@debbiereadsbook, @Archaeolibrary, #Paranormal, #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)

 

A vampire warrior. A shrink. This could get uncomfortable.

Kyr, leader of the Vampire Defense Agency’s elite ground team, doesn’t have a choice in the matter. Either he participates in this bullshit psych eval, or his team gets suspended.

But this isn’t about Kyr’s mental health. This is an investigation. Because the director wants to know why the Hush hasn’t been joining the company singalong lately. The reason? A traitor at the VDA is betraying vampire females into the hands of a demon lord.

Yeah. Kyr doesn’t trust anyone, not even—especially not—the gorgeous agent assigned to evaluate him. The only thing more difficult than dodging her questions?

Denying the intense (and inconvenient) attraction sizzling between them…

I liked this book much better than the first one simply because I felt it was more complexed story and Vienna finally didn't feel so fake to me. In the first book although she was swearing she was taking everything in without a question and was pulled wherever and whenever someone wanted her to do something and in this book she finally starts to think and analyse things on her own and make up her own decisions based on facts that she has and not someone told her.

I really liked this book and am waiting for more

 

 

 

Update #4

Time: 12:23:20

Pages Read: 597

 

In between a Skype call with my mom, making and serving dinner, getting the kids' into their bedtime routines and actually into bed, and cleaning up the kitchen - I managed to finish The Chef's Mail Order Bride. I have two hours left in my time zone and so I am starting An Awakened Heart but I also just took some Nyquil so I could actually sleep through the night and not cough all night. All books read so far have been uploaded to the 24 in 48 website to be catalogued in their read books spreadsheet. 

 

I have a lot of reviews to write this week...

 

***************************************************************************************************

Update #3

Time: 9:44:42

Pages read: 465

 

The birthday party for my friend went a LOT longer than I had anticipated, so by the time I came home I was so tired I went right to sleep. Luckily, I didn't drink any alcohol (I played the part of a DD as a favor to the hostess), so I had no after effects/hangover this morning. Before leaving for the party, I made it halfway through The Good Luck Sister, so that was the first reading I did this morning. After breakfast, I started and finished Poison in Paddington, as chosen by RNG but counted from the bottom up (the number being 1). Both books were so good that I have added the series to my FicFact list to read more from in the future. 

 

RNG has been less than random (how many times can the number 3 come up?), but it chose for my next book The Chef's Mail Order Bride. This will put me over my pages read goal and within striking distance of my stretch goal. The time goal may not happen....

****************************************************************************************************

Update #2

Time: 5:05:11

Pages read: 230

 

Finished The Yellow Wallpaper and To Be a Spy. Random Number Generator turned up a lucky 3, which was For the Love of Laura Beth and I just finished it. Out of the lot so far, For the Love of Laura Beth is definitely a 5 star read; I didn't care for The Yellow Wallpaper and To Be a Spy didn't have enough of it's own storyline to get anything out of it, so it was a pure prequel bait.

 

RNG gave turned up another 3 (how random is RNG....), which will start my next set of reading with The Good Luck Sister by Jill Shalvis.

****************************************************************************************************

Update #1

Time: 1:30:24

Pages read: 70

 

So I read six pages of the first book at midnight and then the Nyquil kicked in. So I didn't do any real reading until I woke up this morning. So far I've finished The Schoolmarm's Surprising Suitor and A Death on the Way to Portsmouth. Oh, have I fallen for Lady Ashes in those 17 pages and can't wait to start the series! Now that I have had breakfast and my first cup of tea, it is time to tackle The Yellow Wallpaper and To Be a Spy.

****************************************************************************************************

I really like the new logo. This is my Friday Reads post for today in addition to my master post for 24/48. I feel a little under pressure to make up for my dismal performance in BoB24 earlier this month. I decided to go for the shortest books on my NOOK for this go-round just to clear up some space on my NOOK and keep within the COYER restrictions. I am starting at midnight Saturday morning London time (US EST +5) with the books attached to this post. After that, I am using Random Number Generator to choose my books since that way I won't dawdle and waste reading time. I won't be participating in any of the challenges except for the opening and closing questions. 

 

To my fellow 24/48 participants - Good Luck and I look forward to seeing what you are reading!

 

Goals:

1. Read for 15 hours; stretch goal is 18 hours.

2. Read 500 pages; stretch goal is 750 pages.

3. Take one hour to read to the kids.

 

List of Possible Books:

1. Mail Order Cowboy by Maisey Yates (94 pages)

2. Hometown Heartbreaker by Maisey Yates (113 pages)

3. For the Love of Laurabeth by Aubrey Wynne (110 pages)

4. A Death on the Way to Portsmouth by Christine Trent (17 pages)

5. The Good Luck Sister by Jill Shalvis (100 pages)

6. What Lies Behind Us by Sierra Rose (133 pages)

7. The Christmas Mail Order Bride by Kit Morgan (136 pages)

8. Gone with the Ghost by Erin McCarthy (143 pages)

9. Love on the Prairie by Ciarra Knight (152 pages)

10. A Search for Refuge by Kristi Ann Hunter (122 pages)

11. An Awakened Heart by Jodi Hedlund (153 pages)

12. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskill (151 pages)

13. Herland by Charlotte Gilliam (150 pages)

14. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilliam (21)

15. Strange Tango by Michelle Dayton (131)

16. Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare (122)

17. A Mail Order Heart by Janelle Daniels (121)

18. To Be a Spy by Jessie Clever (29)

19. The Cost of Hope by G.S. Carr (133)

20. The Chef's Mail Order Bride by Cindy Caldwell (132 pages)

21. The Maid's Quarters by Holly Bush (70 pages)

22. The Schoolmarm's Surprising Suitor by Beverly Bernarnd (53 pages)

23. Lady Grace by Vicki Hopkins (161 pages)

24. A Lady of Esteem by Kristi Ann Hunter (153 pages)

25. Poison in Paddington by Samantha Silver (135 pages)

 

Awakened is the first book in the Semiramis series, and we start of with Al, who is our main female. She is a strong character, who also seems a bit absent-minded at times. She is working in a place where she is unhappy, but has Daisy there to keep her company. Things change when she has a car accident, and her life changes forever.

This book is told in two (uneven) halves as you could call it before and after the accident. Obviously, there is not that much from before, and you spend most of the book with Al as she meets Warlocks, Gods, Goddesses, and Angels. She has a dry sense of humour which was delightful to read, and really came across well on the page.

Awakened is well written, with characters that jump off the page. Be warned though, there are a lot of them so you will need to keep track of who they are. With a few editing issues in words being misspelt, this was nevertheless an intriguing read. I was slightly disappointed we didn't meet Daisy again after Al's accident, especially when Philip is there so much.

Ending with a cliffhanger, this is a book to be enjoyed, and will definitely leave you wanting more. Absolutely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest



Awakened is the first book from the Vampire Awakening Series and it is written by USA Today bestselling author Brenda K. Davies. This is a book where a guy meets a girl. Girl has a secret and tells it on their first date. Boy is a vampire, but we are 80% in the book until it’s mentioned (even though title clearly states it, and you keep expecting it to happen). When the secret is told - boy gives girl a choice to escape. Girls chooses to stay, and boy becomes possessive because he wants her too much. Then he does something to her, kind of against her will. And then they live happily ever after.

If I was a few years younger, I would have loved this book, probably because I wouldn’t have noticed all the glitches in it. But right here, right now - I didn’t enjoy it as much I wanted too.

Strong, sexual language and sex scenes can be found throughout the book. This was a book from my sister Tea’s Wishlist Challenge - and I was embarrassed to tell her I am reading this book - because I knew what kind of scenes she has read…

Apart from that - the characters were unrealistic and unlikable. I liked their friends and their enemies more than I liked the main characters.

Sera - a girl that doesn’t talk to men, and has her own opinion on things, suddenly meets this guy, and he becomes possessive of her, and her character development stops right here. She keeps nodding at him, and obeys his every command. Not much of a heroine, is she?

Liam - a guy that is actually a vampire, but doesn’t tell Sera until things get really serious. He lies to her, is possessive, wants to kill everyone that touches her, and loves her and wants her so much that he has to turn her into a vampire, otherwise he’ll kill her. Really?

Now, if we take the fact that this is a vampire book - firstly, we don’t get to read about vampires until the book is almost finished. And when we do, it is unfinished, and barely even described. I don’t know anything about the way they become vampires, how they survive in the world, how they feed, how they die, but apparently, they can have children, so I guess the author covered everything. Oh, and, also - vampires can walk into the sun, but the more they kill, the more the sun hurts them. So believable - and FAIR.

The only thing that I liked was the ending - the point about how children are possible seemed to have worked out well. Not believable, but it was nice to see that as a theory. And it was also a great layout for the next story to come - which I will be reading, just to see if this writing will improve.

What is your favorite vampire book?

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest