Month in Review / January 2016

January is usually the one month in the year where I don't really read a lot.  I have usually read loads throughout November and December and then I am ready to relax a little by January but this year was definitely different with reading the Morganville Vampires series.  I started the series at the beginning of December and got so completely hooked by the series that I just couldn't stop reading it all the way to nearly the end of January when I finished book 15.  Just for a bit of 'change of scenery' I read The Child's Secret in the middle of the month which definitely helped keep Morganville Vampires series from not being to repetitive.  I couldn't possibly choose a favourite book of the month this month.  I enjoyed all of them.  I am so glad that I had got around to reading and finishing the Morganville Vampires series, which had been on my shelf for years.  It was such a fun series, nothing too complicated, but enjoyable nonetheless.  I will definitely be looking into more work by Rachel Caine. 

I hope you have all had a fantastic reading January and are looking forward to what is in store for February.

Books Read

The Child's Secret by Amanda Brooke

Books 11 to 15 Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine

Books Received

Series Review / Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine

From the author of the popular Weather Warden series comes the debut of an exciting new series set in Morganville, Texas, where you would be well advised to avoid being out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood. Will she be able to face the town's terror or will she drown like everyone else?

Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Complete Series, Books 1 to 15
Source:  Owned Copies

OK so this review is a long time coming.  When I first started this series it was the middle of November and although I knew that this series would be quick reads (approximately 250 ish pages each) I hadn't realised that I could get through most of them by the end of the year.  By the end of 2015 I had got to book 8 in the series (and that is in between other books I read in between reading this series) and my aim was to finish it as quick as I could into 2016.  I loved this series.  It was fun, easy to read, contained lovable characters and some unlovable characters but even the unlovable characters I liked more than hated reading through the series.

If I had to pick a favourite character in this series I couldn't possibly limit it to just one.  The main character Claire is definitely one of them.  What I liked the most about her was her progression throughout the series.  When I first met her in book 1 she did come across as a complete newbie in a town that she didn't know a lot about (which is kind of the story but it was written really well).  As the series goes through you can see her character getting stronger, wiser and knowing how to deal with herself in certain situations.  The other character that I liked a lot was Myrnin.  I won't go into much of the who that character is and why because that would spoil the story but if you do pick this up or have already read it you will know what a great character this one is!

With a long series like this one, one of my main worries was attention span.  Would a series as long as this one keep my attention span and want to keep reading?  I am going to be honest here and say that yes I did want to give up at one point but that was half my fault and half the fault of the story.  It was just after finishing book 6 and reading a little way into book 7 when I felt that the story was getting a bit slow so unfortunately I did the thing that I shouldn't do.  I put the book down and read something else.  That only made this worse because when I did go back to that book I couldn't remember where I was at and what was happening.  I did get back into it after reading on but it was a little bit of a struggle at that moment.

In summary, I really enjoyed this series so much.  It was uncomplicated and fun, just what I was looking for.  I will definitely be picking up more books written by Rachel Caine. 

If you haven't picked up this series, you should!  Its such a fun read and action packed as well.  There are a lot of secrets to discover along the way...  You won't regret it!

A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2016 / In Summary

I took part in my first read-a-thon!!  A Winter's Respite Read-A-Thon was held by Seasons of Reading Blog.  A link to the blog is below:

Seasons of Reading Blog

I posted updates on Instagram but just in case you missed those I have put pictures of them below.  I have to say that I really enjoyed this read-a-thon and I discovered more about my reading habits while taking part.  The first few days were really energising and I wanted to get into reading for most of the day (unfortunately I was not able to do that as I work full time 9am to 5pm).  I found that as the week went on I felt less wanting to read but also felt obligation to read which I found out was not a very fun experience.  During the last few days of the read-a-thon although I didn't read as much as I wanted to I found that I had slowed my reading pace right down and enjoyed reading a lot more.  I really enjoyed taking part in this event and would definitely take part again.  The most important lesson I took out of this experience is the fact that I need to slow down with reading to really enjoy the journey the story is taking me.  I do tend to fasten my reading pace and end up not enjoying the book.  This is definitely something I am going to take note of going forward throughout 2016!

Total Pages Read:   755

Books Finished:  2 

Blog Tour Book Review / The Child's Secret by Amanda Brooke

A little girl is missing. Her parents are hiding something. Who will pay the price?

When eight-year-old Jasmine Peterson goes missing, the police want to know everything.

What is local park ranger, Sam McIntyre, running away from and why did he go out of his way to befriend a young girl?

Why can’t Jasmine’s mother and father stand to be in the same room as each other?

With every passing minute, an unstoppable chain of events hurtles towards a tragic conclusion.

Everyone has secrets. The question is: who will pay the price?


Published:     14th January 2016
Publisher:  Harper
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

 After having read both Another Way to Fall and The Missing Husband by Amanda Brooke I was so excited to read her next book.  Amanda Brooke has this way of building up suspense and mystery in a story and adding the right amount of drama to it that I just love.  There a couple of her older novels that I have still to read but don't worry, I'll be picking those up very soon!

What I loved about this story...
I loved this story.  I am so glad that I have started the year with this story (as well as another really long series I am trying to finish).  The writing in this book is so good and so addictive I just didn't want to put it down.  In fact, I have to say that I read this over the course of a few nights after work and kept on reading until I couldn't stand to keep my eyes open any longer!  I liked the fact that this story is split between 'present day' when Jasmine has gone missing with the police trying to find her and 'the past' going through all that happened that lead up to the moment she went missing.  This 'split story telling' is just so addictive.

What I was not fond of with this story...
Honestly, I would have loved the ending to have been a bit more explosive than it was.  That's not to say that the ending wasn't really good and I definitely enjoyed finding out what happened but I think that the suspense for me just kept building in the book and when I came to nearer the end of the book I had built it up in my own mind to be a lot bigger than it was.  That's no reflection on the story telling at all, I think it was entirely my fault for building up the suspense in my head too much.  

Summary...
If you are the kind of reader that loves moral issues and reads authors such as Jody Picoult and Diane Chamberlain then you should definitely pick up this book and give it ago.  My other favourite of Amanda's is The Missing Husband which is definitely a must read...  


 

Read-a-thon / A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2016

I am so excited to say that I am going to be taking part in my first read-a-thon!!  I will be taking part in the A Winter's Respite Read-A-Thon which is being held details above.  The official sign up page and information page can be found at:

Seasons of Reading Blog

This is going to be the perfect read-a-thon to take part in for me as the rules are very relaxed and I can just read what's on my shelf throughout the week.  There are mini-challenges as well which I am not sure I will take part in but we'll see.  What I intend to do is post regular updates in Instagram (link below) and then a blog post at the end of the read-a-thon wrapping up how I did.

 Debra's Book Cafe Instagram

I am so excited to to take part in this.... 

Blog Tour Author Interview / What a Way to Go by Julia Forster

1988. 12-year-old Harper Richardson's parents are divorced. Her mum got custody of her, the Mini, and five hundred tins of baked beans. 

Her dad got a mouldering cottage in a Midlands backwater village and default membership of the Lone Rangers single parents' club. 

Harper got questionable dress sense, a zest for life, two gerbils, and her Chambers dictionary, and the responsibility of fixing her parents' broken hearts. Set against a backdrop of high hairdos and higher interest rates, pop music and puberty, divorce and death, 

What a Way to Go is a warm, wise and witty tale of one girl tackling the business of growing up while those around her try not to fall apart.

1. If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why? 

That’s a difficult question to answer, as it would pre-suppose that they’d want to work with me! However, if I could go back in time, I’d love to have been a fly on the wall in the Duino Castle when Rainer Maria Rilke was writing his Duino Elegies. I was obsessed by Rilke in my early twenties when I was working in Chartres as a waitress; I was introduced to his work by another poet who had just spent two days sleeping on top of his grave! Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet is a must-read for emergent writers in any genre.

2. What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write? 

I don’t have typical days on the whole. As I have young children (six and eight years-old) my days are relatively short, and I’m too exhausted to work in the evenings. Once a week I try to get to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth to work exclusively on my writing and I finish off the day with a punishing Ashtanga yoga class to get the blood flowing again. I also work in an office once a week which I share with filmmakers, environmentalists and hydro-engineers. I try to do all my web-based writing and admin in that space, between our impromptu tea breaks. The rest of the week, I work from home. I have an old-fashioned oak school desk complete with holes for inkwells through which I trail my laptop cable. The desk was given to me by an ex-boss who worked as a literary agent. It’s tiny, and so it fits nicely underneath the bedroom window which overlooks a Welsh hillside populated by sheep and cattle.

3. What is the hardest part of the writing for you? 

Definitely the generation of ideas stage. I love it once I have the characters in my mind, and I tend to let them guide the plot, rather than sticking to any hard and fast outline. I also love the logistical challenge of re-writing, and, as both of my parents are qualified proof readers, I have inherited their love of editing and spotting typographical errors. However, I have to switch off that part of my brain when I write, so that the prose can flow.

4. When and why did you first start writing? 

I used to staple pages of A4 together as a child; when I was 6½, I wrote two book called The Zoo and The Snail. I started to write in earnest when I was 19 and took two writing modules at the University of Warwick, specialising in poetry. In my third year I won an award for a poem about a squash court of all things! As I got older, I realised I didn’t have quite the right mind set for poetry. However, I found that I tended towards the lyrical in What a Way to Go. Perhaps this is because I learnt quite a lot of technical poetic skills in those early years, most of which I have long since forgotten, but I do wonder if something stuck on a cellular level.

5. How did you come up with the idea for your book? 

In all honesty, it was desperation that drove me to write the book! I had moved to mid Wales with my husband, a nine-month old baby and a toddler with not a second thought as to what I’d actually do for a living. When I heard about the Literature Wales bursaries for writers, I applied and submitted 4,000 words of an autobiography I had written in my mid-twenties and said I’d use the grant to write a completely new book, this time a novel, but keeping the theme of divorce and the late 1980s as a backdrop. So, I had the setting, an historical era, but I didn’t have a protagonist. Through the process of trying different voices, I found Harper and she didn’t let me go until I wrote ‘The End’.

6. Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?

I do read avidly now that my kids are a bit older. Aside from their bedtime stories – we’re reading The Little Grey Men by BB for a second time – I’m reading Sophie Someone by Hayley Long, which has been shortlisted for a COSTA prize. I am also reading AS Byatt’s Angels and Insects which is a pick at the rather raucous book group I’m in: it’s a gluten-free book club as we have member who is coeliac, however there is no shortage of opinions, humour and friendly disagreements.

7. Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?

It took me a long while to work out what my weaknesses were. I think I lacked confidence – especially as I took five years out to raise children – and I also lacked application: the simple fact of showing up at the desk, regardless of how awful or wonderful life is feeling. So, I’d say if you could focus on just two aspects of what you need to address in order to complete a full-length work, then that can help. Move towards those aspects of you character where you feel the most resistance, and then face any shortcomings head-on. The other thing that has served me well is to trust my intuition: the gift of doing or saying something completely unexpected is vastly underrated.

Month in Review / December 2015

What a really fantastic reading month December turned out to be for me.  Not only did I complete the 6 books (which includes two audio books that were really quick reads I have to admit) in the picture below but I also started reading the Morganville Vampires series (which has been on my TBR shelf for years) and got to book 10 just before the end of the year.  December was an eye opener for me for many reasons.  The first was that I really enjoyed listening to audio books.  Where I would ordinarily put on some music and do housework etc instead I chose to put on an audio book and really loved it!  I will definitely be looking into reading that way again in the future.  The second eye opener for me was when I looked back at my reading list for 2015 and realised how many review books I read.  It was definitely more than I had thought.  Not that receiving and reading review copies are bad but for December I wanted to read more of what was already on my shelf and I am proud to say that every single book I read in December I had bought myself, a few of those were even ones I have had for a very long time.

My favourite book(s) of the month has to be the Morganville Vampires series.  They are very easy reads and the stories are not really that complicated so I can speed through them quite quickly but I just love the world and the characters. Even at book 11 (which is my first read of January 2016) I still feel as though there is more to this world than what I already know and I really can't wait to find out more...

I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season and wish you all a Happy New Year! 

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Forbidden Game

Seriously I'm Kidding

Hex Hall Trilogy Review

 Read books 1 to 10 of the Morganville Vampires series - Review to follow when I have finished the series...

THE CHILD'S SECRET
A little girl is missing. Her parents are hiding something. Who will pay the price?
When eight-year-old Jasmine Peterson goes missing, the police want to know everything.
What is local park ranger, Sam McIntyre, running away from and why did he go out of his way to befriend a young girl?
Why can’t Jasmine’s mother and father stand to be in the same room as each other?
With every passing minute, an unstoppable chain of events hurtles towards a tragic conclusion.
Everyone has secrets. The question is: who will pay the price?

A WEDDING AT CHRISTMAS
A warm, wonderful and funny Christmas novel from Chrissie Manby - the ideal treat this festive season. Mince pies and mayhem guaranteed!

What comes to mind when you picture a wedding at Christmas? A gorgeous white dress accessorised with a thick velvet cape... bridesmaids in red velvet too? An arch of Christmas greenery: holly and ivy and boughs of fir. Candles and fairy lights. Snow!

Chelsea Benson has just twelve weeks to organise her perfect winter wedding. Her family and friends pitch in to help, but sisterly squabbling, issues with money and an Ice-Queen mother-in-law soon threaten Chelsea's plans for her big day. And that's without the firework fiasco...

Rescuing Chelsea's dream of a proper family wedding might just take all the magic of Christmas...

MOVING

Edwina Spinner has lived in the same house for over fifty years. It used to be a busy, crowded family home but now Edwina lives alone and it has grown too big for her. She has decided to sell it.
The young estate agent who comes to value the house sees potential. Knock down a few walls, add a wet room. 'People like a project.' But as Edwina takes him from room to room, she is transported back to her old life as a young mother. Back to her first husband Ollie and their twins, James and Rowena. Back to lies and dark secrets and to a stepson whose name Edwina cannot even bear to speak aloud.
As Edwina's story unravels she is revealed as a complex and intriguing person. Not just the 'frail old lady' trapped in her dated house, but a woman who has lived an extraordinary life, full of love and tragedy. Why is she now so alone? What happened to Edwina's family all those years ago?


BOY 23
Boy 23 isn't in My Place any more. He can't see The Screen, he can't hear The Voice. Boy 23 is alone.

One dark night, Boy 23 is thrown in the back of the van and driven out of My Place - the only home he has ever known. He is abandoned in a forest with a rucksack containing the bare essentials for survival. Before the van drives away, a voice tells him he must run as far as he can. His life depends on it. Boy 23 has never known another human. Boy 23 has never even been outside. So who is he? Why do people want to kill him? And more to the point, who is the voice that wants to save him?

A hugely fast-paced dystopian page-turner which by the end will leave you in a state of shock. For fans of Chaos Walking and Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror.

THE LIGHT THAT GETS LOST
A small boy hiding in a cupboard witnesses something no child should ever see. He tries not to look but he still hears it. And when he comes out, there's no mistaking. His mum and dad have been killed. And though he's only small, he swears that he'll get revenge one day.

Years later, Trey enters a strange camp that is meant to save troubled teenagers. It's packed with crazies, god-botherers, devoted felons and broken kids. Trey's been in and out of trouble ever since the day the bad thing happened, but he's he not here for saving: this is where he'll find the man who did it. Revenge and healing, salvation and hell are a boiling, dangerous mix, and Trey finds himself drawn to a girl, a dream and the offer of friendship in the dark.

Goodbye 2015 / Hello 2016 Reading Challenges!

Click here to see what books I read in 2015

I always look at the Goodreads Reading Challenge as a bit of fun rather than a goal I have to achieve otherwise I am not happy with myself.  This year is the first in a couple of years where I have reached 100 books read in the year!  In the past I have stressed about reading a certain amount of books in a year and certainly in the past couple of years that has ended in my reading slowing down so I don't actually reach 100 books in a year, which is something that I like to do.  This year I viewed it differently and look at the result!  There were some pretty amazing books read this year and some ok ones but the one thing that I took out of this year was that I read at my own pace and enjoyed every minute of reading, even when it was a book I wasn't enjoying very much... 

Click here to see what books I read for my Project TBR Challenge

This was a new challenge for me this year.  Benjaminoftomes on YouTube actually introduced this idea to me.  It was more of a 'stop reading that new shiny book that you just bought or received for review and read those pretty books on your shelf instead' challenge.  In total, I read 50 books for this challenge which means that half of the books I read were my own.  That is more than what I have done in the past.  I suppose it also helped that I have been going through a bit of a reading midlife crisis type of thing where I have been slowly going through all my books and either trying to read them or if I am not interested in them any more pass them over to a friend or family.  

Click here to see what books I read for the Big Book Challenge

The Big Book Challenge is a challenge I host on Goodreads where the aim is to read more big books, meaning books that are over 400 pages.  For this year I set a challenge of reading 10 big books and I actually read 25!  I haven't consciously chosen big books but it just happened that 25 of the ones that I read this year were 400 pages or more.  I really like this challenge for me as I find I can get stuck in a rut of reading smaller books just to get my numbers up, which is definitely something I have done in the past.  This challenge makes me stop and think about what I am reading.  

Now we have started 2016, I am really excited to start a fresh new year with new challenges.  For this year, I am not going to make many changes to what I have done in 2016.  I am certainly going to do the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 100 books, Project TBR and my Big Book Challenge.  One thing I wanted to add for myself this year was to take part in more readathons.  It is something that I have seen a lot last year and looked like a lot of fun.  I am not sure which ones I want to take part in yet but we'll see! 

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year filled with plenty of amazing books and wonderful reading experiences!!!

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Favourite New Series of 2015

As well as finishing some pretty great series books, I have come across some pretty fantastic first books in as series that I can't wait to pick up more and find out what happens next.  These are in no particular order but these are ones that I have rated 5 stars to and just can't wait to delve into these worlds again!!! 

Rancher Staten Kirkland, the last descendent of Ransom Canyon's founding father, is rugged and practical to the last. No one knows that when his troubling memories threaten to overwhelm him, he runs to lovely, reclusive Quinn O'Grady… or that she has her own secret that no one living knows.

Young Lucas Reyes has his eye on the prize—college, and the chance to become something more than a ranch hand's son. But one night, one wrong decision, will set his life on a course even he hadn't imagined.

Yancy Grey is running hard from his troubled past. He doesn't plan to stick around Ransom Canyon, just long enough to learn the town's weaknesses and how to use them for personal gain. Only Yancy, a common criminal since he was old enough to reach a car's pedals, isn't prepared for what he encounters.

In this dramatic new series, the lives, loves and ambitions of four families will converge, set against a landscape that can be as unforgiving as it is beautiful, where passion, property and pride are worth fighting—and even dying—for. 

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

 Demon possession has swept through Glace's neighboring kingdom, turning humans into hellhounds. These great, fanged wolves are wild, desperate, and hungry. Only the sworn Hunters have kept them back for five long, bloody years.

At the young age of fifteen, Belle LeClair became a Hunter. She no longer remembers how many hounds she's killed, or how many friends she's buried. Still, Belle leads the hunt till a tragedy forces her deep into the dark kingdom. Her heart will be turned, her loyalty tested— and fate will intervene.

Amid a backdrop of Steampunk inventions and a harsh winter landscape, The Beast is a re-imagining of the infamous love between a beauty and a beast.

 When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy. There the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. Fletcher is put through grueling training as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs. He must tread carefully while training alongside children of powerful nobles. The power hungry, those seeking alliances, and the fear of betrayal surround him. Fletcher finds himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with only his demon Ignatius for help.

As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands. The Novice is the first in a trilogy about Fletcher, his demon Ignatius, and the war against the Orcs.

Favourite Complete Book Series of 2015

Following on from my post about favourite stand alone books for 2015, here are my favourite book series of the year, the ones that  I have read the full trilogy/series.  I hadn't really concentrated much on particularly reading complete series/trilogies this year so I was very surprised with what I had read.  The list below is in no particular order of favourites, these are just ones that I rated very highly and would defiantly read again.  You may notice that there is one book missing from the Uglies series, Extras.  As mentioned in my review at the time, I was a little disappointed with this book as it did not seem to follow the story from the previous three books but instead started a new-ish story many years in the future.  For that reason I did not finish reading it (but will pick it up at some point in the future but wanted to read it when I couldn't remember so much about the first three books so I maybe view it as a separate story rather than attaching it to the series) and don't really consider it part of the series.

I have made a few changes reading wise this year from not concentrating too much on what's new out to read but reading books I have on my shelf or on my Kindle especially those that have been on there for quite a while.  The results have been very surprising.  Some I have loved and some I really have not cared for so much.    So here are the completed series that I loved this year.  If you haven't tried any of these, you should.  I highly recommend them... :-)

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world-- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever...

 A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder....

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, 300 years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end 50 years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.

In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now Poppy's only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first they both must risk everything to go against the laws of Night World.

Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.

Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It's a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder.

 

My Favourite Stand Alone Books of 2015

What a fantastic reading year!  When looking back at the books I have read throughout the year I had not realised how many really fantastic books I have read and how many new authors I have discovered.  I thought I would share with you today my list of favourite stand alone books I read this year.  This list is in no particular order of favouritism.  These are ones that I gave 5 stars to and ones that I would not hesitate to read again and again and again!  I hope you guys have had a fantastic reading year and are looking forward to starting a new one... 

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

From the award-winning author of PIECES OF YOU comes this enthralling love story, guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and dream upon a star…


What if your first love was your only love?


When Molly is diagnosed with a life changing illness, it feels like her whole world has come crashing down. She hopes the news will make her marriage to Sam stronger. But why does Molly always call best friend Ed in a crisis?


Ed. The very same Ed that Molly fell in love with at a party when they were teenagers, underneath a star-filled sky. Then life took them in very different directions. They could only ever be friends.


Suddenly Molly starts to question every decision she’s ever made. What if they could turn back the clock? Back to the very beginning. When the only certainty they shared was each other …

The epic made simple. The miracle in the mundane.

One day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for $2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the ability to revise anything.

He fell in love.

Three years and almost one thousand poems later, Tyler is now known as the creator of the Typewriter Series: a striking collection of poems typed onto found scraps of paper or created via blackout method. Chasers of the Light features some of his most insightful and beautifully worded pieces of work—poems that illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate the beauty of a life spent chasing the light.

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

Sienna Murphy never does anything without a plan. And so far her plans have been working. Right after college, she got a prestigious job and gained the stability she'd always craved-until work takes her to the sun-drenched shores of Oahu and places her in the path of sexy surfer Luke Everett. For the first time, she lets her heart take control. Drawn to his carefree charm, she makes a spontaneous and very un-Sienna-like decision to drop everything and stay in Hawaii for two more weeks.

Luke lives fast and wild. When he meets Sienna, he's convinced that some no-strings-attached fun is just what she needs. As their nights quickly turn from playful to passionate, Luke can't deny the deep connection he feels. But there's a reason Luke doesn't do long-term. He can't promise Sienna forever, when the enormity of his past has shown him just how fragile the future can be . . .

The next stunning novel from Richard and Judy pick, Amanda Brooke
When Jo pretends to be asleep as her husband leaves for work the morning after an argument, she doesn’t realise how deeply she will come to regret the opportunity to say goodbye. By nightfall, her life has changed irrevocably.
David has disappeared and there doesn’t seem to be any trace of him. But Jo is five months pregnant and her marriage is full of secrets – not least, David’s unwillingness to start a family.
As the mystery around David’s disappearance shows no sign of being solved, Jo must choose: will she give up her baby to make the man she loves come home?

A street-girl and a lord? London is poised for scandal ... Bestselling author Joanna Taylor delivers captivating historical romance.

Can a street-girl fool Regency London?

Lizzy Ward never meant to end up working the streets of Piccadilly. So when a mysterious lord pursues her, it seems her fortunes are changing.
But Lord Hays wants feisty Lizzy for more than a night. He needs her to masquerade as his companion.

So can a street-girl navigate the fashion and faux pas of London society? And will Lizzy’s wild heart be too much temptation for Lord Hays?

Lily Fitzpatrick loves vintage clothes - made all the more precious because they were once owned and loved by another woman. Thousands follow her vintage fashion blog and her daily Instagram feed. But this passion for the beautiful clothes of the past is about to have unforeseen consequences, when Lily stumbles upon the story of a 1950s New York beauty, who was not only everything Lily longs to be, but also shares Lily's surname.

Joy Fitzpatrick was a legend. But what was the famous dress which she once commissioned - said to be so original that nothing in couture would ever match it again? What happened to it - and why did Joy suddenly disappear from New York high society?

Kate Kerrigan's enthralling novel interweaves the dramatic story of Joy, the beautiful but tortured socialite and that of Lily - determined to uncover the truth and, if possible, bring back to life the legendary dress itself.  

They had found paradise.
What would they do to keep it?
With a quick spin of the globe, Kitty and Lana
escape their grey reality and journey to the Philippines.
There they discover The Blue – a beautiful yacht,
with a wandering crew.

They spend day after languorous day exploring the pristine
white beaches and swimming beneath the stars, and Lana
drifts further away from the long-buried secrets of home.

But the tide turns when death creeps quietly on deck.

A dangerous swell of mistrust and lies threatens to bring
the crew’s adventures to an end – but some won’t
let paradise go…whatever the price.

Over one short weekend, when Canadian musician Scott Emerson and British children's author Frankie Shaw meet by chance, a profound connection is made. Their homes are thousands of miles apart: Frankie and her children live by the coast of North Norfolk while Scott’s roots lie deep in the mountains of British Columbia. Against all advice, they decide to see where this might go.

Over oceans and time zones, they make sacrifices and take risks, discovering along the way new truths about love and family. For the first time in a long while, it seems life could be very good. But fate has a tragic twist in store, one that could destroy all that was hoped for.

Poignant, engrossing and moving, The Turning Point is a novel about the importance of seizing happiness and trusting that love will always find a way.

When her husband Richard dies in a freak accident, Shelby Pomeroy is devastated. But his death reveals a horrible truth - Richard was a liar and a cheat. Now Shelby is left with the consequences - huge, terrifying debts and mounting proof that her late husband betrayed her in every conceivable way.

Heart-broken but unbowed, Shelby is determined to fix her problems - if only for the sake of her gorgeous little daughter Callie. Returning home to Tennessee and the family she thought she'd lost for ever, she discovers a new sense of strength and freedom. And hope, too, in the handsome form of carpenter Griffin Lott - a straight-dealing man who couldn't lie to her if he tried.

But not everyone is thrilled to see Shelby Pomeroy back in town. And when a shocking act of violence is traced back to Richard's shady business, it becomes clear that she is not safe from him, even in death. With her life in danger, Shelby must face the lies of the past - or lose everything.

  The emotional and unforgettable new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.

Alexa Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that she and her mother weren’t his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets,. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.

Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.

Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they’re on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again…