Waiting on Wednesday: Unspoken: After Dark by C.C. Hunter

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine, and it gives you a chance to spotlight a book that you are eagerly waiting to be released.

This week, I picked:

Unspoken: After Dark

By C.C. Hunter

Publication Date: October 28, 2015

From Goodreads:

Despite her superhuman strength and enhanced senses, Della Tsang's life as a vampire certainly hasn't been easy. Especially since she was reborn and bound to the mysterious, infuriating, and gorgeous Chase Tallman. 

But if there's one thing that's always kept Della going, it's her dream of being an elite paranormal investigator. Her newest case is the opportunity she's been waiting for, but as Della tries to solve the twenty year old murder and clear her father's name. She uncovers secrets about the vampire council. And about Chase. 

Feeling betrayed by all the secrets he's kept hidden from her, Della is determined to keep him as far away from her heart as she can. But she'll need his help to solve the case that will lead them into the darkest and ugliest vampire gangs in town and into the scariest reaches of her heart.

Why I picked it:

I've been Della and her friends since Born at Midnight came out, and now I have a certain attachment to these characters and their well being. Not to mention that the end of the last book kind of left me hanging. If you would like to read this book, click here to put your name on the hold list.

Exciting News for Vampire Academy Fans!

Today in an exclusive article with Entertainment Weekly Richelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series,  revealed the cover for the first book in her new series titled Bloodlines.  The book doesn't come out until August 23rd so there will be a bit of a wait before we can read it, but in the mean time, take a look at this fantastic cover and check out the article at Entertainment Weekly for more details about this book and a video interview. Bloodlines is a spin off of the Vampire Academy series that is set in the same world but featuring a different character.

Unfortunately, no information is available yet from our vendors so we won't be able to pre-order it for a while, but until then we can eagerly anticipate this new addition to a fantastic series.

Book Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bree lives in a home with several other newborn vampires. To call them a coven would be incorrect, since a coven would work together, and it seems like all the newborns do is work against each other. If it weren’t for her hiding place behind Fred, a newborn with unusual powers, she might not have survived so long, but self preservation is a strong instinct. Then one night hunting, she gets to know Diego, another new born who has begun to question things like she has, and she begins to think she might have finally found a friend. Just when she begins to puzzle out her new life, she is told that she has a terrible enemy who is coming for her.

In many ways, this novella had more appeal to me than any of the other Twilight saga novels. Bree was a tough character to like, but once you did, she is a hard character to forget. She is strong, smart, and desperate to survive. In many ways, she is also a better drawn character than you find in the original novels. You see her motivations, her desires, and her pain. Bree is a brilliantly developed character.

The other characters in this novella are not nearly as fully formed as Bree. Riley is a shadowy character at best, who speaks for the creator who Bree doesn’t remember. The other newborns are stereotypically savage and in turns stupid. Diego, is a little better developed, but we don’t spend enough time with him to fully flesh out his character. The one character I found myself wishing I could know more about was Fred.

Anyone who has read Eclipse knows where this novel will take us, but that doesn’t make the journey any less enjoyable. I really found myself wanting to read more of Bree and enjoying her story. I found this story to be better developed and thankfully missing much of the melodrama that was present in the other Twilight novels.

The audio version of this book was read by Emma Galvin, who does a superb job of narrating Bree’s story. She was clear, and believable as she voiced the newborn vampire Bree. I could easily imagine it was Bree telling her own story, and that is a mark of a good narrator.

Overall this was a fantastic addition to the Twilight saga and a must read for fans of the series. If you haven’t read the other books in the series, I am afraid this isn’t the place to start as some parts of the story will only make sense if you have read the other books.

Cautions for sensitive readers: Violence is present. No sex.

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Book Review: Tantalize Cynthia Leitich Smith

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Quincie Morris has a lot on her mind. Since the death of her parents three years ago, Quincie and her Uncle Davidson have been running the family restaurant Fat Lorenzo’s. With the completion taking away business they decided to change the restaurant into Sanguini’s, a restaurant built around a vampire theme. When the head chef, and good friend Vaggio is murdered in the restaurant kitchen, Quincie’s best friend, Kiernan, a hybrid werewolf and the boy of her dreams, warns her that real vampires may be involved. While the police investigate Kiernan and the werewolf connection, Quincie must get the restaurant ready for its grand reopening, and hope that whoever killed Vaggio doesn’t come back for her.

Cynthia Leitich Smith did an excellent job with her characters and her plotting. I can’t believe how fast I was drawn into this novel. While it still suffers from the Twilight vampire and werewolf phenomenon, it was still interesting and unique.

Recommended for those who like paranormal fiction, vampires, and werewolves.

Cautions for sensitive readers: Some violence, some sexuality although no sexual descriptions are in the book. Mild language.

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Can't Get Enough Vampires? We're Here to Help!

You've read them all, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn and now you are looking for something new. Here is a taste of some vampire favorites you might want to check out at KHCPL.

Have you seen the show Vampire Diaries on TV? It all started with a book, The Awakening by L. J. Smith. Sample the book here:

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Looking for another book with bite? You might try Ellen Schreiber's series Vampire Kisses. Here's a taste:

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

You can also try the series Vamps by Nancy Collins.

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Looking for something with more of a love story? Try Evernight by Claudia Gray. Here's a sample:

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

There are many more out there, see a librarian for help finding books you are interested in reading.

Book Review: Marked by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Marked by P.C. Cast


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
All Zoey Redbird wanted was a place to fit in. She thought that place was with her ordinary human friends at her high school until the vampyre tracker marked her as a fledgling vampyre and changed the course of her life forever. Now Zoey must try to fit in at the House of Night, a school for vampyre fledglings, but making that even more difficult is the fact that she has been specially marked by the goddess Nyx and is not the average fledgling. If she makes it through the Change she will become an adult vampyre, if not she will die.

This is the first book in the House of Night series. It is an interesting combination of two of the more popular trends in teen fiction: vampires and boarding school stories. While the book is enjoyable on a purely escapist level, it lacks depth, and is terribly predictable. The dos and don’ts of proper teenage behavior are a bit preachy at times. Other than that, if you are looking for a quick read that doesn’t require much thought, this book fits the bill. It is a fun story if you are willing to put up these flaws.

I would recommend this to teens who are fans of either the boarding school stories or of vampire stories.

Cautions for sensitive readers: There is some foul language present in the book that may offend readers who don’t like bad language in their books. Since this is also a story about vampires, you can expect to find some violence and sexuality.

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Book Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Glass Houses is the first book in the Morganville Vampire series. When scholastically brilliant Claire Danvers sets off for college in Morganville, Texas, she gets more than she bargained for. Claire quickly makes an enemy of one of the most popular girls in the dorm and finds her life in danger because of this girl. After leaving the dorms, Claire finds a home in Glass House with three mysterious roommates who are willing to risk their own lives to keep her safe. In Glass House, the mystery of Morganville and its vampire heritage are slowly revealed.

Glass Houses is a fast read, and not a bad one either. Is it original or profound? No, but it was an enjoyable read and a good light vampire story. It is definitely meant to be read as a series, and ends with a cliff hanger that will have you dying for the next book. I recommend this to teens looking for the next vampire read. Entertaining.

Cautions for sensitive readers: This book contains a lot of violence and profanity is used in some of the more extreme situations. As of yet, there is no sex in the series, but I can not say what will happen in the later books.




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