Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside by Beth Fantaskey

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside was a very well written story of a High school girl Jessica coming to realize what her destiny holds for her.

Meet Jessica a senior in high school in a small town in Pennsylvania. Jessica is you everyday average girl who is looking forward to graduation from high school has a crush on a boy and has a group of friends. But all that changes when a foreign exchange student named Lucious Valduscu shows up at her school and home claiming to be her fiancee. Jessica can not believe what Luscious is telling her. He also claims that her real name is Anastia and she was betrothed to him at birth so their dueling families would once live in peace.

Jessica does not believe Luscious and the kicker to it all is that Luscious claims to be a vampire and that she is a vampire princess. Jessica thinks that Luscious is crazy and continues to pursue her crush Jake.

As life goes on Jessica begins to realize more about Luscious and begins to believe in the unimaginable. She realizes that she has feelings for him, but is it too late. Has Luscious decided he no longer wants her as his betrothed. Can the war between the families end?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a well written book. Ryan does a wonderful job of telling the story of the various characters in the book. The story primarily focuses on Mary a young girl who loses both her mother and father to the Unconsecrated. First her father and then her mother. When her mother is turned Mary's brother writes her off. He blames her for letting her mother decide to enter the Forest of Hands and Teeth rather then being killed. Once this happens Mary is shipped to the Cathedral to become one of the sisters.

While at the Cathedral Mary does a lot of looking into the Unconsecrated and learns there is more to the outside world then the Sisters want people to know.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is not only suspenseful but has an underlying love story.
How far will Mary go to see the ocean that her mother talked about? How much will she risk to see the ocean? Ryan has you routing for Mary through out the book.
Ryan also leaves the reader asking themselves what would you do if you were faced with a world and the Unconsecrated?
I give this book 5 oout of 5 stars.

Dead City by Joe McKinney

Dead City talks place in San Antonio. After recovering from 5 hurricanes in three weeks Eddie Hudson finds things are not normal in his city. He is called on an assignment with another cop when he realizes the people are not like normal people. He and the other cop tell them to stop and freeze but they don't. Eddie and the other cop shoot the people and none of them die. This begins the longest night for Eddie.

Eddie has realized that the people are no longer people but zombies. Zombies that eat the flesh of other living humans. Hence the night of Eddie fighting his way through zombies to see if his wife and child are safe and alive.

Through out the night Eddie runs into a fellow officer Marcus. Marcus is the comical relief in tense situation. Will Eddie find his family? If Eddie does find his family will his family be alive or turned into zombies?

Half Way to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

In Halfway to the Grave Frost introduces you to Cat a woman who is half vampire half human. Cat isn't like other woman. She spends her days going to school and her nights hunting vampires. Cat hunts the vampires because her mother has told her that all vampires are evil that the one who fathered her is evil and needs to be found and killed.

While Cat is out patrolling one night she is taken by surprise by a man that she is trying to kill. Cat is then captured and brought to a cave. Here Frost introduces you to Bones a vampire who is on a mission. Bones decides that Cat would be a big help in his mission as vampires would be thrown off by her beating heart. So Bones trains Cat for several months and the two of them team up to hunt vampires.

While the two fight vampires they also begin to form a relationship. A relationship that will help save each other many times over.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Wicked Lovely starts off by introducing you to a girl named Aislinn at first glimpse she is a normal girl goes to high school and has a group of friends to hang out with but what many don't know is that Aislinn can see faeries.

Aislinn lives with her grandmother and follows a set of rules set forth by her grandmother to follow when dealing with the faeries they are:

1. Don't stare at invisible faeries
2. Don't speak to invisible faeries
3. Don't ever attract their attention

But Aislinn does just that. She stares at the faeries although she tries not to and she attracts the attention of the Summer King. Hence she breaks rule number two because she speaks with the Summer King Keenan to get him to leave her alone. Aislinn doesn't want anything to do with Keenan she is intersted in her close friend Seth who admits to Aislinn he loves her and has for seven months. Knowing she can't tell her grandmother of the events that have transpired she turns to her friend now boyfriend Seth and tells him about faeries and everything she sees hoping he doesn't think she is crazy.

Keenan shares with Aislinn that he needs her to join with him to over through the Winter Queem or everone including her will die. He pleads with her and hopes that she will change her mind.

Aislinn continues to turn to her boyfriend Seth. Seth with the information given to him from Aislinn begins researching the faeries to see if he can do anything to help her out. As Aislinn is trying to get rid of Keenan she realizes that she can't that she is bound by fate to work with him but can she give up everything she knows, school, her grandmother and most of all Seth to join forces with Keenan?

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

New moon by Stephanie Meyer finds Edward having left Bella and Bella being distraught. Bella spends her day sulking around not wanting to go anywhere or see anyone. Her father Charlie tries to get Bella to go out with her friends and visit Jacob but often times fails. Bella doesn't want to do anything. I found this a little hard to swallow. I mean yes when a relationship breaks up one will be upset but I felt that Stephanie Meyer dragged it out longer then it had to be.

Once Bella begins to live her life again she strengthens her friendship with Jacob. he helps her restore two motorcycles. As their friendship deepens something happens to Jacob that can change both their lives forever.

Jacob has joined their pack on his reservation. While he goes through this change Jacob stops seeing Bella as he is unable to tell her what is happening. When Jacob finally sees Bella he tells her that he can't tell her what happened but she could guess.

So Bella and Jacob play a game of 20 questions. By the end of it Bella finds out what jacob has become.

Bella wanting to take risks on day decides to go cliff diving. This leads to the reappearance of the Cullens. Alice who has visions shares her vision with Edward that she say Bella jump off a cliff and not seen again. What she doesn't see is Jacob save Bella. So Edward thinking Bella is dead goes to Italy to get himself killed.

And once again as things are resolved Bella blames herself for what Edward wanted to do.

Wake by Lisa McMann (book 16)

Book 16 Wake by Lisa McMann

At First I found this book a little difficult to get into. The main character Janine jumps into people's dreams with out wanting to. The story at first was too jumpy for me with the various dreams she went into and the flashbacks.

However, as I read more and more into the book I enjoyed it. I enjoyed how pieces of her awake life helped Janine in the dreams that she was pulled into. For the longest time Janine did not know why the individuals in the dreams were asking her for help. How could they see her? And although she wanted to help them she doesn't know how.

As the book progresses you see Janine meet a fellow student whom she slowly develops a relationship with. Slowly because she feels that he is keeping things from her. But soon finds out what the underlying story is for him.

Wake I feel is a good book to get you thinking on what it would be like to be pulled into other people's dreams. Would you see their biggest fear or things they want to do.

I am looking forward to getting the second book in the series Fade by Lisa McMann.

The Shadow Within. (book 15 in 50 book challenge)

The Shadow Within by Jenine Wilson

The beginning of the story you meet Jessie A high school student who only wants to make it through her day unnoticed by two students that have a locker on either side of her. This however never happens. While she is at her locker Jessie runs into Amber and Reese and is ridiculed by them. One day of the teasing Jessie trips and is about to fall when out of nowhere a boy catches her and prevents her from falling. This boys name was Wesley. From that point on you can see a friendship grow.

After becoming friends with Wesley, Jessie realizes that strange things happen. First he is found outside of a house where a man is found dead. Could he have killed him? Second nobody seems to remember him. Teachers speak to him but then act as if they didn't see him. How could this be.

It is not until Wesley shares his secret with her that she understands why he is forgotten by everyone around him but she doesn't understand why she never forgets him.

With story of his past shared with Jessie Wesley also shares with her that there is an evil force in town called a shade and he is the one possessing humans and killing them due to humans not being strong enough to house the shade.

Through out the book you notice a change in Reese he goes from ridiculing Jessie daily to attacking her and then befriends her.

The Shadow Within is a well written and enjoyable story of a teenage girl who only wants to be left alone but gets herself involved in so much more.

I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a story that incorporates growing up, making friends, falling in love and dealing with the supernatural.

A great read.

House of Night Novels

I will try not to do this often but I am going to cover the first four books in the House of Night series in one review as I read them back to back. and they all blended into one in my reading. I hope no one minds that it wont be 4 separate reviews.

The House of night series books are the following
Marked:House of night , Betrayed:House of night , Chosen:House of night and untamed:House of night .

Marked begins with the reader meeting a young girl named Zoey. She attends a regular high school and wants nothing more then to fit in. However one day Zoey gets marked with a crescent moon on her forehead. The means she needs to leave her family and friends and begin attending school at the House of night. Zoey finds since she has been marked that people who she thought were friends desert her and her family disapproves that she has been marked.

Zoey only thinking of one person she can turn too drives off to see her grandmother. She has an accident and her grandmother takes care of her and brings her to the house of night. There she meets Nefert the high priestess who will be her mentor. Zoey jumps right into her classes and begins making friends. However even as a soon to be vampire she is different from everyone else. Her mark is filled in which doesn't usually happen until a teenager becomes an adult vampire. With a filled in mark this draws more attention to Zoey.

In Marked Zoey meets Aphrodite who is the leader of the group called Dark Daughters and Zoey's worst enemy.

Betrayed begins a little after Marked ends. In Betrayed Zoey becomes the leader of the Dark Daughters as Aphrodite is stripped of her title and also no longer considered a priestess in training. In Betrayed we learn that not all will make the change to an adult vampire. Zoey sees three people in her school not make it through the change. And one has a profound effect on her. Zoey's life changes the day one of her classmates doesn't make it through the change. However, ZOey finds that something is amiss at the House of Night. In Betrayed you see Zoey and Erik get closer and closer. Zoey however is torn between her growing love for Erik and her long lasting love for Heath her ex-boyfriend from her previous school.

Zoey, unlike her classmates, develops adult vampire traits before they do. When Heath and another of Zoey's old friends come to rescue her Heath cuts his finger and Zoey can smell his blood and does what no fledgling is supposed to do. She tastes his blood. Fledglings are not supposed to drink blood from anyone human as it can form an imprint with the human. Zoey doesn't feel this has happended until Heath begins texting her continously. Zoey goes and shares this happening with her mentor Nefert.

As Zoey continues with her duties as the leader of the Darl Daughters she feels something is off at the school but doesn't know what exactly it is. Through out Choosen Zoey begins to have a better understanding of her nemisis Aphrodite. Could friendship beforming between the too?
With Zoey's friend who represents the earth element gone Aphrodite steps in to much of the complaining of her other friends.

The last book Untamed finds Zoey and her friends trying to save the school from the dark one rising. Aphrodite conitinues to have her visions and shares them with Zoey. Zoey calls her grandmother in for help but tragedy strikes and her grandmother ends up in the hospital unable to help her. Zoey must take this battle on with just her friends. In Untamed Zoey finds out that the person she is supposed to trust at the school is behind all the bad things happening.

The question now is can Zoey and her friends save the school and stop the evil forces from rising?
I look forward to book five to see what happens next.

Kiss Me Forever

Book 9 in my 50 book challenge is Kiss me forever by Rosemary Laurey And guess what it too is a vampire book. =) which brings my vampire challenge to 7.

Kiss me forever begins with a young woman named Dixie Lepage flying to London to look at a house that was left to her by her great aunts. When she arrives things go from bad to worse. When she lands in London she finds out that the train workers are on strike and nothing is running so she needs to find an alternate mode of transportation. She rents a car and is on her way.

When she arrives at her destination the gentleman who is supposed to help her puts her up in a bed and breakfast where his gal can keep an eye on him and report back everything Dixie does.

Through the course of her stay she meets a man by the name of Christopher Marlow who she doesn't know is a vampire. The two form a bond and soon fall in love with each other all along Dixie not knowing that Marlow is a vampire even though they talk about witches and werewolves. Dixie doesn't believe in them and Marlow tries to get her to believe. It isn't until Marlow is put into danger that she realizes the truth.

There are many twists and turns in this book as Dixie and Marlow fight to hold onto the items in her aunts house and find out that the gentleman supposed to help her with the house is out to hurt her.

The story is an enjoyable and nice flowing read.

More book reviews to come

So here is the list of all the book reviews to come as I have read the books but haven't had a chance to type up the reviews.
the books are
1. Kiss me Forever
2. Marked: A house of night novel
3. Betrayed: A house of night Novel
4. Chosen: A house of Night novel
5 Untamed: A house of night novel

All these will reviews will be posted within the next few days.