instruments and one out in the Infernal Devices (Clockwork Angel). You would probably do well to read at least the first three books of the Mortal Instruments before you read Clockwork Angel, but if you don't, you'll catch on soon enough.

I would recommend this book series to anyone that likes adventure, mystery, and action; there is also some romance (more than a little) but it's not mushy, and I know many guys that love the series all the same. Some advice, don't get angry with the outcome of certain events, you can't change them. I would give this series a 10/10 if it wasn't for the second book, which I didn't like nearly as much. DON'T think about skipping City of Ashes (2nd) though, if you do you have no hope of knowing what is going on in any of the other books, it's a good book, but the others are better. So, taking the whole series into account, I give the Mortal Instruments a 9.5/10.

Happy Reading!

House of Night

Today, I want to tell you guys a little about one of my favorite series of all time, the House of Night (HON) series by the mother/daughter team P.C. and Kristen Cast. Don't be deterred when I say that it's about vampires, this is a more traditional vampire than those brought to life by Stephanie Myer, though they are different.

The first book, Marked, starts off when our main character Zoey Montgomery is Marked by a Tracker during the school day. Zoey now has to move in to her resident House of Night (basically a boarding school for fledglings) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Finding this out, there is some trouble at home with her mom, Linda, and step-loser, John. Soon enough, Zoey moves into her new home for the next three years, that is, if she's lucky. There's more to every story than what is seen at first glance, Zoey is different, just how different I'll let you decide.

Please take this advice and at least look at Marked, I promise that you'll be hooked by the first page, if not the first sentence of this best-selling series of nine and counting. So far, there are (in order) Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, Burned, Awakened, and Destined. If you give them a chance, I'm sure you will fall in love with them just like I have.

P.S. be sure to check them out at http://www.houseofnightseries.com/ :)

Thanksgiving-What I'm Thankful For

As thanksgiving is coming up, I want to make a list of the things that I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for my family, because though it may not seem like it at certain times, they are always there for me. My sisters may be a pain all some of the time, but I can't imagine what my life would be like without them. My bunny, Sugar, can be insane and more than a little annoying but he's always there to snuggle with me when I've had a bad day. My parents, as hard as it is to believe sometimes, love me and will always be there for me so I'm thankful for them.

My friends, though family and friends might be generic things to be thankful for, I think I might have the best there are. My best friends always know when something is wrong with me, sometimes even before I do, and whenever it is, wherever they are they always take time to talk to me. They have been with me through the thick and thin, and I'm the person I am today because they've been there with me every step of the way.

Now it may seem strange, but I'm grateful for my books and my music. If I didn't have my books, I don't know what I'd do, they let me get away from my life, even if it's just for an hour or two. My music just lets me let loose and forget what's going on for a moment, even if it's through singing loudly and dancing badly. If I didn't have books or music, I don't know who I would be.

Other than some of the more personal things that I'm thankful for, I'm also grateful for our troops fighting for us overseas, the U.S.A. has them to thank for our safety. For the scientists working on curing the diseases that we are fighting everyday, we would lose if it wasn't for them. Above all else, I'm thankful that I'm alive and able to share all of this with you. :)

Vladimir Tod

I've recently started reading the Vladimir Tod series, which I have been meaning to read for several months. I'm happy to say that I'm now hooked on them! Heather Brewer is not only an amazing author, but has a great sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud while reading! With all the vampire books coming out lately, it's always a struggle to find some that are truly well written and keep mostly to the traditional vampire myths. Though they do stray from a few things that you may find in Dracula, it sticks to the myths better than Twilight (not that Stephanie Myer isn't a good author!). I'm currently trying to find a copy of the third, having finished the first two in no less than three days! The Vladimir Tod series get a 9/10 from me <3