Lover Eternal by JR Ward

I couldn't wait to read this book, I enjoyed the first so much and I wasn't disappointed.

We get more of the Brothers and in particular Rhage's story. We find out about his curse, the beast within and his attempts to stay balanced and even. Not always successful. We get a small peek at Zsadist too.

When Rhage meets and falls in love with Mary, he has to learn a new way to accept his beast and all without hurting her, all the more heartbreaking when he finds out she's dying.
How they both cope with her illness and his beast is well written and very touching.

Onto book 3 and Zsadist's story, so glad my friend recommended and sent me this series.

The Killing Floor by Lee Child

I really enjoyed this book, my only problem was the little voice in my head telling me "there's no way Tom Cruise can pull this off". I just can't get the image from the movie trailer of him out of my head. Aside from that, what's not to love. A great big story with lots of twists, a loner in a small town who gets picked up because he looks like a suspect.

It put me in mind of some westerns I used to read when I was younger. There was the lone cowboy, ex-soldier, who rode into town and after a few fights, a few love scenes and offing the bad guy rode off into the sunset.

I'm definitely going to carry on with this series. I'll just have to train my brain to picture some other actor as Jack Reacher. Maybe Dave Batista from WWE. He's definitely the right size and certainly easy on the eyes, unlike Tom Cruise who's just too small for the part.

JR Ward's Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood)

I read this book after a suggestion from a friend. I loved the story and found the characters to be very engaging, I wasn't overly charmed with the guy's names but there again, calling a Vampire Norman or Ralph wouldn't sound right either.

I liked the idea of the Omega and the Scribe Virgin, (I have my own theory about those two but I'm keeping it to myself). The fact that the vampires are the good guys, wear leather and like rap and hip/hop made me smile.

At first I thought Beth was going to be one of those leading ladies who needs to be rescued all the time and is very much a wuss but I'm glad she's not. She may start out needing to be protected but soon shows she's more than capable of rolling with the punches.

The only thing I didn't like was the way the story switched from one persons view point to another. I had to go back a couple of times to re-read a paragraph or two to get back on track, especially during the action scenes.

On to book two, hope its as good as the first one.

Hammer of Angels by G.T. Almasi

I found this to be an action packed, past paced story. It certainly didn't slow down much at all. I would just like to say that even though I haven't read the first book in this series, it's not necessary to follow what's going on. We continue to follow the story of Alix/Scarlet, a Level (super spy) from America as she deals with the fall-out from Blades of Winter.
Scarlet is an enhanced Level, which means her body has had some modifications to it, she's got an artificial right hand, her skeleton has been encased in a type of metal so she's practically indestructable. She's got an eyes-up system in her head which enables her to swap from normal vision through a variety of different spectrums. She can use infra-red to see body heat, she's got a locking display that enables her to acquire target lock when she uses her gun, Lil' Bertha which is partially sentient. She has an in-built med system that allows her to send doses of different drugs as and when she needs them, Madrenaline just before a fight or mission, Kalmers to stop the hallucinations brought on by her last mission. She lives in a world where Germany won WWII, Britain and most of Europe are part of Greater Germany and the Germans now advocate Slavery. There are 4 Super Powers, USA, China, Russia and Greater Germany, all with their own Levels.
In this book we follow Scarlet as she copes with a new partner who is the spitting image of her last partner and lover, Trick, who was killed in the book Blades of Winter. As she is sent on a new mission to start a slave rebellion in London and other areas of Europe, we see how fragile her mind really is, still, due to her previous experience. Working with Brando, her new partner and other Level's to get the rebellion going and then onto another mission to get her father back from the Germans.
In this world we also have to deal with clone's, one of which is her new partner and also her old one , and their other brother. No-one knows about their status apart from Scarlet, her boss and themselves. Whilst on their mission, they come under attack and just when she thinks her number is up, a sniper takes out the enemy. When they finally catch him, as there is no other Level's in their area, she is shocked to see her fathers face. The young man is a clone, made in a secret lab by a high-level member of congress. He was made with her fathers DNA, which had been stolen from a secure area, along with the equipment necessary.
This story flows along at a rapid place and just when you think she's going to catch a break, something else happens to get them on a roll again.
I'm definitely getting Blades of Winter so I can see how this story began and I will definitely be getting the third book when it's released. I would give this 5/5 and recommend it to anyone who likes fast, action packed spy thrillers.

Liquid Lies by Lois Lavrisa

I was sent this free from the publishers, Sunlake Press.  I was looking forward to reading it as its the type of book I normally like, however I was a tad disappointed.  It kicks of with a good start, introducing us to Cecilia and Francesca, best friends out for a birthday.  CiCi as Cecilia prefers to be called just can't say no to her friend, Francesca, which really is the main fault with her.  After a flat-tyre and a run-in with a trucker, they end up making a pact and then not speaking to each other for four years.

The story skips over these four years and starts when Francesca re-enters CiCi's life.  Again she is unable to say no to her and this leads to more complications, a murder, a blackmailer and just to cap it off, another murder.   All these things could have been avoided if CiCi had been able to say no to her friend.  Instead she finds herself with a police officer who thinks she's the killer, a fiance who decides to break things off and a new guy who could be either the killer, the blackmailer or both.  Oh and she's finds herself falling for him.  The middle part of this story is a little slow and boggy, it takes its time to get going and then just when you think it's not going to take off, it does just that.  You get dragged to the end of the story, where we find out just who has done what and why, then to top it off with a bit of sugar, we get a happy ending.

I would recommend this to anyone who is just wanting to dip their toe into a crime/thriller that's a light and easy read.

"http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5636639-julie"

Audrey's Guide To Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

This is a strange story, it starts off letting you get the idea for the tale. Audrey is a teenager whose mom has gone missing without letting anyone know but Audrey can feel that she's in trouble. No-one thought Audrey would be a witch because her mother turned her back on her heritage and married a mundane, normal person. Along comes cousin Sadie to watch over Audrey and her sister Meg.

This is where things get odd. The story seems to get going then it slams to a halt, then it goes again but it's dragging its feet. All of a sudden it rushes to its ending but it's so abrupt that you continue to turn the pages, looking for more because its such an odd ending, you don't realise it's finished.

Out of 5 stars I would give this a 2, it seems like a promising start to what I hope will be a series. If not, then I'd be very dissappointed.

The Electronic Book Company: Free ebooks

The Electronic Book Company: Free ebooks: Great Reads - Free Reads Welcome! You are only a few clicks away from the prospect of some high-quality and entertaining reading. And...

Angel Lawson's Wraith

I got this off a free for kindle site. It's not my usual read, I've not read many books about ghosts and mediums.

Jane is in high school, her parents have a gallery/shop. They moved to this town a year ago because of Jane. She works in their shop, loves art and her best friend, Evan is a ghost. He's also her only friend. Being new in school, Jane thought she would make friends quickly but didn't realise that it would be made harder as she was often seen talking to herself, well Evan, including having a full blown argument in the hallways with him, where everyone could see. Nearly a year after moving, she still has no friends, she only talks to Evan when she's on her own, her parents think she fine and now there's a new guy in school and, oh yeah, he can see Evan too.

This story starts off a bit slow, it allows you time to get to know the characters. Eventually Jane starts to become friend with a girl in her art class and soon catches the eye of the bad boy, newcomer, who isn't new. He's just been away for the past year.

As she gets to know him, she finds out that he's like her but handled it differently. Unlike Jane, who lied and said she was ok, Connor went a bit wild. He was out of control and ended up being locked up in a mental hospital.

He keeps chipping away at Jane until she finally caves and accepts that they are alike, he can see Evan and that he likes her. She'd thought he was trying to get her to be his friend so he could pull a horrible prank on her.

Throw in Evan's tale of abuse and murder and you've got a really good story.

Once the story gets you interested in the characters, it canters along at a good pace, taking you through several sets of emotions to a shocking near ending and a happy ever after.

Summons. A Goblin King by Shona Husk

I found this little teaser quite a while ago for free but never got round to reading it until now. It just never quite caught my attention. As I had to go to the doctors and didn't know how long I would be there I decided to take this along.

I read it in less than half an hour but found it quite good. I loved the Goblin King and his magic, I thought he was very well written, I found Eliza a bit naive but then thinking about it, she's only 16, so that explained why she's that way.

My only complaint, there's a couple of printing mistakes but other than that an interesting little story. I would definitely read a follow-up if one was available.

Readers block

Just wondering if I'm the only one who gets this, can't choose what to read next. My TBR list is so long and gets longer daily what with the joys of free ebooks. Ah well, I'll decided in the morning or rather afternoon, I'm off to bed. Night all.

Deanna Chase's Haunted on Bourbon Street

What to say about this book. It started out good, then seemed to lose its way in the middle. It kept going over the same ground again and again, then it was like it had a swift kick up the arse and went on to a really good finish. I thought it was a good story that got a little lost in the middle.

The characters were interesting as was the story and hopefully the follow-up book goes into more detail regarding them.

I shall certainly read the next in the series though I will be getting it from the library, I'm not so into it that I would go out and buy it.

Kim Harrison's Hollow's series

This is another favourite of mine. I love the stories, the characters, the way the series has played out so far. I can't wait for my copy of Into The Woods to get here.

This is one of those series that you either love or hate, I personally love it. I've cried twice throughout this series, when two of the main characters died.

Each character is well-written and I could totally see myself sitting down for coffee and chatting with them all. I love Jenk's cursing, Al's outfits, Ivy's aloofness to cover up her caring side and Rachel's total loyalty to them all.

I could live inside Kim's head, quite happily, if it meant I got to see what's going on in The Hollows before everyone else.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files

I absolutely love this series, I love the character's, the storylines, the magic even the bad guys.  I can't wait to get my hands on Cold Days and I shall be extremely upset when I've finished it.

Who wouldn't love a duster wearing, bad-ass, magic wielding wizard who kicks ass.  I love Mouse and Mister, his dog and cat, I think Bob the skull is a work of genius and the blue beetle is the most amazing vehicle out there.  His friends are loyal to a fault and his family more so.  I shall be a blubbering mess when this series finishes so it's a good job I've got the full set of books to re-read.

Butcher is a genius with his stories and how he writes his character's.  I'm going to have to try his other series after I finish this one.  Oh yeah and the comic, or graphic novel if you're so inclined to call them that, is the most amazing piece of artwork and story telling combined.

Diana Rowland's Mark of the Demon.

This was given to me as a gift, it was chosen with me in mind but I've got to say, although the blurb sounded really good and it's my favourite genre of book, it was a bit samey.   I've read a lot of books with demon's, cops and magic and this is very similar to a lot of them, Lilith Saintcrow springs to mind.  I don't know if I would go out and buy the next book, I would probably only read it if I got it free.  

Strong female lead who leans towards the magic side, a superior demon and lesser demons.  A gullible FBI guy, a bad guy, a few red herrings and some skeletons in the closet, it all adds up to a few other series.  

Shannon K Butcher's Burning Alive

I read this book on a recommendation from a friend, I managed to read it not long after the recommendation as I was given it as a gift. I did quite like it, it's got a good story line and seems like a good premise for the kick-off to a series.

I liked the majority of the character's and thought it was really well written but to be honest..... I could have done without all the swooning. The female lead, can't call her the heroine because I didn't really see her as that, was a bit of a let down., that's just my personal view of her. The guys seemed a bit neanderthal-like in their thinking,, must protect and keep woman safe and for myself, and I get what was meant by this attitude but it was just rammed down my throat a bit too often.

Other than that, I liked it. I wasn't put off by it and I will read more of the series but I'm not going to run out and buy them.

Oh and in case anyone is reading these reviews and wondering what's going on?  I'm writing them as if I was telling a friend about them.  I find it's easier for me to write this way.