In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

3.5 ★

I really enjoyed this book and everything about it. I loved the writing, the world building and most of all the characters that take us through this journey. The book has multiple POVs but for the main part we get Lia. I really enjoyed her and the more I got to know her the more I liked her. She had a few eye rolling moments but overall I loved her.

One of the main parts I loved about this book was, that we don’t find out who is the Prince or the Assassin, even as we read their POV. I loved that and it kept me going and guessing. Once we find out I was not overly shocked, as you can start figuring it out if you look close enough as you read. But it still was great fun.

Another thing I liked was the friendship in this book. Her friendship with Pauline was super great and later with some of the other people in town. I hope we see more of them later on in the books.   

When it came to the guys, I’m not sure who I liked more, and to be honest she didn’t spent all that much time with either if them at least on page. I’m hoping we get to know them better in the next book and maybe I can say more about either of them, right now I dint really connect to either of them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and the cliffhanger ending had me reaching for book two right away. We get a little of everything in this book. Humor, romance, action, heartbreak and betrayal.

Can’t wait to see where the story takes us

I rate book one 3.5 ★

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Book Review

'Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. It's an eternal party, shown on TV 24 hours a day - gorgeous, glamorous, deadly! Because, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave'

When I first picked up this book I had no idea what it was about. Initially I thought it was a prison (a bit like Death Race, but with no cars) but I have to say I was rather surprised when vampires popped up.

I am not a lover of Vampire or dark romance novels (I feel they are over played and a bit boring) so I hesitated in opening this one up. But after reading the first chapter I couldn't put it down until it was finished, a weekend well spent.

Tana as a main character is a great choice, she is strong and independent and doesn't let anything faze her, never letting her true feelings show in front of those she is leading. We see her battle with her own conscience, should she save her bitten ex, should she help this clearly dangerous Vampire who's eyes look so sad, will she become the monster. Holly Black gives us action from page one and doesn't let it stumble, there is action and always something happening but it doesn't feel like its bogged down in action. There are lots of elements to this novel and Black explores them all not leaving any questions unanswered. There is a romantic side to the story as well, but its not like all those other soppy vampire love stories *cough* twilight *cough*.

Synopsis with spoilers

The book is set over 3 or 4 days and follows the character Tana, a young girl who wakes up after a party to find all her school friends brutally murdered by vampires. After rescuing her ex Aiden and a vampire Gavriel they set out to Cold Town, a walled in city were vampires and wanna be vampires live. Along the way they meet twins Midnight and Winter who want nothing more then to be vampires and live it large in Cold town. The 5 of them drive to the gates and give their lives up to enter the city, once inside thing don't go exactly to plan, Gavriel disappears, Midnight and Winter drug and kidnap Tana and Aiden (who having been bitten by a vamp is now on the brink of turning)and lock them up waiting for Aiden to snap and kill his friend. Tana manages to escape her crazed ex boyfriend only to be left alone to navigate the undead city, she meet some allies and plans to get out of the city. And her plan would have worked if her baby sister hadn't have shown up forcing Tana to give up her freedom to save her family. With her sister safe at home Tana is left in Cold town, but she's not along, she has Aiden and many allies as well as Gavriel who has promised to stay by Tana's side forever and to always love her.

This was a excellent buy for me, I loved every moment, every sentence, every comma. And I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who loves the fantasy/horror/romance/supernatural genre (I have recommended it to all my friends and a few random people I have seen in book stores, your welcome!)

Book Review

If you are searching for a tale that will forever have a hold on your heart, this is the story for you. It is not just that this novel is beautifully written, or that the story is incredibly magical and enticing that you find yourself reading it for days without a break. No, it is that this story of a circus isn’t like anything you will have ever read before. And will probably never read again.

The Night Circus is an enriching tale of mystery, romance and magic. You will lose yourself in this world, in the very imagination of Morgenstern. The creativity behind this one is skilfully mixed with a writer who is an expert in their craft. It will have you on the edge of your seat as you try and decipher the true nature of all involved in the fierce competition where the rules aren’t well defined.

I have read this book five or six times and fall in love with it over and over again. I found this book in 2011 and brought it because of the cover (yes I'm a cover judger) but am so glad I got it. It had to be my favourite book to date and I have either recommender it or brought it for both friends and family.

I have so much to say about thins book that I cant fit it all in one review so I will keep it short. The Night Circus will change the way you see the world and all its magic, it will warm your heart and soul and will make you want to run away and join the circus.

Rating - 5/5

Book Review

She's trained to survive. He's programmed to kill. This is The Murder Complex. Meadow Woodson will do anything to survive, anything to keep her family safe, anything to get home at night. Even if that means killing. Zephyr James is a ward, a forgot soul left to clear the streets of the killing of the death. In a world where the murder rate is higher then the birth rate what would you do to get through the day.

I have been looking forward to this book for so long that when it arrived I couldn't put it down, as soon as it left the box it was stuck in my hands. It's such and incredible story, told from both Meadow and Zephyr's point of view. This gave it a great flow and let the reader get the story form different angles. I absolutely love the characters, all of them work so well together, playing off each other's strengths and weaknesses to make an ass kicking super team. I also really liked that no one really trusts each other, even though they are all in the same boat, all want the same things.

Lindsay Cummings has brought this broken world to life, given it characters who are perfectly flawed and a story that I want to read more of. I can't wait for the next in the series and see what will become of tow of my new favourite characters.

Rating - 5/5

Book Review

Poison

Poison contains all the elements of the classic Snow White fairy tale but has a lot of unexpected twists and turns, turning this tale into a dark, sexy and brutal Snow White that is not to be forgotten. The story is told from the evil stepmother’s point of view, it becomes apparent that her actions are motivated by something more than pure evil. She is jealous of Snow, not of her beauty but of her freedom and her carefree attitude.

Snow White is dark and sexy and brutal. There’s a wicked Queen, a handsome prince, a beautiful and spirited princess, a kind hearted huntsman, dwarves and a poisoned apple. The mixture of modern sensibilities blends seamlessly with the timeless fantasy world of castles, kingdoms and magic.

Pinborough drops lots of hints as to various characters back-stories. There are glimpses at a much more complex psychological and emotional development, but the author never reveals more than a snippet. Poison is the first book of a trilogy, Charm and Beauty follow new and old characters revealing more about their pasts and linking together the Pinborough’s fairy tale world.

To be honest I only picked this book up because of its beautiful cover (yes I judge books by their covers) its just so pretty and sparkly :D And then I started reading and before I had even finished the first chapter I had order the rest in the series. I absolutely loved this book and its squeals and have been recommending it to everyone I know.

Charm

Charm is the second book in Sarah Pinborough's series of dark, sexy fairy retellings and is the story of Cinderella.

This series quickly became one of my favourites after reading the first book, Poison, and Charm has further deepened my love for them.They're dark, twisted and a little bit naughty - not at all what you'd imagine these fairy tales to be like. They're five-star reads all round.

Charm has everything you know about the Cinderella fairy tale: two ugly stepsisters, a Prince, a fairy godmother and a glass slipper. Charm's pages are filled with delightful characters and wicked imagery that leaves an unsettling feeling in its wake. It's well-written, addictive, sharp, everything I could possibly want from a book.

Beauty

A sleeping princess, woken by a princess kiss, a troubled city under a curse, the start of a great story. The third instalment of Pinborugh's Tale of the Kingdoms series was just as amazing as the others.

This time we see sleeping beauty and how the story began. Set before the event in Poison (the first in the series) we see a young prince and a young huntsman go off on an adventure. We get to see how these two characters that we have come to love began and how they got to where they ended.

I loved this series and am sad to see it end. The links between the three book and multiple fairy tales has created a new and magical realm. I can not express how much I love these book or how much I would recommend them. Just go buy them them!!!

Rating - 5/5