DEATH LOVE LUST Anthology

February 11, 2016July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 4 Comments

by Aurelia Fray, Catherine Stovall, Lily Luchesi, Emma Michaels, Michael Cross, Iskra Ryder, Patrick Tumblety, Libby Bishop, Charlotte Ondac, Jenn Nixon, Jaclyn Osborn, Jen L. Joyal, Victoria Kinnaird, Olivia Harper

DEATH LOVE LUST.

Death is definite. Love is infinite. Lust is eternal.

In the end, death always wins. And what of the threads that remain? Love? Lust? The desire to feel both? The desire to return to the living and feel again? Because, despite death, the heart will forever pine for the love that once was; the love that was once tangible but now is reflected back only in memories and photographs. Both love and lust are stronger than death and will always linger long after life is pulled from us. Because of this we will always remain definite, infinite, and eternal.

Published February 4th 2016 by Hot Ink Press.

GOODREADS – AMAZON AU – AMAZON US

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My Thoughts ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I received an ARC of this book in an exchange for an honest review, THANK YOU :-).

As I normally review teen appropriate YA books I better stress the fact that this anthology is for 18+ Adults Only!

I love anthology’s! I think they are great for getting a little peep at different authors ‘voices’ and finding new favorites.

The Death-Love-Lust Anthology is a collection of adult poems and short stories exploring, you guessed it, death love and lust, featuring both hetero and homosexual couples – oh and delicious demons and righteous reapers.

The poems are absolutely beautiful, I read them all multiple times.

The stories range from dark and mysterious to sexy and sinful, with beautiful deep everlasting love shining through.

Normally I’d stay away from erotica that dabbles with death, but as the lovely Lily Luchesi was a part of it and given how I really enjoy her Paranormal Detective series, I gave it a go. I was pleasantly surprised! This is a collection of well-rounded pieces connecting life, death and love. Obviously there were some stories I preferred over others, but as a whole it was a really enjoyable, engaging and entertaining read.

Grumpy Cat Volume 1 by Ben McCool

February 3, 2016July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Grumpy Cat, Volume 1 by Ben McCool, Royal McGraw, Elliott Serrano, Ben Fisher, Steve Uy(Author) (Illustrations), Ken Haeser (Illustrations), Tavis Maiden(Illustrations), Agnes Garbowska (Illustrations).

Children’s Fiction

Publishing on the 16th Feb.

Dynamite proudly presents the comic book misadventures of Grumpy Cat, featuring “The World’s Grumpiest Cat” and her brother, Pokey! With her ever-present pout and sassy disposition, Grumpy Cat has won the hearts of people everywhere. Now, her unbearable cuteness and infectious sourpuss are featured in an all-new, all-sensational collection of comic stories, sure to make fans of all ages laugh! If you love the memes, the videos, and that irresistible scowl, then get ready for the wildly fun antics of Grumpy Cat and Pokey!

* * * * * * My Thoughts * * * * * *

Many thanks to the publisher via NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review.

Grumpy Cat who’s real name is Tardar Sauce was born in April 2012 and thanks to an underbite and feline dwarfism she has a grumpy looking pout. She shot to fame in September 2012 when a photo of her started circulating the internet and subsequently sporned multiple memes.

I don’t think you need to know who grumpy cat is to find this cute comic collection a fun read. But i’d be shocked if you hadn’t ever heard of her.

Grumpy Cat Volume 1 is a humorous, quick and light hearted read about two cats who are polar opposites personality wise and the mischief they get up to.

I think it’d be the perfect thing to have in a waiting room /coffee table as it would appeal to a large age range, who doesn’t like a grumpy cat and there isn’t anything in there anyone can get offended about.

Grumpy Cat reminds me of 90’s Garfield. With Grumpy Cat we get humor and sarcasm. She is grumpy yet adorable, loves food, loves to sleep and has a dog and Pokey to reign over. There are haunted houses, broken smart phones, stolen treats, revenge (against the dog) and more. I give It Three “I Liked It” Stars.

If you want more check out Grumpy Cat on Goodreads or Author Ben McCool’s Website.

Heart and Brain: An Awkward Yeti Collection by Nick Seluk

September 16, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Heart and Brain: An Awkward Yeti Collection by The Awkward Yeti, aka Nick Seluk.

Published Date: 20^th October 2015 by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Thank You to Net Galley for supping me with an electronic copy to read and review.

From paying taxes and getting up for work to dancing with kittens and starting a band, readers everywhere will relate to the ongoing struggle between Heart and Brain.

Heart and Brain: An Awkward Yeti Collection illustrates the relationship between the sensible Brain and its emotionally driven counterpart, the Heart.

Boasting more than one million page views per month, TheAwkwardYeti.com has become a web comic staple since its creation in 2012.

In this perfect coffee table book, which I intend to by myself a hardcover version of, we get a series of comic strips illustrating the battle between our Brain and our Heart.

I found this book to be adorable, full of fun, relatable, amusing, totally huggable and even thought provoking at times. It made me want to chase butterflies, drink large amounts of coffee and read it again. Five Stars.

news Website – http://theawkwardyeti.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AwkwardYeti

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/theawkwardyeti

Tumblr – http://larstheyeti.tumblr.com/

Reddit – http://www.reddit.com/user/awkwardyeti/

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

August 30, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

By Jenn Bennett – Night Owls (UK & AU) The Anatomical Shape of a Heart (US).

Published: 13th August 2015.

Thanks to Jenn Bennett, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Feeling alive is always worth the risk.

Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco’s night bus—turns Beatrix’s world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive…and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. Beatrix herself has an incredible artistic talent and is determined to become a medical illustrator. Across midnight buses, blog posts and through her artwork, Beatrix unravels the enigma that is Jack while the two of them fall passionately in love.

But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

Will the secrets Jack stubbornly guards come back to haunt him? Or will Bex’s own complex family fall apart first?

AWWWWWWWWWW!!! Just give me a second as I sit here and hug my HB pencils.

We follow the likeable Bex as she struggles to do what she feels is right. We see her deify her mother for the first time in her life, for good reasons. We see her fall in love with a broken boy who needs her. Find herself. And confront her absent father.

Both Bex and Jack families, even through from extremely different social standings, have issues. We get to see them all work through these issues and come out the other side.

Things I loved: Both leads were Artsy. Good old teen angst. Divorce and Mental Illness’s were addressed. Jack’s Adorable law breaking. Sexy Classic Cars. Happy endings for all the main characters that didn’t feel over the top or super cheesy, just warm and fuzzy.

Things I didn’t: Nothing.

I laughed out loud with this book. At once stage I got antsy, had to put it down and go for a walk because the characters dramas was stressing me out – I just wanted them to be happy! I finished Night Owls and just sat on the lounge with a big smile on my face.

There is adorable first time teen love heavily sprinkled throughout the whole story – Perfection!! I’m putting this on my re-read when needing a pick me up shelf 🙂 Five Stars.

Purchase Links:

Amazon | B&N | Booktopia | Amazon AU

Killing Time by Ingrid Nickelsen

August 13, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Killing Time

(For Better or for Worse #2)

by Ingrid Nickelsen

Published 26^th April 2015 by Untold Press

I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review. Thank you Ingrid!

Death is the ultimate heartbreak. Evangeline never expected it to break hers after she died. No one should have to choose between their husband and their first love, but it is that choice that shatters her spirit.

She makes her choice, choosing not to transition, and finds that death can be vengeful too.

The world of the dead is far more complex that she ever knew, and facing the consequences of her actions might be the hardest obstacle yet, Fighting to survive in a world she doesn’t understand, she seeks the help of the wanderers. Time is running out as winter grips the land and her companions help her search for Will. Perhaps, if she keeps her eyes open and believes in her love enough, she will make her way back to him before the Hunters find her first.

Unexpected reunions, impossible choices, and long-hidden secrets will fill her journey with joy and sadness. It is Hunting season and Evangeline will have to fight for those she loves while remembering that cheating death always has a price.

Told from a dual perspective, Killing Time brings the For Better or for Worse series to a heart-stopping continuation in every sense of the word.

I’m writing this review over a month after reading the book, as I’ve been on holidays, but I can remember exactly how I felt and what I said the moment I finished this book.

I felt super hyped up and I said “I can’t wait to read next one”.

Unlike the first book that was just told in Eve’s point of view, we get duel POV with the addition of Will. I really enjoyed being inside Will’s head.

We get a lot of drama early on with Eve forced to join a group of wanders after running off from her transition ceremony. Eve’s choice not to transition caused all sorts of trouble and we start to get a sense of how much when Brielle and Will are captured and thrown in prison by the Midnight Hunters.

There are a fair few twists and turns along the way with newly introduced characters and some previous ones popping back up. Some really big “Oh Snap” moments happen thanks to a certain big deal new character.

We get more magical visions, this time it seems that Eve and Will are transported to some sort of parallel world. While there some emotional bombs are dropped on us all for good measure.

Things get really interesting as we start learning about the Seekers and the Midnight Hunters; their powers and their plans for Will.

This book is definitely more in depth emotionally. We find out more about the characters back stories, making the whole story a more engaging and enjoyable read. I got goosebumps meeting the seekers and witnessing the twisted truth they tell Eve about her and Will’s connection.

The last 150 pages are an intense whirlwind. And that epilogue! Bring on the third and final book. I am expecting the final book to be an epic show down.

Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Ingrid Nickelsen Ingrid is a French girl, college student, and dreamer. She currently resides in Paris, where she spends most of her time going to museums and the movies.
Despite the romantic atmosphere in Montmartre, or even the fancy cafés in the Champs Elysées, she would easily trade it all for a nice walk in the woods with her schnauzer, Golden. She’s always craving adventures, and finds that books are the cheapest way to travel to far-away lands. She’s inwardly convinced that words have the power to heal the worst blisters on our hearts, or at least can make us forget about them for a little while. And sometimes, it’s just enough to face another crazy day.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

June 21, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 2 Comments

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

Published: 22nd June 2015 by Harper Collins

Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me an ARC and the opportunity to read and review this book.

With a harrowing poetic voice, this contemporary page-turner is perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, Julie Berry’s All The Truth That’s in Me, and the works of Ellen Hopkins.

The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust.

And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it’s clear that Minnow knows something—but she’s not talking. As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of—if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow By is a hard-hitting and hopeful story about the dangers of blind faith—and the power of having faith in oneself.

This book has received so many raving reviews and so many “loved it” reviews from fellow book bloggers that I follow. I can understand how someone could be so WOW’d by this book. The writing is beautiful, easy to read /understand and flows at a perfect pace. The action arches and curves to keep you tearing through the pages till the end.

It’s hard to believe that this is Stephanie Oakes Debut! It is her debut people and in my eyes it is flawless. I’ve already added her next book to my TBR even though it won’t be out until next year.

Cults disgust me. Anyone who hides behind religion and lies degusts me. In fact any person who can hurt another living thing and enjoy it, degusts me. Even so I think this book is brilliant. It made me keep reading even though I hated the topic matter. I either wanted to slap sense into the characters or see them run them over with an army tank. Ok, I wanted the Prophet to be run over by an Army tank, the rest I wanted them to wake up to themselves, stupid sheep.

I liked Minnow from the start, but I loved her once she woke up and started to rebel.

My only complaint is that I wanted more closure at the end. I wanted to know that the innocent got a happy ending and the others got what they deserved – even if that is unrealistic.

I generally read books to escape the horrible world we live in. This book spotlights the horrible world we live it, but I am glad I read it. I think anyone 13+ could read this and get something out of it.

I’m going to share what I am sure is going to become one of my favorite book quotes. I’ll give you a little lead in so it makes sense. Warning the work fuck is used, but there is very little swearing in the book considering she ends up in juvenile hall.

* * * * * * *

“FUUUUUCK!” She screams.

“A MILLION TIMES FUCK!” I scream with her.

“What on God’s sacred green Earth is going on?” Benny calls from the skyway. She approaches the bars, her arms crossed.

“Nothing,” Angel and I sat in unison…

“Fuck,” I Whisper.

“Fuck,” she whispers back, a smile creeping onto her face. And, inside that smile is the knowledge that some things are just too sad, too screwed up. Sometimes there’s nothing for it but shouting “Fuck” with your best friend at the top of your lungs.

* * * * * * *

I think that sums up life; something’s are just too sad, too screwed up. I’ve been known to scream profanities at the sky, sometimes there is nothing else we can do to release the pain.

Stephanie Oakes is a teacher and YA author from Washington State.

THE ARSONIST, her second YA mystery is scheduled for publication in fall 2016.

Website – http://www.stephanieoakesbooks.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/stephanieeoakes

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/543716.Stephanie_Oakes

Tumblr – http://stephanieoakes.tumblr.com/

Starfire #1 by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti

June 16, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Starfire 2015 #1

By (Authors) Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and (Illustrator) Emanuela Lupacchino.

27 full colour pages, Published June 2015 by DC Comics

SHE’S AN ALIEN WARRIOR TRYING TO FIND PEACE…

AND WILL FIGHT ANYONE OR ANYTHING TO GE IT!

ARE YOU READY?

The first though I had when I finished this was “That was adorable. I want more.”

So Starfire aka Kori was a princes on her own planet, but was outlawed when some nasties took it over and entrapped her sister – I’m sure this will all come back to haunt Kori later in the series. For now Kori is struggling to fit in on earth, cue taking a shower naked out in the open and misunderstanding men’s meanings about giving her a place to stay for the night, but luckily she has the help of a cop named Stella.

Starfire is funny, sexy and a treat for the eyes. The pages are in full colour and those colours are bright and beautiful.

This feels like it’s going to be a super quirky, full on girl power, bad guy busting series of awesomeness. It’s from the writers of HARLEY QUINN so all of the above is to be expected. I’m ready, bring on more Starfire. Five Stars.

What DC says about Starfire:

A princess who became a slave. A slave who became a warrior. A warrior who became one of the world’s greatest super heroes.

Betrayed by her own sister and forced into slavery, Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran experienced torture, exploitation and experimentation at the hands of others—but instead of it breaking her, it only made her stronger. Breaking free and fleeing to Earth, she discovered a world filled with heroes, people who fought for the oppressed, who used their powers and abilities to save those in need. And it was then that Koriand’r made a decision that changed her place in life forever. She decided to become the super hero known as Starfire.

Like all Tamaraneans, Starfire’s alien physiology allows her to absorb ultraviolet radiation and convert it to energy in order to fly. However, due to the experiments conducted on her during her imprisonment, she can also channel and project that same energy as destructive blasts.

Despite the hardships she experienced early in her life, Starfire remains a courageous and dedicated hero, who despises seeing anyone else experience the pain she went through herself. She is incredibly loyal and optimistic and lives to see and experience everything the universe has to offer.

Now I didn’t see it as Kori’s sister betraying her, I saw it as she didn’t have a choice. But as I said I’m sure that’ll all come up again later in the series and there is probably more to it then we got in this first issue.

Amanda Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/54926.Amanda_Conner

Jimmy Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/54927.Jimmy_Palmiotti

Jimmy Twitter – https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti

DC Starfire – http://www.dccomics.com/comics/starfire-2015

#1 available NOW. #2 available 8th July.

#3 available 12th August. #4 available 9th September.

The Feral Child by Che Golden

June 4, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 1 Comment

The Feral Child (Feral Child Trilogy #1) by Che Golden

Published in 2012 by Quercus UK

266 Pages

“Gripping, mystical and adventurous, young readers will be as hooked as Maddy was the minute she set foot inside that creepy as hell old castle,” Irish World said of The Feral Child.

Maddy, an orphan, is sick of her Irish town, and sick of her cousin Danny, one of the nastiest people you could meet. Mad as hell one evening, she crawls inside the grounds of the castle, the one place she has always been forbidden to go. Once inside, she is chased by a strange feral boy, who she suspects is one of the faerie: cruel, fantastical people who live among humans and exchange local children for their own.

When the boy returns to steal her neighbor Stephen into his world, Maddy and her cousins set off on a terrifying journey into a magical wilderness, determined to bring him back home. To do so, they must face an evil as old as the earth itself.

Che Golden has created a gripping adventure that interweaves Maddy’s modern Irish experience with the vivid fantasy of the region’s ancient folklore. Readers will enjoy the frank and bold heroine of Maddy, and will be dazzled by The Feral Child‘s evocative rendering of Irish folklore and richly imagined alternate worlds.

Going off the synopsis I thought I was going to love this book, but sadly I wasn’t as enchanted as I expected to be – Never the less it was a sweet fast paced easy read. The fae in this story are not sparkly wish granting flower hugging sweetie pies and therefore probably more believable.

After losing both her parents Maddy, the 10 year old protagonist, ends up living in Ireland with her elderly grandparents. Maddy has two cousins that join her on her adventures; Roisin was lovely, but Danny wasn’t very realistic – little boys do not have changes of heart that quickly. And that malicious Aunt hell bent on taking Maddy away from her grandparents, owww I couldn’t stand her.

Maddy is angry at the world and everyone in it (understandably) and the fae target her because of the great anger and pain she harbours inside. The pain she holds inside her nearly gets her killed in the magical realm, twice! I think this story holds an important lesson to be learnt for the Middle Grade audience it was written for. And I doubt that any faults I found with the stories rushed character development would even be noticed by that target audience. Ten year old me would have eaten this up thinking it was the most fantastical thing ever!

The highlight of the book for me was Maddy’s adorable dog George, he added humour to the story and Maddy realising her deep love for her Grandparents.

While I found that some parts of the story were far too rushed, overall the book was enjoyable and there were some really wonderful parts in the story that made reading it worthwhile.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

May 17, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 2 Comments

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Published April 14th 2011 by Dutton Adult

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

I am seriously fan girl-ing right now, I just went and followed all Rowell’s social medias so I could stalk her, umm I mean see what book she has coming out next.

I was in love with this book by the first few pages. I think this is the fastest I’ve ever devoured a book. I got the book that morning and read it all that day. That’s a new record for me. (i’m writing this review two days later). I came up for air, once, to put up a Goodreads update – Page 48: Loving this book and thinking “why have I not read any Rainbow Rowell until now”.

I finished the book late-ish Friday night – Page 322: Love Love Loved this book. I’m jumping up and down and smiling, LOVED IT – review to come 🙂. I only open it it intending to have a look and reading it later when I was on holidays. Just the first few pages had me hooked and I didn’t go to bed until I’d finished it. I loved Rowell’s writing, her humour, snappy dialogue and devour-able prose.

The Main Characters: Lincoln O’Neill, Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder; I love them all and they are now my imaginary best friends 😛 what I wouldn’t give to have a working friendship like Beth and Jennifer’s. The characters are all 28 (my age) and it’s nice to see other people not having there s**t together. It’s a funny, heart-warming story that feels real. My favorite books usually involve magic, mythological or paranormal creatures, but Rowell’s left me feeling happier than any book has in a long time. I was smiling like I’d just won the lotto when I finished the last page.

The story swaps between Lincoln “page shots” of Beth and Jennifer’s emails and Lincoln in the 3^rd person. The story is set back in 1999/2000, the whole point being that people didn’t have iPhones etc. back then so we see the two female leads converse using inter office email. Then there is the poor smuck Lincoln that has to monitor those inter office emails. At this time 1999/2000 I was in high school and they did monitor your computer use, I know this because I got in trouble off the librarian once for some “inappropriate” story I was writing.

The girls are immediately like-able. But for me Lincoln became the star of the show. He was lonely and stuck in a rut. He hated his dead end job that made him feel like a perverse nut job. Now I can see why some people mightn’t like this, they might write Lincoln off as a creepy loser. But I love how we get to watch him grow, watch him try to be a better person and succeed. He gets out of his rut, he gets his s**t together and he gets the girl, the right girl! Go Lincoln Go!

I love Lincoln, yeah so what if he fell for Beth while reading her emails –Ah hello, he gave Jennifer his MacDonald’s while he changed her flat tyre in a storm, super hero! – Beth did some Lincoln stalking as well, so meh, all’s fair in love and war. I did some house drive by stalking when I was younger LOL and he married me, my husband the silly man.

So Five Stars. I’m going to leave it at that because if I try to tell you anymore about the story I’ll give it all away.

Rainbow Rowell writes books.

Sometimes she writes about adults (Attachments and Landline).

Sometimes she writes about teenagers (Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On.).

But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they’re screwing up. And people who fall in love.

When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things.

She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.

Website – http://www.rainbowrowell.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rainbow.rowell.author

Instagram – https://instagram.com/rainbowrowellbooks/

Tumblr – http://rainbowrowell.tumblr.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4208569.Rainbow_Rowell

Stake-Out (Paranormal Detectives Book One) by Lily Luchesi

April 27, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 5 Comments

Detective Danny Mancini is on a case, following a murder suspect. When he catches him, he finds out that the perp isn’t even human: he’s a 200 year old rogue vampire!

The department doesn’t believe him, and puts him on early retirement, despite his many years of service to the Chicago Police Department, which sends him into a downward spiral.

Two years later, Danny gets an invitation from the beautiful, young and very attractive Detective Angelica Cross to join a secret branch of the FBI to help her track down Vincent, the wayward vamp.

But renegade werewolves, meddling immortal witches and Danny’s strange visions of a life lived a century ago with Angelica make things more difficult than it should be.From the beginning it is easy to care about Danny – A detective doing his job and doing it well, who witnesses’ something unbelievable. And of course no one believes him; he is pushed out of the CPD, labelled as crazy and unfit for work. Danny is barely surviving, living on bottle after bottle of booze when along comes Angelica Cross and the PID (The secret paranormal investigation department of the FBI). A Vamplet, Angelica is the daughter of a human male and a vampire female. Angelica is sexy, strong and determined to catch the bad guys. Though the whole book Danny struggles, he’s had so much thrown at him and never really recovers. I hope that in the next or third book his life can come together for him. At the very end of the epilogue, I felt like there was hope of that, as he’d realised his mistakes.

Even though it was easy to guess Angelica Cross’s big secret early on, I loved that Danny didn’t. There are all sorts’ twists and turns along the way, some expected, some not. The story was fast paced, action packed, entertaining and emotional. I was swept up in Danny and Angelica’s world.

In this the first book, we meet two villains, but only one of them dealt with, leaving what could be an epic show down between Angelica and the powerful and malicious witch Fiona Gullifoyle.

I am really looking forward to the next installment. Bring It On.

My favourite parts:

The flash backs to Danny’s previous life, I loved the whole epilogue (even read it twice).

The vampiric history lesson Angelica gives Danny – Fascinating.

All the little snippets of song lyrics that accompany each chapter break – It is a really lovely, quirky touch. The emotion in the song lyrics matched the chapters perfectly each time.

Lily Luchesi is a young author/poet born in Chicago, Illinois, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things “dark”. At two she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle by the time she was twelve, and, as her family has always been what they now call “Gothic”, she doesn’t believe she shall ever change. She is also a hopeless romantic and avid music-lover, and will always associate vampires with love, blood and rock and roll. Her interest in poetry came around the same time as when she was given a book of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete work. She then realized that she had been writing her own poetry since she could hold a pen, and just had not known the correct terms. She finished her first manuscript at the age of fourteen, and now, at twenty-one, has two contributing credits in anthologies and the debut novel, Stake-Out.