Category Archives: Book series

Books that are part of a series by the same author

2014 – Book #26

Posted in Beautiful Creatures, Book reviews, Book series, Books made into movies, Young Adult by

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The twenty-sixth book I read in 2014 is Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/16/14. This is the second book in the Beautiful Creatures series, I discussed the first book in the previous blog post. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book continues the story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes after Lena’s Sixteenth Moon (where the first book ends). By the way if you haven’t read the first book yet and you plan to, I would avoid reading this review. There will probably be items in here that reveal some of the plot twists in the end of the first book.

Lena can’t shake the guilt that its her fault Macon is dead. Every time she looks at Ethan she’s reminded that the spell she used to save Ethan’s life is the same spell that killed a man who was like a father to her for her whole life. Riddled with guilt, she is befriended by a Dark Caster who seems to understand what she’s going through. As she drifts closer to this Dark Caster, she grows farther and farther away from Ethan.

Ethan begins his new summer job at the library and meets Marian’s new assistant, Olivia. Cute and blond and Mortal, Ethan finds that he is comfortable with Olivia which only seems to make Lena turn more towards the Dark. But after Ethan finds out the John and Lena have run away to try and find some Great Barrier where there is no Dark and no Light, just pure magic. Ethan is having visions of Macon’s past and of Lena and John’s journey to the Great Barrier, and he starts out on his own journey to find Lena and try to save her. And after Ethan meets up with Ridley and finds out that Sarafine is calling the Claiming Moon, Lena’s Seventeenth Moon, to force Lena to claim the Dark, Ethan’s journey takes on a frantic pace.

Overall this book was great. I found myself slightly frustrated in certain parts, but there were so many great plot twists I was riveted through the whole story. Can’t wait to read the next book int he series!

Link to authors’ website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Darkness-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316077046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397690850&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+darkness

2014 – Book #25

Posted in Beautiful Creatures, Book reviews, Book series, Books made into movies, Young Adult by

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The twenty-fifth book I read in 2014 was Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/11/14. This is the first book in the Beautiful Creatures series by these authors. I rated this book 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes, star-crossed lovers who are cursed from the start.

Lena is a Caster (fancy word for witch pretty much) who falls in love with Ethan, a Mortal. Ethan has been dreaming about Lena for months before he even met her, dark nightmares where Ethan tries to pull Lena from the Darkness. But every time he wakes up and can’t seem to remember how the dream ends, whether he saves her or not. After Ethan finally meets the girl from his dreams, he discovers that she’s been dreaming of him too. Not only that, but they can communicate through “Kelting,” where they talk to each other basically telepathically. The big issue is that Lena is coming up on her 16th birthday, when she will be Claimed for either the Dark or the Light, whatever is in her true nature. Ethan and Lena have visions of their ancestors, Ethan Wate (from Civil Ware era) and Genevieve Duchannes, who were also in love many years ago. Lena and Ethan learn of their tragic ending and the curse that fell on the Duchannes family after Genevieve used Dark Magic to try and save Ethan’s life.

Lena’s Uncle Macon Ravenwood will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. And as dangerous as loving Ethan is for Lena, it also seems to protect her in some way. The connection between them is unexplainable in the Caster world. And as their story plays out, Macon will sacrifice whatever it takes to push Lena towards being Claimed for the Light. Macon is a Dark Caster but he has chosen to be Light for Lena, even though it weakens him daily. Lena discovers though that Macon has been lying to her for her entire life by telling her that her mother is dead. Her mother, Sarafine, is alive and well. The Darkest Caster alive today, her mother will do anything to have Lena be Claimed for the Dark.

I really loved this book. I had seen the movie last year and its become one of my new favorite movies lately. So when I found out it was based on a series of books, I couldn’t wait to read them. There were many differences between the book and the movie (as there usually are) but I thought the book was riveting and all the extra intricacies in the book only made the story that much better. Was a great read!

Link to authors’ website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316077038/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397308531&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+creatures

2014 – Book #24

Posted in Blue Heron series, Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance by

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The twenty-fourth book I finished in 2014 was Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins. I finished this book on 4/8/14. This is the 3rd book in the Blue Heron series by this author. I have previously read the other two books in the series, though not in 2014 so they are not discussed in a previous blog posting. Other books by Kristan Higgins are discussed in previous posts though if you are looking for other reviews of books by her. I rated this book 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5.

This book tells the story of Colleen O’Rourke (co-owner of the Manningsport bar O’Rourke’s with her twin Connor) and her first love Lucas Campbell. Lucas had broken her heart 10 years ago by marrying another woman, and she’s never quite recovered. Lucas comes back to Manningsport at the request of his dying uncle, who asks Lucas to help his cousin Bryce get settled. Manningsport being the small town that it is, Lucas can’t help but run into Colleen from time to time. And while he’s hidden his feelings for the 8 years he was married (he’s divorced now), he never stopped loving Colleen either.

This was just such a fantastic story. I don’t remember laughing out loud that much with any other book I’ve read. The only thing that let me down a tiny bit in the story is that I felt like the hero should’ve had to grovel a little more in the very end, he was a pretty big jerk to the heroine but she just takes him back because he said he loved her, I felt like there should’ve been a little more there. But the emotions running through this book were just amazing. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried again. It was touching, poignant, funny, and also somehow riveting even though underneath it all it was just a normal story of love. I couldn’t put it down though. This was probably my favorite (or one of, all of hers are really good) book so far. I would highly recommend!

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-You-Hqn-Kristan-Higgins/dp/0373778589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396965283&sr=8-1&keywords=waiting+on+you

2014 – Book #23

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by

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The twenty-third book I finished in 2014 was The Taste of Innocence by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 4/4/14. This is the 14th book in the Cynster family series by Laurens. Previous books in the series were discussed in earlier blog posts this year, specifically 2014 – Book #21, 2014 – Book #13, 2014 – Book #12, 2014 – Book #10, 2014 – Book #6, and 2014 – Book #4. I rated this book 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Charlie Morwellan, brother to Alathea Morwellan from book #5 in the Cynster series. Charlie has decided that it is time for him to marry and he plans to go about it in the least passionate way possible. In his mind, passion leads only to distraction and will only harm him in the long run. Charlie believes that he needs to stay focused on the earldom and protecting his legacy.

So he decides to offer for the hand of his neighbor’s daughter, 23-year old Sarah Conningham. They have known each other their whole lives and Charlie believes they would be a good match. What Charlie doesn’t expect is to quickly become addicted to her kisses, addicted to what he believes is the taste of innocence but is in reality his addiction to Sarah herself.

I found this book a little difficult. Charlie is cold and unfeeling to Sarah for part of the story where he has to come to terms with his feelings. And while he does eventually come around, it was painful in parts to read. The back story was intriguing though. Sarah becomes the target of a villain who wants to own the orphanage she oversees and when she refuses to sell he basically tries to kill her so that he can buy it from Charlie.

While this was a good book it wasn’t my favorite in the series. Good addition to the series though and many of the previous characters were included in this story as well, which was interesting.

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Taste-Innocence-Cynster-Novels/dp/0060840870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396888358&sr=8-1&keywords=the+taste+of+innocence

2014 – Book #21

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by

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The twenty-first book I finished in 2014 was What Price Love? by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 3/30/14. This is the 13th book in the Cynster family series by Laurens. Previous books in the series were discussed in earlier blog posts this year, specifically 2014 – Book #13, 2014 – Book #12, 2014 – Book #10, 2014 – Book #6, and 2014 – Book #4. I’ve rated this book 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Dillon Caxton, cousin of Felicity (Flick) who was the heroine in Cynster book #4 A Rogue’s Proposal. Dillon was still a young man in Flick’s story, but in What Price Love? he has grown into a responsible and trustworthy man. Priscilla Dalloway is trying to help her twin brother escape from the serious predicament he is currently in, and in the process she must obtain the Dillon’s help.

Since his part in Flick’s story, Dillon has redeemed himself in the eyes of his family and has proven himself to be trustworthy. Now the Keeper of the Registry, he holds the one thing that Priscilla believes will help her brother. As she attempts to flirt her way into getting Dillon to do her bidding, Dillon finds himself not only curious and suspicious about her motives but also drawn to her personality and her courage. When she finally entrusts him with her brother’s secret, he devises a plan to help her brother and also to put a stop to the villain’s evil plan. What Dillon doesn’t plan for, however, is her stubborn nature getting in the way of them getting married.

Dillon ends up having to fight for his lady’s hand for about the last 100 pages of the book, fighting the whole time only against the lady herself. This was one of the only things I found frustrating about this story is that Priscilla for some reason failed to ever see how much she meant to Dillon. I understand that at first she might have been hesitant but based on their interactions and how close they were, I find it hard to believe she could be that obtuse and not see that Dillon truly cared for her.

Overall though this was a very good book, especially exciting towards the middle when the villain’s plan fails. I also liked seeing Dillon return for his own story and seeing how much he matured between Flick’s story and his own. Great addition to the series!

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Price-Love-Cynster-Novels/dp/0060840854/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396205336&sr=1-1&keywords=what+price+love

2014 – Book #19

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lords of Vice series by

ImageThe nineteenth book I finished in 2014 was All Night with a Rogue by Alexandra Hawkins. I finished this book on 3/25/14. It is the first book in the Lords of Vice series by this author, as well as the first book I’ve read by this author. I rated this book 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Lady Julianna Ivers and her encounter with the seductive Alexius Braverton, Marquess of Sinclair. Sinclair (aptly nick-named “Sin”) has a reputation for debauchery and has seemingly set his sights on Julianna. Little does she know that 1) the main reason he is doing this is because his sister asked him to ruin her and 2) he apparently does not take no for an answer.

This was one of those novels where the seductive hero convinces the heroine that a romp in the sheets is apparently worth losing her once precious reputation. And even after repeated attempts at saying no, with the right man “no” really means “yes” and he just seduces her anyway. How awful of a precedent to set. And then to make matters worse, Julianna gets trapped by not one but two absolute horrible men who (on separate occasions) hit her and tie her up and basically plan to have sex with her against her will. Honestly this story was at times quite awful in its depiction of the human nature. Plus Alexius and his sister both have what i would call slightly (in his sister’s case slightly is an understatement) sociopathic tendencies. And don’t even get me started on Julianna’s mother who basically sold her daughter to a man to pay for her own gambling debts.

With that said, it was hard to put this book down as depraved as the story line was it was also quite fascinating. While I would warn off any sensitive souls, I think I will continue in the series to see how it develops.

Link to author website: http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/All-Night-Rogue-Lords-Vice/dp/0312580193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395792717&sr=8-1&keywords=all+night+with+a+rogue

2014 – Book #18

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lost Lords series by

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The eighteenth book I finished in 2014 was Sometimes A Rogue by Mary Jo Putney. I finished this book on 3/23/14. It is the fifth book in the Lost Lord series by this author (the third and fourth were discussed in earlier posts this year – 2014 Book #3 and #8).  I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. The book is about Miss Sarah Clarke-Townsend (sister of Mariah from Book #1 of the Lost Lords series) and Bow Street Runner Rob Carmichael.

Sarah and Mariah are twins separated at birth who very recently reunited. When Sarah discovers a group of men have arrived to kidnap Mariah, Sarah bravely takes her place in an effort to protect her very pregnant twin sister. Rob Carmichael arrives at the Ashton residence not long after and is dispatched to rescue Sarah from the kidnappers (Free Erie, a political radical group trying to rid Ireland of English rule). What follows is an exciting and never dull tale full of adventure and intrigue. As Rob and Sarah fight their way back to England, and eventually fight for each other, they fall deeper and deeper in love with each other.

I absolutely loved the pace of this book, at no point did I find it too slow or dry. However, be prepared for a lot of plot twists including an earldom, a surprise child, and the return of a previous villain. The ending of the book was a little rough as with Rob visiting his other estates, Sarah has to defend the house from villains on her own and in the process kills two of them. She surprisingly does not go into hysterics, which I find a little unrealistic for a gently-bred lady but more power to her.

Overall this was a very good book, one of my favorite from the series. I would definitely recommend it.

Link to author website: http://www.maryjoputney.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C6BFTXY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00C6BFTXY&linkCode=as2&tag=wordwenches0b-20

2014 – Book #15

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance, Tumble Creek series by

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The fifteenth book I finished in 2014 was Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl. I finished this book on 3/13/14 (only by a technicality since I finished it at 12:09AM). I rated this book 2.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This is the third book in the Tumble Creek series by this author, I read the first two previously (See 2014-Book #5 for discussion of the 2nd book in the series, the first in the series I read in 2013).

This story is about prim and proper secretary Jane Morgan (Jane is secretary to architect Quinn Jennings who was the hero in book #2 of the series, Start Me Up). Jane is trying to hide from her shady past and has completely change her appearance and personality so that no one who sees her would recognize the angry and wild girl she once was. And Chase is exactly the kind of guy she’s trying to avoid, a bad boy with tattoos and a disarmingly charming grin. But as Jane has to face a serious family crisis, she finds herself relying more and more on Chase despite her efforts not to.

This was a very steamy novel, to warn readers its actually a steamy series I should say. And to be honest (and I had this same issue with the second book in the series) the heroine in this story is awfully mean to the hero. The heroine has so many personal issues with herself and who she is and she basically makes the hero feel like trash and uses him for sex. While the story had a sweet ending and I find it admirable that the hero stuck around through all that and was obviously devoted to the heroine, I hate thinking that you can treat someone you supposedly love that badly and hurt them that much. That was disheartening for me and I think biased my opinion over the rest of the story.

Link to author website: http://www.victoriadahl.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lead-Me-On-Victoria-Dahl-ebook/dp/B009NEERG2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1394725034&sr=8-5&keywords=lead+me+on

2014 – Book #13

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by

ImageThe thirteenth book I finished in 2014 was The Truth About Love by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 3/9/14. This is the 12th book in the Cynster family series which I’ve discussed in previous blog posts. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5.

This story is about Gerrard Debbington (brother of Patience from the 2nd book in the Cynster family series). One of the things that I love about the Cynster family series is that characters can be introduced far before they star in their own novel. When we were first introduced to Gerrard (in A Rake’s Vow, the story of Vane and Patience), Gerrard assisted Vane in discovering who was stealing items from his aunt’s house party guests. Gerrard was charming and still then a boy and it was hard not to see his devotion to his sister Patience. Now starring in his own novel, Gerrard is a well-respected painter and the uncle to Patience and Vane’s 4 children. Gerrard is commissioned to paint a  portrait of Lord Tregonning’s daughter. At first he refuses, but Tregonning’s promise to give him access to his famous gardens are too tempting an offer for his painter’s soul to refuse.

Upon arriving at Hellebore Hall however, he discovers that this is not to be any ordinary portrait. Lord Tregonning’s daughter, Jacqueline, has been accused of murdering her mother and the portrait has been commissioned in the hope that in it her father would see the truth of either her guilt or innocence. As Gerrard gets to know Jacqueline, at first in order to portray her accurately and then because he can not resist her, he realizes that the real murderer is still among them. He enlists the help of his friend, Barnaby Adair (a character discussed in my earlier blog post “2014 – Book #10”) to help him solve the mystery.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about this novel was the gardens of Hellebore Hall. The gardens are well known and are extensive. There are multiple sections to the gardens, each one portraying a different Greek or Roman god. The description of the gardens was riveting, I would have loved to see such a garden in real life. The author drew up a rough sketch of the garden’s outline so reader’s can easily follow the discussions of the gardens throughout the book.

ImageThe plot was very well-paced and I was riveted throughout. Overall this was an excellent book and I would recommend to any reader!

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Love-Cynster-Novels/dp/0060505761/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1394403365&sr=8-3&keywords=the+truth+about+love

2014 – Book #12

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by

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The twelfth book I finished in 2014 was The Ideal Bride by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 3/6/14. This is the 11th book in the Cynster family series which I’ve discussed in previous blog posts. I rated this book 3.75 stars out of 5.

This story is about Michael Anstruther-Wetherby (brother of the Duchess of St. Ives, Honoria, from the 1st book in the Cynster family series). Michael has political aspirations and has been told in order to be promoted he should look for a suitable bride. He sets his sights on a young woman, the daughter of one of his neighbors, whom he thought was his ideal bride. The young woman’s aunt (Caro, short for Caroline) decides to intervene and prevent her niece from the same fate that she had been dealt, a loveless political marriage. While steering Michael away from her niece, Caro fails to realize until it is too late that Michael has already realized he and the niece would not suit and instead has turned his full attentions on Caro.

Another thing that Caro doesn’t realize until its almost too late is that something is trying to harm her. Repeated attempts on her life have convinced Michael that someone is trying to kill her, but to Caro they all seem to be accidents.

This book was very well written, as many of Laurens’ books are, and the characters are well-developed and draw emotion from the reader. While I didn’t find this story to be quite as touching as some of her other novels, it was still an excellent read and a great addition to the series. I would recommend!

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Ideal-Bride-Cynster-Novels/dp/0060505745/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394131987&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ideal+bride