ReadingFanatic

Title: Glass Houses
Author: Rachel Caine
Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy
ISBN: 0451219945
Pages: 239
Rating: Worth the Read
Dates: 3/5 - 3/6
Series/Anthology: Book one of the Morganville Vampire series.

About this book:
It's a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows - one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn't have the night connections - to the undead who run the town.

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...

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. Surprisingly. I didn't think that it was going to be up my ally for some reason since I do like vampires but I just got the feeling by reading the back of the book that I wasn't going to like it. So, I guess my feeling was wrong. I really enjoyed this book...even enough to go and buy the next book in the series. So...with that said. Here's my recap...

( Recap...Spoilers... )

Amy

Page read YTD: 4,288

Next book to read: The Dead Girl's Dance by Rachel Caine

Title: Lover Awakened
Author: J.R. Ward
Genre: Romance - Paranormal
ISBN: 0-451-21936-8
Pages: 434
Rating: 5/5
Series/Anthology: 3rd in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

About this book:
A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion and terror his only passion - until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist's thirst for vengeance against Bella's tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past and find a future with her....

My thoughts:
I loved this book. It started out a little slow for me but I really ended up liking it!!! Anyways, so far I think that Rhage's story is my favorite. I cried like a baby reading that book and only a little bit in this one. I do have to admit that this book was more funny and I really enjoyed laughing at Zsadist. He loved Bella so much and he wanted to be what she wanted but he felt that he was dirty because he was a blood slave in the past. She tried to be so patient with him but he just kept pushing her away and being mean. I loved the character that Ward made with Zsadist. She made people love him but yet hate him in the same kind of way. I mean, who wouldn't love a guy that didn't know his way around a relationship and that was just starting to figure out what love was? But then again, he was so mean to everybody you hated him but you also understood what Zsadist when through to make him that way. I hope that makes sense. Anyways, a very good book.

Amy

Pages read YTD: 13,195

Next book to read: Untamed: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

( P.S. Spoiler.... )

Title: The Gingerbread Man
Author: Maggie Shayne
Genre: Romance - Suspense
ISBN: 0-515-13167-9
Pages: 328
Rating: 5/5

About this book:
Detective Vincent O'Mally has always been able to remain calm and objective while investigating even the most gruesome of crimes. But when he finds two missing children dead in an abondoned house, his well-ordered life turns upside down...

When the FBI takes over the case, a traumatized Vince reluctantly agrees to take some time off - but vows to find the murderer on his own. With a piece of crime - scene evidence to guide his investigation, he travels to a small town in upstate New York, where he meets Holly Newman - a fragile woman whose sister was abducted and killed years ago. Vince is convinced that her sister's death is linked to the recent murders - and that essential clues are hidden deep in Holly's mind. Now, desperate to solve the one case he just can't let go, he must find a way to reach this lovely, lonely woman - and help her confront the searing memories that have haunted her all these long, painful years...

My thoughts:
Awesome story! Fantastic romantic suspense novel. The story was put together real well and definitely kept you guessing. I did figure out a main part of the story before it happened. ( Spoilers... ) All the characters in the town kind of annoyed me. They all seemed like they were hiding secrets or something. Then they all treated Holly like she was some kind of doll that was going to break. All in all though, it was a very good book.

Amy

Pages read YTD:2,118

Next book: My Immortal by Erin McCarthy

Title: Covenant Child
Author: Terri Blackstock
Genre: Christian Fiction
ISBN: 1-59554-328-7
Pages: 335
Rating: 5/5

About this book:
Beautiful, precocious three-year-old twins Kara and Lizzie Holbrooke lived a charmed life with their widowed but doting father, Jack. When he found love and married again, it seemed their lives would finally be "happy ever after."

That new life shtters when Jack and his wealthy parents are killed in a plane crash. Jack's new wife, Amanda, inherits the family's estate, but fails to gain custody of the twins.

And so begins an emotionally charged story that encourages readers to embrace the unique life God has planned for each of His children.

My thoughts:
I actually really enjoyed this book. When I picked it out at the store to put on my Christmas list, I thought maybe it was just going to be an okay read. That it was going to have all this stuff about God in it and everything. But it wasn't anything like I expected. There was mention of God and phrases from the Bible but not anything like I expected. I am so happy that I put this on my Christmas list and received it from my roommate. Basically, after Amanda doesn't win custody of the girls, they go to live with their mother's parents so their grandparents where they treat them bad and lock them in the closet. They tell the girls that Amanda killed their mother, father, and grandparents and stole all their money. It was terrible. The girls grew up in a filthy trailer and dropped out of school and worked at a diner where truckers stopped. They stole and everything but Amanda was there when they turned eighteen and wanted them to come and live with them. There was a stuggle about it cause they believed that Amanda had killed their parents and grandparents and that she was out to kill them too but they found out otherwise. A very good read and something that I wouldn't mind reading again. :)

Amy

Pages read YTD: 1,609

Title: Picture Perfect
Author: Jodi Picoult
Pages: 369
Rating: 2/5
Genre: Fiction

About this book:
As Jodi Picoult's Picture Perfect begins, it is daybreak in downtown Los Angeles. A woman suffering from amnesia is taken in by an officer new to the L.A. police force, after he finds her wandering aimlessly near a graveyard. Days later, when her husband comes to claim her at the police station, no one is more stunned than Cassie Barrett to learn that not only is she a renowned anthropologist, but she is married to Hollywood's leading man, Alex Rivers.

As Alex helps Cassie become reaccustomed to her fairy-tale existence, fragments of memory return: the whirlwind romance on location in Africa, her major anthropological discovery, the trajectory of Alex's career. Yet as Cassie settles into her glamor-filled life, uneasiness nags at her. She senses there is something troubling and wild that she cannot remember, something that would alter the picture of her perfect marriage. When she finds a positive pregnancy test in her bathroom, she is flooded with dark memories. Trying to piece together her past, she runs to the only person she trusts will keep her hidden -- Will Flying Horse, the policeman who had initially harbored her.

Moving from the sweltering African grasslands to the desolate plains of the reservation to the claustrophobic glitz of Hollywood, Jodi Picoult's story is one rich in detail, breadth, and emotion. Picture Perfect is a lush, beautifully written novel that will captivate its readers.

My thoughts:
To be honest, I hated this book. I was being generous with the rating I gave it. I was disappointed. When I started reading Picoult's books, I thought that all her books were going to be great since she seemed like such a fabulous author. Well, this book was horrible. I don't know what to say other than that. I'm speechless because of how much I disliked this book. Hmmm...okay well first, the way you present a book and what format you use to write it, says a lot. I hated the way this book was set up. I loved the way The Pact was set up and Plain Truth was set up in a good way. This was just stupid. I guess the only thing I liked about this book is that Alex beat up Cassie but then she overcame it and saw that it was never going to change. I like to read books where the man or woman beats up the significant other (or kids) and then the one taking the abuse, overcomes it and does something about it and moves on to better things. Anything other than that, was stupid. That's why I felt it took me forever to read it. To any Picoult fans, I WOULD NOT suggest this book.

Amy

Next book on the agenda: Sheer Pleasure by Maggie Shayne (anthology with 3 stories)
Books read YTD: 13
Pages read YTD: 4,439

Title: The Long Road Home
Author: Danielle Steel
Pages: 397
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Romance

About this book:
From her secret perch at the top of the stairs, Gabriella Harrison watches the guests arrive at her parents' lavish Manhattan town house. At seven, she knos she is an intruder in her parents' life. Later, hiding in a closet, the click, click, click of her mother's high heels will strike terror in her heart. Gabriella believes, as she is told, that she is to blame for her mother's rage - and her father's failure to protect her. Her world is a confusing blend of terror, betrayal, and pain. Her parents' aristocratic world is no safeguard against the abuse that knows no boundaries, respects no person, no economic lines. Gabriella knows that, try as she might, there is no safe place for her to hide.

Even as a child, her only escape is through the stores she writes. Only writing can dull the pain of her lonely world. And when her parents' marriage collapses, Gabriella is given her first reprieve, as her father disappears, and then her mother abandons her to a convent. There, Gabriella's battered body and sould being to mend. Amid the quiet safety and hushed rituals of the nuns, Gabriella grows into womanhood in a safe, peaceful world. Then a young priest comes into her life.

Father Joe Connors never questioned his vocation until Gabriella entered the confessional and shared her soul. Confession leads to friendship. And friendship grows dangerously into love. Like Gabriella, Joe is haunted by the pain of his childhood, consumed by guilt over a family tragedy, for which he blames himself. With Gabriella, Joe takes the first steps toward healing. But their relationship leads to disaster as Joe must choose between the priesthood and Gabriella, and life in the real world where he fears he does not belong, and cannot cope.

Exiled and disgraced, and nearly destroyed, Gabriella struggles to survive on her own in New York. There she seeks healing and escape through her writing again, this time as an adult, and her life as a writer begins. But just when she thinks she is beyond hurt, Gabriella is once again betrayed by someone she trusts. Brought to the edge of despair, physically attacked beyond recognition and belief, haunted by abuse in her present and her past, she nonetheless manages to find hope again, and the courage to face the past. On a pilgrimage destined to bring her face-to-face with those who sought to destroy her in her early life, she finds forgiveness, freedom of guilt, and healing from abuse. When Gabriella faces what was done to her, and why, she herself is free at last.

My thoughts:
I honestly thought this book was fantastic!!! This will be one of my books that I will recommend to EVERYBODY! It's in the romance genre however, I think that it should've been under fiction. It was a wonderful book and I was sad to see it end. I wanted it to go on and on forever. Now, I normally don't read Danielle Steel books but this book was recommended to me by my Ex-boyfriend's mom. I'm so glad that she told me about it because I think this is the best book I've read this year. I read one of Steel's books a long time ago called Malice and I remember that I liked it alot but then I tried reading The Ghost by her as well and I hated it that I couldn't even get through it. So I never tried to read another book by her. Well, I read this one and absolutly loved it. I loved the beginning, the middle and the end and I loved EVERYTHING in between it. It is definitly a REREAD! :)

Amy

Books read YTD: 11
Pages read YTD: 3,574