My Year in Books....(thank you Goodreads lol)

My favorite book of the Year: The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

 

Favorite Series I read this year: The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness 

Currently Reading: Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

I am currently reading the seventh book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by the wonderful J.R. Ward. Here is the synopsis: 

Rehvenge is used to living in the shadows and dealing with the roughest night walkers around—including the Black Dagger Brotherhood. As his secret identity as a sympath is threatened, he turns to the only light in his ever darkening world—a female vampire untouched by corruption, who’s the only thing standing between him and eternal damnation.

First impression: (I am 15 chapters in) 

I am pretty impressed with Rev's story so far. We are finally seeing Lash's betrayal unfold. Of course, there is one big thing that is plaguing me and I am wondering how John Matthew's seeing Lash alive is going to play out. I think he is keeping that particular secret. There have been a few surprises in this book so far. Finally Wrath; the king of the vampires, is back in on the action. And Phury is making a comeback as well. I still have a lot of story to make it through but I am

Excited for this book. My plan is to have it completely read by New Years Eve.  

Dark and Light Casters, Incubus', Siren's and Waywards: The Bookbabe Review of Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I am a huge fan of this series and have read the previous three books however, the last book took me months to read. I put it down several times and read several other books over this one. I think what made it difficult for me to get through was that I was not as committed to the story line as I had been in the past. Usually slumps like this happen in the third book of the series but with this one it happened at the end of the series. 

It was not all bad though; I did love the return to Gatlin and the crew, consisting of Lena, Link, and Ridley. Though Ridley does not really play a huge part in this book. I will say that Stohl and Garcia did tie up the ends nicely and does not really leave much room for returning to the characters in the future. Though Link and Ridley are in a separate series; which I will most likely read, because I am interested in seeing how Ridley's character develops. 

I did also enjoy the killing off of Abraham. It just needed to happen; though I wanted it to be a bigger more epic spectacle. You know like Harry taking on Voldermort in Deathly Hallows. Of course; I like the the book has a happy ending but I would have enjoyed it better if a beloved character would have lived in the end. Of course, the reason for her death is justified but it makes it no more less annoying. I will say that I do not regret reading the book at all. But I think it was just lacking something; and I think most of that came from the fact that Ethan was on a different plane of existence. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who wishes to finish the series and to anyone looking for a different story involving witches. The story line of the books is very refreshing and original and over all the series is a quick read. 

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars on Goodread.com

Quotes I loved:

“I smiled at her, but she was already lost in thought, looking around the library as if it held all the answers to all our problems.” 

“It was all so clear now. Like everything had been lost in darkness, and then the sun came out. Some moments are like that.” 

Adagio Fandom Teas Review

(Teas above are Jem Carstairs created by Auburn Kelton and Three Broomsticks created by Maddie W.)

As the months get a little colder, and the holidays approach I find myself in need of a nice cup of tea every evening. One of my good buddies, and fellow reader, Heidi M. Introduced me to Adagio teas. She recieved their "Cinderella" tea bags as part of her Owlcrate. She absolutely loved it and that made me want to hunt it down. Well, I ended up not purchasing that tea but purchasing several others. Among them were a Lemon Soliel black tea, Jasmine Pearl Green tea, and then these two amazing babies above. The Jem Carstairs tea is based on the character by Cassandra Clare (he is featured in The Infernal Devices series) this tea reminds me of Lady Earl Grey; which is one of my favorite teas. It's very smooth and light and has a beautiful fragrance. It does have a high level of caffeine so you will get a nice little buzz from it. This tea is one of many named for the Cassie Clare characters. I mainly picked this one because Jem is one of my favorite characters ever written. 

The next tea is Three Broomsticks; and any Harry Potter fan knows that the Three Broomsticks is only the best pub in Hogsmeade. I was extremely interested in this one because it recieved such amazing reviews. This tea has a very caramel taste, even without sugar. And it's scent is amazing. It is strong upon your first steeping but it mellows out upon a second brewing. This is a great morning tea, or mid afternoon tea. What I really loved about all of these teas is that I was able to reuse the leaves up to four times without losing any flavor or potency. Which in my opinion is a good sign of a high quality tea. I will definitely be back on the Adagio website after the holidays to order more tea! Of course any other fandom teas will be reviewed her as well. 

Here is a list of some of the other fandom teas is saw listed:

- Divergent

- Jane Austen

- Doctor Who

- Nightmare Before Christmas

- Edgar Allan Poe

- Jane Eyre 

- Harry Potter Characters

- Harry Potter Houses

And many many more! 

The BookBabe Reviews: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

I have to admit that this book was extremely hard for me to get through. It dragged a lot and I just could not commit to it the way I had with the other previous books in the series. Lover Enshrined brings (finally) to the story and history of Phury. Phury is the brother that we all wanted to know the most about; well that I wanted to know the most about. He had a bit of a mystery surrounding him. Finally we get some of the answers to our burning questions but we also get a front row seat to a very heartbreaking saga. Phury's story is filled with a lot of pain,  which I am happy to say does end in happiness. What I found the most amazing about this book is that Phury came across is the most "human" of the brothers. His pain was the most realistic, his struggles all to real. What I loved about this story is that we got a little bit of a twist about the Omega. We find out that he has a son; born of a vampire, that has been living among the vampires. This twist left me guessing because I thought I knew exactly who the "son" was, but I was surprisingly mistaken. I can not wait to see how Ward advances this part of the storyline. At the end of the book we are softly introduced to Payne, the daughter of the Scribe Virgin and the Sister of V. of course, I have an odd feeling that Payne is going to be a headache in the books to come. I will say that even for the slowness of the book it had its fair share of action; and of course, I will return to the series again (in the New Year) this time with Lover Avenged.   

Quotes I enjoyed:

“What brings you onto my property?" Rhev said, cradling his mug with both hands trying to absorb its warmth.
Got a problem"
I can't fix your personality"

"Get off the cross, someone else needs the wood" 

Overall rating of the book 3.5 stars on Goodreads.com! 

Oh my...I am reading Manga!

On first glance this is just your typical manga/comic. Nothing really extraordinary about that; however, it is based on the Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Thanks to my beautifully bookish friend Lauren, I was "told" to give Sherrilyn a shot. So lady week I made my way to the book store and picked up book one of the Dark Hunter series and I just added it to my TBR pile. Let did I know but the manga was available on Scribd (a service I highly recommend); so I was like what the hell. It will be a quick read and will allow me to see if the books are really worth my time. Well I was pleasantly surprised. The novels are Paranormal Romance; so you can except a fair amount of sex. But the manga, mainly due to the medium, hints at the sex and keeps to the action. Which I LOVE. One of the best thing about these (and the story line) is that it is based on Greek Gods and Goddesses. And the story is very unique; much like Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, the story has complex characters. I really can not wait to do a full review on the manga series. If you have read these please leave a comment in the comments section! As always happy reading!