Calling All Vampire Academy Fans

I was very excited to see on People.com that Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series was finally coming to the big screen.  It looks like the movie will be opening at theaters on Valentines Day!  Guys if you want to impress your ladies take them to this movie.  We can only hope it is as good as the book.

Auracle by Gina Rosati

Reading level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: A teenaged girl who has the power to astrally project finds her body taken over by a dead classmate. Now she must find a way to reclaim it if she wants to save herself and a friend who is accused of murder.   

Foundling by D.M. Cornish

Reading Level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: Rossamèund Bookchild (Boy), Orphan, Lived his entire life in an orphanage before he was chosen to be the lamplighter in a far away city, but encounters deadly monsters during his journey

Shattered Dreams by Ellie James

Reading Level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: After her grandmother's death, orphan Trinity Monsour moves to New Orleans to live with her aunt. She hopes to lead a normal life, but her frightening visions not only prevent her from feeling normal, they make her a suspect in the disappearance of a classmate. 

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

Book will be published on October 30: I tried not to include any spoilers

I was really excited when I found out Ms. Kagawa was returning to the world of the Iron Fey.  I just didn't want this wonderfully colorful, and sometimes frightening world to be over.  I was even more excited when I got my hands on an advanced reader copy.  Sometimes being a librarian just rocks! 

Ms. Kagawa returns with Ethan's story.  It has been thirteen years since Ethan was last in the land of Faery, when he had been kidnapped by the Iron King.  His sister Meghan came to his rescue and ended up the Iron Queen.  He lost his sister to the land of Faery and Fey and he never quite got over it.  The fey won't leave him alone.  He has spent all his life trying to dodge them and they just keep getting him in trouble.

At his new school he just wants to keep his head down and graduate.  But a half faery named Todd and a girl named Kenzie make it hard for him to do that.  When a group of fey Ethan has never seen before starts coming around, him and Kenzie end up in Faery, in the Iron Kingdom.  I think that is where all the fun begins.  Familiar characters pop up like Grimlakin, Puck, Ash, Glitch and some new characters as well.  My only complaint is I felt like I was missing something when it came to Ethan and Keirran and why Meghan didn't want Ethan coming to Faery.  I'm not sure if  I missed something not having read Iron's Prophecy or if it will be revealed in the next two books.  Other than that this was another great Iron Fey novel.  I am looking forward to the next one.

Chicagoland Vampire Series by Chloe Neill

I am steadily working my way through the Chicagoland Vampire series by Chloe Niell.  I am on book four right now.  Book two took me a little while to get through but three and four and picking up speed.  I really like the characters and the dialogue.  It's nice reading about areas I'm familiar with.  She mentions Gary in book three.  I'm just still not all that thrilled with the relationship between Merit and Ethan.  I want them together, not within arms reach.  It frustrates me!

In book two Friday Night Bites Merit moves into Cadogan House.  She is "dating" Master vampire Morgan of Navarre House and she still has the hots for Ethan.  Merit is trying to settle into being a vampire but she feels broken, like something went wrong when Ethan changed her.  On top of that vampires are having "raves", mass feeding parties, and Celina isn't as locked up as they said she was.




In book three Twice Bitten Merit is finally whole having went through the complete change.  She might also be ready to take the plunge with Ethan.  Shifters are coming to Chicago and Ethan wants to play nice.  They need their help if the you know what is going to hit the fan sooner than later.  Gabriel, the Alpha of Alpha's wants Merit to be is bodyguard. But of course Ethan is Ethan and messes everything up between the two of them.  So far in book four they haven't quite patched it up.


Ms. Niell they are really just to hot and sexy not to be having fun.  Just saying!

Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)

This series was recommended to me by a trusted library patron.  She hasn't steered me wrong yet.  But I did have to ask her whether or not the main character, Merit, and the main hot and delicious vampire, Ethan, were ever going to hook up.  Blasted she told me yes and no.  She wasn't going to give it up.  I'm just not sure I want to read several books where they are at arms length and never quite together because you know I have enough frustration in my life and I don't need that with a book series.  She said to calm down, and to read the books.  That I would like them.  I told you she hasn't steered me wrong.

I did like the first book.  It's nice reading about an area that you are familiar with.  This is the first book in the Chicagoland Vampires series.  Vampires have recently came out of the closet.  People really aren't happy with the fact that they are living amongst the undead but, hey what can you really do.  Merit is your average graduate student until she is attacked by a rogue vampire and left for dead.  That is when she is changed into a vampire by the uberly hot and frustratingly old fashioned Ethan.  He is rather old school wanting to be called Master and Liege.  Ethan is rather put off when Merit doesn't fall at his feet in gratitude for saving her life.  She didn't get a choice and she isn't really happy being fanged and having to drink blood.

It's hard enough trying to learn how to be a proper vampire when someone is still out to kill you.  And life gets really interesting when she finds out her Grandfather is the Ombud (Police for the supernatural), her best friend is a burgeoning sorceress, and she finds out she has some wicked cool powers.

Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Reading Level: Young Adult
(3 out of 5)

This is the third book in the Raised by Wolves series and I am crossing my fingers that it is not the last.  I was less than pleased with this one.  Ms. Barnes resolved many of the ongoing story lines but I was screaming silently at some of the resolutions.  I think that the end of the book leaves you hanging.  I want more.  I really hate to talk about the book so that I don't give anything away.  It just didn't sit well for me.  I love this series and the characters and like I stated above I just want more.

Body and Soul by Stacey Kade

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I'm sad.  This series is over.  It is only a trilogy and it was oh so good.  I would have been happier if Alona and Will would have been a little less argumentative with each other but that's kind of how their relationship is.  They just spent more time upset with each other than I would have liked since this is the last book and all.  More love, less argue is what I'm talking about.  Other than that Ms. Kade didn't disappoint.

In Body and Soul Alona is still in Lily Turner's body.  While it might be nice having a body Alona is having a hard time adjusting and so is Lily's family.  They can tell Lily woke up from the coma not quite herself.  Will is struggling also.  He thinks Alona isn't appreciating her situation and he is having a hard time sorting out his feelings for Alona/Lily or as Alona wants to be called, Ally.

So Alona and Will are on the hunt for someone who can safely pull Alona out of Lily's body without killing Lily.  That leads them to Malachi the Magnificent, who isn't so magnificent and his crazy ghost sister Erin.  Let the fun that only the Ghost and the Goth novels can bring you begin.  See why I am going to miss them :).

Jane Goes Batty by Michael Thomas Ford

I have tried to read this book several times, but the beginning never caught fire
with me until yesterday. Now it is today, and I've finished reading it, and would
have finished the same day I started if not for the kids!

I don't know why I didn't like it in the past, but having finished the whole thing, I
must admit it was quite an adventure. While I'm not entirely sold on the idea of
Jane Austen as a vampire, I do like Ford's treatment of it, because it shows a
cast of other literary geniuses who have joined her as part of the army of the
undead, including lord Byron and Charlotte Bronte. It is amusing here to see
how Austen's vampire (who calls herself Jane Fairfax, amusingly enough one of
Austen's least likeable characters) is rivals with Charlotte Bronte, whose vampire
name is Violet Grey (and no, I haven't read enough Bronte novels to know if that
character exists in her writing or not.) Even more amusing, Austen and Byron call
Bronte "our gloomy friend," and supposedly Bronte holds a grudge against Byron
because he got her pregnant hundreds of years before. I mean, how much fun
can you have with literary characters?

In this modern incarnation, Jane Fairfax/Austen has written a best-selling novel
called Constance, that is being made into a movie. The film crew wants to do
some interviews with her just as her boyfriend Walter's Jewish mother (Miriam
Ellenberg) comes into town. And unlike most mother-in-law/girlfriend
relationships, this one is even more stressful since Miriam is a vampire hunter,
and knows exactly why Jane is bad for her son. The two make nice by the end of
the book, with Miriam extracting a promise from Jane that she must give her a
grandchild within a year, or Miriam tells her son the big secret (and then stakes
Jane.)

There is a subplot about Jane losing her editor at the publishing house and an
evil harridan taking the man's place. That woman ends up dead during an Austen
a-Go-Go event set up by another pink-wearing literary critic/blogger/tour guide
named Beverly Shrop, and the murder is blamed on Charlotte Bronte. If it all
sounds very confusing and amusing, it is, and is well worth the time it takes to
read this book.

No, it's not a classic work of literature. But it's fun that an author has taken
characters that any English major loves, hates, at least knows of, and jams them
all together in a funny, tooth-baring modern mashup. The hardest part to read is
the croquet match between Jane and her mother-in-law that goes on for too
many pages, but that's really my fault for not remembering the rules to that lawn
game. 

 Submitted by Gerti

Madison Avery Series by Kim Harrison

One of our patrons recommended that I read Kim Harrison's adult series but I wound up reading her young adult series first.  Her adult series sounds really good too but Madison just spoke to me and I ended up reading her first.  Madison's story starts out in Prom Nights from Hell.  I had really nice prom experience.  My prom date was a guy I grew up with and we went with two other couples.  We had an awesome time, unlike Madison Avery.  Madison is new to town.  She was sent to live with her dad after getting caught causing trouble one too many times.  She is at the prom with a boy, Josh, that she finds out is a pity date.  His dad works with her dad and they set the date up.  How humiliating is that?  So when Madison dumps Josh she is swept off her feet by a handsome pirate.  Did I mention the prom had a costume theme?  Anyway the handsome pirate ends up being bad news and Madison ends up dead.  The only thing keeping her somewhat alive is the amulet she steals from around the handsome pirates neck.

What you soon find out is that there are light reapers and dark reapers.  A dark reaper takes a soul before they do something evil while a light reaper tries to save the soul from the dark reaper.  Dark reapers believe in fate and light reapers believe in choice.  Madison didn't get culled by an ordinary dark reaper. She's going to be taking over management.  I really liked these books and the characters.  I am looking forward to Something Deadly This Way Comes coming out May 24th.

Enthralled by Various Authors

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I came across Enthralled because I wanted to read the story in it by Kelley Armstrong.  Then after I kept reading it because it had so many great stories by the other great authors.  My only complaint is that I hate short stories.  They are just too short.  They just start to get really good and then they are over.  But this anthology has quite a few authors in it that have short stories from their series.

Kelley Armstrong's Facing Facts continues Chloe Saunders story from The Darkest Powers series.

Melissa Marr's Merely Mortal has Keenan and Donia from her Wicked Lovely series.

Jeri Smith-Ready's Bridge is about Logan from her Shade trilogy.

I found a great new book series and author Kimberly Derting (reviews to come) her story Skin Contact is wrapped in the world of her Body Finder Series.

Rachel Caine's Automatic is about Michael from her Morganville series.

There are several other great stories and they may have to do with series but I'm not familiar with them.

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

The Calling is the second book part of the second trilogy in the Darkest Powers/Darkness Rising series.  Let me try and break it down.  The Darkest Powers series started with Chloe.  Those books were The Summoning, The Awakening, and The Reckoning.  In this trilogy you learned about the Edison group and Project Genesis, which happened to be Chloe, Derek, Simon, Tori, and the other kids.  Chloe is a necromancer, Derek is a werewolf, Simon is a wizard, and Tori is a witch. 

Then I was excited to find out that there is a short story called Facing Facts continuing right after The Reckoning in the anthology Enthralled.  If you go here http://www.darkestpowers.com/blog/ and start with May you get to read a free story from Derek's point of view that starts off from the story in Enthralled.  But you better hurry because I don't know how much longer it will be on the blog for free.  And it's a good story.  I love these characters.  I wish she would write more about them.  That's probably why I like the Darkness Rising series so much because it's same world and at the end of this book it hints towards a run in with these characters.  My fingers are crossed.

In  the first book The Gathering you meet Maya.  You find out that Maya lives in a relatively small community that is also run by the St. Clouds which are part of the Edison Group.  Maya has a best friend Daniel and then she meets Rafe and finds out she is a skin walker.  She can shift into a cat.  At the end of The Gathering there is a forest fire and Maya, Daniel, Rafe, Nicole, Haley, Samantha, Corey, and the Mayor which is Nicole's dad are airlifted out in a helicopter.  That is how The Calling begins.

When The Calling begins it becomes apparent right away that the pilot isn't taking them where he says he is and it quickly spirals out of control.  Rafe falls out of the plane, the plane crashes, and the mayor dies.  Now they are stranded in the middle of nowhere hunted but people they don't know.  The kids soon find out that they were experiments in Project Phoenix and that Project Genesis was a failure. Oh and Maya's biological father is one of the men after them.  Towards the end of the book all have been captured but Maya, Daniel, and Corey.  All they have is a contact name and no way of knowing how to find him.  I am so ready for the third book but unfortunately it probably won't be out until next year.  I always seem to be waiting.

Last Breath by Rachel Caine

I did it. I made it through a whole series about the same character and I can't wait for book 12 coming out May 1st. I sometimes have trouble with a long series. Don't get me wrong I love series books like J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books, love her. Each book focuses on a new character but you still get glimpses of the other characters. With series like The Morganville Vampires about the same character I tend to get bored, but Ms. Caine kept me interested from start to finish. I love Claire, Shane, Michael, Eve, Myrnin, Amelie, and even Oliver.

The Morganville world has sucked me in and I'm glad that there will at least be two more books in the series, hopefully more. I do feel bad for them because it seems like they are always having to rescue and save the town but I guess that comes with the territory when you live with vampires. I wish they could have a vacation but the only time they tried to get out of Morganville they ran into a bunch of trouble so it seems to follow them around. I like that the author keeps it fresh with the enemy problems. She doesn't make it the same over and over again which is nice. That would get old. The cliff hanger endings for the first 5 or 6 books helped with keeping them interesting and spurred me on. Towards the end she stops with the cliff hangers and she adds chapters of Shane, Michael, Eve, and Amelie narrating which is cool. This is a great series. If you enjoy vampire fiction I think you will really like this series.

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan James

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

This book was written by a mother, son duo. You don't see that very often. I have to say they did a good job. I enjoyed this book. When I first read what this book was about I thought it sounded eerily like Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly but after reading the first few pages I was happy to see that it wasn't anything like Angel Burn.

Claire Brennan and her mother Lynn move around a lot. Claire jokes that her mom is a free spirit picking up and moving when the mood strikes but for the past two years they have held steady and Claire wants to stay put. She attends Emerson Academy, which she loves, and she has two best friends. So when she starts having psychic visions there is no way she is going to tell her mother about them. She also falls for the new boy in school, Alec. Alec MacKenzie is hiding from his past. He is fed up with his duties to watch and, when necessary, eliminate the descendants of his angelic forefathers. He chose Emerson as the ideal hiding place so could be normal for once but he didn't factor Claire into his plans.

Their love is forbidden, going against everything Alec has been taught to believe. But when Claire's life is threatened how far will Alec go to protect her? If you like books with Angels then check this one out. I didn't see anything about a second book on either of the authors websites but they leave it wide open for one. Crossing my fingers because I feel like there is more to this story.

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I anxiously awaited for this book to come in for me at the library. When I saw it at Walmart I wanted to just find a cozy spot to sit and read it but my husband didn't want to wait around for me and I didn't want to be abandoned at Walmart. If I bought every book I wanted to read I would be broke. Well more broke then I am now because after paying bills I'm pretty broke but I digress.

Anyhoo I really enjoyed this Nightshade trilogy. Ms. Cremer has a great voice. I love her characters, the story, and she writes some great action scenes. What I love about this series is the love triangle is believable. You almost wish Calla could be with both Shay and Ren. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes having to choose which one to be with. But I wouldn't mind having some fun with them before choosing :). You are only that age once.

Anyway Bloodrose sucks you in from page one and doesn't let go until the end. The ending was a total shocker. I didn't see it coming at all and since I read so much it's hard to shock me. For a minute I thought I was going to have to write some unhappy fan mail to Ms. Cremer but she gave me a happy ending. Not exactly an ending I loved but it was happy and everything was pretty much tied in bow. Which is how I like my series to end. If you are interested in reading about how this world got started the first chapter of the prequel Rift is available on Ms. Cremer's website www.Nightshadebook.com.

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

If you aren't all vamped out then you should checkout this series. A patron recommended it to me and I'm glad she did.

Claire Danvers is a sixteen year old genius. She graduated from high school early and headed off to college. Because of her age her parents didn't want her going too far away so she ended up in Morganville. Morganville is a small college town filled with quirky characters. When Claire is harshly hazed by some upper class mean girls she heads off campus and finds solace in the big old house that is Gone With the Wind meets the Munsters with roommates Michael, Shane, and Eve. What Claire finds out is that Morganville is run by vampires. You are either protected by them or you are food. It doesn't take long for her to get on the vampires bad side.

I read through book one rather quickly and have started book two. I am excited that in all she will have 15 books maybe more. Hopefully I won't get bored half way through. Sometimes with long running series that happens to me but I have high hopes.

Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber

Legend's Run is famous for werewolves but there just stories, or so Celeste Parker thought. Until she meets Brandon Maddox and her whole life changes. Even though she has Nash (boyfriend) she finds herself drawn to Brandon and soon she is pulling away from her friends and Nash to be with Brandon. Brandon is transforming into something that isn't human. I enjoyed this story even though I think Celeste cared about what her friends thought a little too much. But if your friends would stop talking to you because of your choice in boyfriend then they aren't your true friends. Hopefully there will be another book because the author left the ending open for one.

Jane and the Damned by Janet Mullany

I was so excited when I found this book at the library, because I've made it a
point to read all the books I can find regarding Jane Austen and her various
fictional characters. This book follows in the current style, which combines
Austen (or one of her groups of characters) with other fictional constructs like
vampires or zombies, like the vastly popular "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies".
In this work by Janet Mullany, the "Damned "in the book's title refer to vampires
who are living in the town of Bath, England, at the time Jane goes there for her
health. It is amusingly true to life, because the real Jane Austen did go to Bath for
a short time, and according to her biographers, she was unable, while living
there, to do any writing. Author Mullany takes that nugget of information, and
gives us a back story for it - Jane couldn't write while she was staying in Bath,
because she had been turned into a vampire, and no longer had the ability to
write in the "Jane Austen" style.

Mullany peppers her time in Bath with gorgeously drawn characters, some
fictional, but some real, like the Prince of Wales, who has also been turned into a
vampire in order to keep him alive during an attack of French soldiers. Mullany
cleverly has Jane and the Prince becoming friends, with the Prince finally asking
Austen to dedicate one of her books to him, and it is beyond dispute that she
does (although she was said to dislike him). It is little mergings of fact and fiction
like that one that make this work so charming to read for true Austen fans.
Mullany has a few other factual gems in this book, throwing in some famous
quotes from Austen novels while allowing us (fiction) to peek into the origins of a
few of Jane's famous characters, and through the process, answering the
question for many fans, of how a single woman sheltered in smalltown rural
England could know so much about life and love in the broader world. She could,
Mullany tells us, because Austen lived a much more active and interesting life
than her fans ever imagined when she was vampire Jane.

Yes, there are historical inaccuracies aplenty, for my 11-year-old son tells me
that the French never attacked England, and certainly never took over the cities
of Bath and London, as seen in the book. But for true Austen fans, the joy of
imagining Jane fighting on the barricades (as a vampire) to protect the seaside
town of Bath more than makes up for the fact that such battles never took place
at all. But why should that bother the reader? Vampires don't exist either! This
book is a playful romp for Austen fans like myself who enjoy looking for signs of
Mr. Darcy (and Mr. Wickham!) in people Jane actually knew during her life. And it
is very gratifying for fans that Mullany's Jane turned down love and immortality as
a vampire in order to regain her writing skills and bring us the novels we love so
much. Excellent, escapist fun.

Submitted by Gerti

Twisted by Gena Showalter

This is book three in the Intertwined series and the good news is that there will be a final book four. Bad news is that the release date is unknown. Another good piece of news is that there will be a spin off series about Riley's brothers Max and Nate. That is pretty great I think.

This book was crazy. Unraveled had left Aden dead and Victoria had brought him back to life as a vampire. Now Aden has a darkness in him that he's not sure he can control. Victoria is becoming more human, while Aden is become less. Aden takes to being vampire king quite nicely. Mary Ann ran away so she wouldn't hurt Riley but ends up doing so anyway. The ending is just insane. I don't really want to say more without giving any of the juicy details away. What I will say is that Ms. Showalter has her work cut out for her in book four because I want everything tied up in a nice bow. I don't think that is asking too much :).