Review: The Promise of Amazing By: Robin Constantine

Title: The Promise Of Amazing

Author: Robin Constantine

Published: December 31st, 2013
Source: E-Galley from Edelweiss

My Rating : 2.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

My Thoughts:

The Promise of Amazing excited me by the completely adorable cover but, unfortunately that is about all it did for me. It was a quick read but, it didn’t really give me anything that I wanted from a contemporary. I have to admit I am picky, especially when it comes to contemps and one has to be really great for me to enjoy it but, I had to check it out because of the adorable cover and the story just fell flat for me.

Wren Caswell is the youngest of three siblings and is as her dad calls her “the easy child” Wren’s family owns a King Arthur themed catering hall and one night when she is waitressing she saves a boy from choking on a cocktail weenie, which begins a relationship between Wren and Grayson the boy she saved. Gray is a bit of a bad boy but, he hasn’t been that way since he was expelled from his private school and lost everything that mattered to him.

The main problem I had with Wren was that she was a bit boring, there was so many things that she wanted and she never once spoke up for herself. I don’t think that every MC needs to be a kick ass girl who takes charge but, it was hard to read about this girl who didn’t want to speak up for what she wanted out of her life. Grayson on the other hand was one of those guys who wasn’t strong enough to stand up against his friends and show people that he may have made a mistake but, he was willing to change.

Overall, The Promise Of Amazing was just your run of the mill contemporary read a love story that fell flat for me because I just couldn’t connect with the characters, it was just ok for me.

TV For The Paranormal Book Lover!

I love TV almost as much as books, paranormal creatures have always been one of my favorites and I love watching and reading anything that is involved. I wanted to share some of the shows that I love and other popular shows just in case you haven't checked them out yet. Don’t see your favorite show on my list well, let me know and I will add it.

My Favorites

Vampire Diaries

Based on the book series by L.J. Smith, Vampire Diaries follows Elena Gilbert and her life and love triangle with the vampire brothers Damon and Stephan Salvatore. Full of witches, doppelgangers and drama I never miss an episode of this one. It airs on the CW and the previous seasons are available on Netflix.

The Originals

A spin-off of Vampire Diaries this show follows the original vampire family the Mikaelsons and their lives in New Orleans, witches and werewolves abound I love the main character Klaus played by Joseph Morgan. It airs on the CW.

Being Human

Adapted from the UK version for the U.S. Being Human follows a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost all just trying to get by as roommates. This is definitely one of my favorite series and I love all of the drama and action and different problems that face our characters, definitely different from the U.K. version, the fourth season begins again . It airs on SyFy and some of the previous seasons of both the U.S. and U.K. are available on Netflix.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

I loved this series when it first was on TV and I never missed an episode. It was my first exposure to the paranormal world and I was hooked every since. Based on a movie with the same name Buffy Summers comes from a long line of girls known as Vampire Slayers, she battles vampires, demons, and any other hellish characters with her rag tag group of friends. This is also where my love of  David Boreanez and his angsty and brooding vampire ways. Stephan Salvatore was definitely taking notes from him. All seasons are available on Netflix.

Angel

A spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the former vampire love of Buffy Summers played by David Boreneaz and his new life in L.A. working as a private detective dealing with the supernatural. Full of new characters and some favorites from Buffy, all seasons are available on Netflix.

Supernatural

This follows the trials and tribulations of the Winchester Brothers, played by the dreamy Jensen Ackles and Jared Padlecki it has been on the CW  for nine seasons and is definitely one of my top favorite television shows. Dean and Sam travel the United States fighting supernatural entities and finding their destinies along the way. Airs on The CW and some of the seasons are available on Netflix.

More shows that are favorites  of others

True Blood

Based on the books series Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris follows Sookie Stackhouse and the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. I have watched some of the seasons and definitely enjoyed the show. The show airs on HBO with it’s seventh and last season premiering this summer.

Teen Wolf

I haven’t watched much of this series although I know it follows a teenage boy who is attacked and become a werewolf while trying to navigate being a teenager in high school. I airs on MTV with seasons available on Netflix.

Lost Girl

Lost girl follows a succubus named Bo, who feeds on human’s energy and is just trying to find out who her parents are. It airs on Syfy with the first season available on Netflix.

Charmed

This show follows three sisters who are witches while they battle against all kinds of evil, starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, and Rose Mcgowen. I have watched episodes of this show because it has always been my little sisters favorite. All seasons are available on  Netflix.

Grimm

Nick is a detective who see’s some weird things, regular people who for a moment look like supernatural creatures. He finds out because he is a Grimm he can see supernatural creatures and it is his job to keep the balance. It airs on NBC.

Dracula

A new show that follows Dracula and his life in London. It is in it’s first season on NBC.

Adult Review: Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires #1) By: Chloe Neill

Title: Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires #1)

Author: Chloe Neill

Published: April 7th, 2009

Source: Bought

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

I was a grad student until Chicago vampires announced their existence to the world, and a rogue vampire attacked me, scared by the master of Cadogan House. To save me, Ethan Sullivan converted me. The Lord of the Hyde Park manor is tall, green-eyed, full of four centuries worth of charm. Suddenly I am handy with serious weaponry, and pursued by an unknown enemy.

My Thoughts:

I was really excited to read this book, I have been wanting to expand my reading tastes and I hoped that adult urban fantasy would be right up my alley. I had heard great things about this series and I already had given it to my mother-in-law and she has been bugging me to start reading it ever since. My first love is vampires, I love being reading all of the different ways that authors write about vampires and the different quirks about them they are definitely my favorite paranormal creature to say the least.

The action of this book starts off right from the beginning, Merit is a graduate student in Chicago until one night she is attacked by a vampire and her whole life changes. She is lucky because she is found by the master of the Cadogan House of vampires. To most humans this would come as a surprise but, considering the fact that vampires have announced their exsistence to the human world. Each vampire belongs to a house led by a master vampire whom they live to serve. The master vampire is the only one who can change humans to vampires and is only allowed to turn ten people a year so they are hand picked and asked to become vampires. Merit’s case is different, after her attack she was lucky enough to be found by Ethan, the master of Cadogen House. Merit didn’t get to chose to become a vampire and at first she wasn’t really happy about it. Now she has to navigate her new life and responsiblities of being a vampire and give up the life she thought she was going to have.

Merit was one of those MC that I love she is strong, snarky, and sarcastic and she didn’t show any weakness to her peers in the face of everything that was going on in her life. She was having to deal with so much and learning all kinds of secrets that that she didn’t know as a human. She took everything in stride and never let herself fall apart even when I knew if it was me I would have have been a complete and utter mess. Merit comes from an influencial family with a lot of pull in Chicago, her father is a cold man who has only cared about making as much money as possible. The one she really loves and accounts for raising her is her retired police officer grandfather who is deeper into the supernatural world then Merit ever knew. Merit was dealing with so many things throughout the book she was a very strong vampire from the very beginning and she surprised herself, her peers, and her master.

Ethan and Merit definitely had a connection that was more than just a vampire and their master. But, they both were not happy about their connection and neither one of them seemed to be happy about. I am definitely curious to see where their relationship goes throughout the series.

Overall, Some Girls Bite was great. I know that I am definitely in for a wild ride for this series, and I have already got a couple of the next books in the series that I can’t wait to start!

Review: The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) By: Richelle Mead

Title : The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4)

Author : Richelle Mead

Published : November 19th, 2013

Source: Bought

My Rating: All of the stars!

Goodreads Summary:

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives.

In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her. . . .

But the struggle isn't over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there's still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure — and re-education — looms larger than ever.

Pulses will race throughout this smoldering fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where no secret is safe.

My Thoughts :

I think that I recall saying that Indigo Spell was my favorite book in the series so far but, Fiery Heart is definitely my new favorite so far… My favorite thing about reading Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy was the character growth, I love seeing how far each character has come and how much they have changed. Sydney is one of those characters who has changed immensely from when we first met her in the Vampire Academy series. She has really changed her entire upbringing and way of thinking while on this assignment and each book I come to love her character just a little bit more because in the beginning I wasn’t sure she was a MC I could enjoy. I cannot wait for Silver Shadows, July can’t come soon enough!

Sydney has finally accepted that the Alchemists are not who she believed them to be and she knows that no longer shares the beliefs that have been instilled into her for her whole life. But, a wrench has been thrown into the mix, her sister Zoe is now assisting her and it is making everything in Sydney’s life that much harder, she has to hide everything from her sister so that she doesn’t know how she really feels but, she is torn about it.  She wants to spend more time with her sister and become closer with her but, it’s not easy for her to hide all of the secret parts of her life from her. We really got most of the focus on Sydney and Adrian in this book with most of the secondary characters taking a backseat to them, which I didn’t mind one bit.

I feel bad saying this but, I can’t remember if we got Adrian’s POV in the last book although I don’t think that we did. I must say that when I compare this dual POV to Allegiant I must say that Richelle Mead did an amazing job but, I feel like Adrian has such a distinct voice that anyone who knows his character would not be able to doubt that it was him. I loved getting to be inside his head so much. He has probably changed just as much as Sydney has from a partying playboy to a more tame art student. I really felt like we got more insight into who Adrian is and it just made me love him even more (if that is even possible) He and Sydney’s relationship was another aspect of the story that just made it amazing. I loved seeing the two of them together they are really the definition of opposites attract, Adrian was really falling for her and it was just so adorable. We got to see Adrian realize that he was changing and becoming mature and Sydney was not like any of the other girls he had been with before even Rose. They had to live on stolen moments together which I think made their relationship even more special to them and the reader we didn’t get everything we wanted when we wanted it.

Overall, The Fiery Heart was everything I wanted it to be and more, it was what I had been waiting for since the ending of Indigo Spell. I have a feeling that Silver Shadows is going to be giving us all of the feels and not all of them happy one’s. Richelle Mead has proved again why she is my favorite author and gave me so much Sydrian action that I was satisfied for a minute lol. If you love these characters, definitely read this one because you will not be disappointed.

Waiting On Wednesday!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming book releases that everyone is waiting on.

This weeks selection is:

Title: The Beautiful Ashes (Broken Destiny #1)

Author: Jeanine Frost

Published: September 2014

Goodreads Summary:

In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate. 

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her. 

Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between…

My Thoughts:

I haven't yet read her Night Huntress series but, it's on my TBR pile but, I have heard great things about her writing and I definitley can't wait to check this one out!