Jaime's Review of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

From Goodreads.

The first book in Richelle Mead's brand-new teen fiction series - set in the same world as Vampire Academy. 

When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning. 

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

Jaime’s review….

When I first found out Richelle was doing a spin off series from the Vampire Academy books and they were going to be about Sydney I was thrilled! She was some of my favorites of the minor characters from the VA series and I wanted to get to know more about her and the alchemists. Then I found out that my beloved Adrian Ivashkov was also going to be a big part of the series and I got even more excited! (Yes people I am Team Adrian for me at least. Rose can have Dimitri)

The first couple chapters were pretty slow but they were setting us up for this amazing story where Sydney has to enroll in a boarding school to protect Lissa Dragomir’s half-sister Jill from forces that want her dead. Sydney being an alchemist is wary of vampires and their unnatural magic so it’s funny to see her sent to live and deal with  two vampires and a dhampir especially after her escapades with Rose and Dimitri.

I really loved the connection between her and Adrian they way they argue and banter is absolutely hilarious and adorable! I really also enjoyed seeing Abe back he’s another favorite of mine. The new people Richelle introduced in this book had me very intrigued especially Trey and Mrs. Terwilliger. The story itself was completely still immersed in the world that we grew to love in the VA series but with some slight differences added too.  I guarantee that if you’re a fan of The Vampire Academy series you’re going to want to add this new series to your collection Richelle has hit another home run with this one and now I’m eagerly waiting for book 2 The Golden Lilly!

You can get Bloodlines at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at your local bookstore or library. Make sure to check out Richelle’s website HERE. One more thing make sure to check out Bloodlines 0.5 Adrian’s Lost Chapter HERE it’s the first chapter written from Adrian’s POV instead. J

Jaime's Review of Crave by Melissa Darnell

From Goodreads.

Savannah Colbert has been shunned all her life by the kids of the Clann. And when she undergoes some drastic changes after a strange illness, Savannah learns secrets about the group and about herself—dangerous secrets. For the Clann are powerful magic users, and Savannah herself is half Clann and half vampire—a forbidden, unheard of combination. Falling for Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman isn't just a bad idea—it could be deadly if anyone finds out. But her attraction to Tristan—and his to her—isn't something either of them can resist for long.

Jaime’s review….

Melissa Darnell has created a world full of magic and mystery that is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end! It’s a modern take on the Romeo and Juliet story but with Witches and Vampires. The characters are believable they seem like normal teenagers. At first I wasn’t sure (since they start out as 14 year old) but then I remembered Patricia’s son is 14 and I thought ok I can see him acting this way. The only other slight issue I had was the pacing I felt she moved too quickly through some parts of the story; one minute the kids are 14 the next 16 and driving and I was like whoa when did that happen? The answer to that?  It happened when I was reading! I read about the seasons changing but as they did I didn’t even realize we were that far ahead in the story!

I really liked the way the love story unfolded it wasn’t insta-love these two had known each other all their lives. I also enjoyed that the story was told from both Savannah’s and Tristan’s perspectives. I think Tristan’s were my favorites!

Savannah’s friends (whom call her Sav) are all really cool especially her best friend Anne she really cares about Sav and when strange things start happening she stands by her side no matter what. That is a true friend.

I loved the idea about the possibility of a war between the Vampires and the Clann (I wonder who would win) and that Savannah will do anything she can to try and stop that from happening.

This was a really fun read! It wasn’t complicated or gut wrenching which was a refreshing break.  It didn’t make me cry (even though there were some tense moments) it just made me smile.

Go pick up Crave book #1 in the Clann series when it comes out October 18^th  if you want a fun read that will leave you smiling.

Thank you Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for an early copy for review!

Giveaway Time!!!

So you all know we absolutely love Jeri Smith-Ready! Well Jaime has one signed copy of Shift left to give away to one lucky person plus some really cool swag (can you say a signed Near Witch bookmark and more signed swag??)  Since we missed our 6 month blog birthday oops ;) we’re doing this giveaway now! What do you have to do?? Simple just fill out the entry  here and you’re good to go!

As always we’ll use to old school ball cap method to draw names and remember to use the twitter hashtag #ShiftLoveGiveaway to spread the love! Thanks everyone for making our blogging experience so awesome!!!!  Contest ends next Sunday 9/18 so make sure to get your entries in! Sorry this Giveaway is US only :(


CONTEST IS CLOSED NOW WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH.

Jaime's Review of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Mara Dyer doesn't believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

Jaime’s review….

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is like nothing I’ve ever read! From the first page I had absolutely no idea what was going on but I had to keep reading! It was like I was in the biggest game of Clue I had ever experienced! I mean really how did these people die? Who was doing it? Why were there leeches and alligators? All these things ran through my mind and left me scratching my head!

Mara knows people around her are dying and she has to try to figure out why along with the help of a boy Noah Shaw that she tries not to fall in love with but does anyways. Noah is an enigma in his own rite and Mara doesn’t know why the hot popular boy whom everyone refers to as a player has any interest in her at all. She honestly believes she’s going crazy but strange things keep happening, and happening. As the strange things continue her mind begins to sort through her memories but what is real and what isn’t? That is what she has to figure out and I can’t say much about what she does find out because it will spoil the story.

I absolutely loved this book and especially Noah! I can’t wait for the next book in this series I have to know what’s going to happen! Michelle Hodkin sucked me into the Mara Dyer vortex and I won’t likely be getting out for a while. Mara Dyer comes out September 27^th so if you want in on crazy awesomeness that is this book I suggest you go pick it up!

Asylum Cover Reveal

Today is an awesome day! One of our favorite Indie Authors Kathleen Tucker who wrote the amazing book Anathema (check out our reviews here Jaime's and Patricia's) has asked us to be a part of the cover reveal for her Casual Enchantment Series Book 2. The title of the book is Asylum which is very appropriate from the sneak peek Jaime has seen ;) so want to see the beauty that is Asylum??? Well drumroll please........

****Spoiler Alert***** If you haven't read Anathema skip past this part!!! Start back after the ***'s
The unofficial ASYLUM descriptionTucked away in Sofie’s wintery asylum with no hope of release for years, Evangeline must come to terms with her situation: the curse still plagues her, she’s now hunted by a two thousand-year-old vampire, and the guy she’s in love with tried to kill her. Plus, she’s locked up with a cranky Max and the Forero kids—two people everyone seems to prefer dead over alive. Things aren’t looking good.
Meanwhile, back in Manhattan, Sofie struggles to keep forty trapped and bloodthirsty Ratheus vampires at bay and a desperate Viggo from killing Evangeline’s friends, all while hints stir outside the walls of the NYC vampire asylum of a war brewing between the Sentinel and the witches.
Is there any hope for Evangeline and Caden? Can Sofie control the rival powers? Is the fate of Earth predestined?
Find out in Book 2 of the Causal Enchantment series, a sequel to ANATHEMA. ******

Isn't the cover just gorgeous? The release date for Asylum is sometime in January 2012 don't worry we'll keep you posted ;) and if you haven't read Anathema yet first why not? Second here's your chance Kathleen has decided not only to reaveal her beautiful cover here but she's giving away 2 ecopies and one signed copy of Anathema! Want to read this awesome book enter HERE! If you don't want to wait to see if you've won why don't you just purchase a copy? It's only 99 cents at Amazon and Smashwords. Make sure to check out Kathleen's blog also she always posts cool stuff there!

Descended by Blood Blog Tour

Hey everyone! Welcome to our stop on the Descended by Blood blog tour! For our stop on the tour Angeline Kace stopped by and graced us with a guest post about why she decided to write Descended by Blood. Angeline is one of the sweetest people you will meet if you don't follow her on twitter go do that now :) also here's a link to her blog she's got tons of cool stuff there! We're also hosting a giveaway so after the guest post be sure to check out what Angeline is giving away!

So without further ado we're handing it over to Angeline...

Why I Decided to Write Descended by Blood

The journey to writing my first novel wasn't really what most people would expect. I didn't grow up loving to read. I read some when I was younger, probably up until about the fourth grade, but then I would only read enough of a book to get by on book reports for school. I wrote some poetry in junior high, but never really did any serious writing.

I became a book addict in November 2009. I read Twilight because I was going to see the movie with my sister, and since books are ALWAYS better than the movies, I thought I'd better read it. And if the guys at my work were digging the book, I thought it must have been pretty good. Once I started reading Twilight, I couldn't get enough of Edward, enough of vampires, enough of the written word. After I finished the series, I scavenged for more vampires. I became a member of some fan forums and followed the threads with book recommendations daily. When I said I was an addict, I meant it. Literally. If I wasn't at work, school, or sleeping, I was reading.

When I find a book I really love, I tend to visit the author's website. And that's what I did with Twilight. One of the posts Stephanie Meyer wrote talked about why she enjoyed writing. She mentioned that she got the same "high" when she writes as she does when she's reading a good book. I knew exactly what she was talking about because that was something I loved about reading. And reading was getting expensive. I am an instant gratification kind of gal, so waiting on library books was never an option for. Plus, I'm an ebook gal all the way, so all of my books were purchased. Writing just seemed like the natural progression to my addiction. And thus, I decided that's what I would do.

I had a dream that night or the next night that was amazing! It was one of those dreams you think would make an awesome movie. So, I wrote down what happened in the dream, what I saw, and everything. Then I opened up a word document and started to write it. During this time, I began to research the process to publishing. Everywhere I went, I read how hard it was to get published; how many query letters you had to send out and how many rejection letters you'd get back. I didn't want to put myself through all that, so I tucked the book away in a file on the computer, sad that my ideas would never reach any readers.

Fast forward to December 2010. I read a little book by the name of Switched by Amanda Hocking. Let me tell you, I loved this book! I had such a HARD time trying to get into another book because all I could think about was what would happen to Wendy and Finn. And like I mentioned earlier, when I really like I book, I search out the author. I found Amanda's blog and read that she published her own books. What!? I didn't need to send out 50 million query letters or beat my head against a brick wall for years? That was it! A door opened up for me and something clicked into place. From that moment on, I knew I was going to write and publish my own books.

The question now was, "What do I write?" I had another awesome dream around this time. It was a sci-fi and I loved the characters. I had my plan, I knew what I was going to do, what I was going to write, and in my excitement, I spilled it all out to my husband. That was when my journey to Descended by Blood truly began.
"What?" Hubs said. "Why would you write a sci-fi book? You should start out writing what you know. How many sci-fi books have you read?"
"I dunno," I said. "A few."
"Right. And how many vampire books have you read?"
"Uh, probably like a million."        
"Then that's what you should start out with," Hubs suggested.
"Yeah, but vampires are so saturated in the market right now. I kinda wanted to do something different."
"Oh, come on," Hubs said. "You can't be the only one who's endlessly searching for the next great vampire book."
And I honestly thought I couldn't be the only one. So, I set out to write a vampire book in a market saturated with vampire books. I still wanted to create something different, but because I had been gobbling up vampire books for the past two years, I felt I was prepared with an arsenal of knowledge of what had been done, and with enough creativity, I could create something that could set my vampire book apart from the masses.

I started by separating my vampires from others in the most obvious way. My vampires would not be made from being bitten or by a virus that passes on within the biting. My species of vampires are an evolved race of humans.  I started the storyline out with werewolves as an opposing race, but that just wasn't working, so I changed it up to a breed of vampires that could be made. However, the process is a lot more complicated than being bitten. You'll find out more about this process in the later books, but this was also something that took me a great deal of thought to figure out how to set it apart.

Another way that I set my vampires apart was by having them originate from somewhere that I have never read vampires coming from in fiction. Croatia is rich with vampire history, and when I found out that one of the earliest written records of an actual vampire sighting was from there, I knew that was the place for my vamps!

One final thing I wanted to mention about my vamps and my inspiration was the Mafia. The Mafia is something that has always piqued my interest. Everything they do, they do with the thought of secrecy in mind. They have their methods down to an art, and I think if vampires truly existed, some of those methods would be the same.

I'm still a huge fan of vampire books, and now that Descended by Blood is written and out there for the world to read, I'm glad that I got to create my own version of them. I'm excited for what's to come and for you all to see deeper into their culture and social structure.

Thank you Jaime and Patricia for hosting me today on your blog! You're both such great bloggers in the blogger community, and I'm grateful that I got to stop by ;)

She's so awesome isn't she! Thanks Angeline for doing the guest post and asking us to be a part of the tour! So onto the giveaway here is what Angeline has for us.

Giveaway
-We have the skin prize pack, which includes a Kindle or Nook eReader skin, an ebook, a bookmark, and a nail polish.
-The contest runs through the end of 9/7. So winners will be announced on the 8th.
-Contest is US
Contest is over. Winner will be chosen by the baseball hat method. We here at Two Chicks do not use random.org
Also make sure to check out the following tour stops for more chances at prizes! The tour goes until the 29th so look for more blog links on these blogs!
Sept 7th- I'm A Book Shark
Sept 8th-Seeing Night Reviews
Sept 9th- My Cute Bookshelf
Sept 10th- Letters Inside Out 

Jaime's Review of Fateful by Claudia Gray

From Goodreads.
It's about a servant girl named Tess in 1912, who wants to escape from the house where she works, and most particularly the lecherous young lord of the manor. But that's not her biggest problem. While on a voyage to America, where she plans to escape and start a new life, she meets Alec, who's ruggedly handsome, fabulously wealthy, intelligent and yet so clearly troubled that she'd rather not fall for him, but she does. That also is not her biggest problem. Alec, it turns out, is a werewolf ... one cursed to change every night, unless and until he surrenders his independence and joins the Brotherhood, a pack of violently misogynistic werewolves who have been tracking him for months. You'd think that would be their biggest problem, wouldn't you?

But no. Their biggest problem -- though they don't know it yet -- is that they're aboard the RMS Titanic.

Jaime's review....

Let me start by saying when I read the synopsis for this book I was very worried for two reasons one I am a huge Titanic fan (not just the movie) I have studied the history, read many books, and seen many documentaries. Second I'm not really a big fan of werewolf books but, I love Claudia Gray's writing and her Evernight series so when I had a chance to read and review a copy of Fateful I jumped at the chance! I knew right away I was either going to love this book or hate it and I was happily surprised when I completely fell in love with the book and the characters! Just one quick addition about the Titanic part of the story not only was this story well thought out but Claudia must have done a good amount of research because what she does write of the ship is very detailed.

What I loved about this story was that the ship wasn't the main character the people were! The ship was always lingering there in the background but lets face we know what happens to the RMS Titanic it sinks! So I was blissfully happy that even though I knew what happened to the ship I did not know what was going to happen with the characters. Were they going to go down with the ship (like Leo did in the movie)? Were they going to survive (which I had my fingers crossed for)? I had no clue and that's what kept me on the edge of my seat reading much later than I should have. 

The love between Alec and Tess was intense for many reasons she was a maidservant he was first class, she was human he was a werewolf, he was being hunted down by his own kind to join some brotherhood, he could possibly kill her, and lastly the ship sinking. Through all that though their connection deepens to many of the other characters disapproval and scorning. It's like through everything they save each other (no that's not spoilery I didn't say if they die). I also loved the supporting cast of characters especially Alec's dad who has sacrificed so much for his son and Tess's new found friends in steerage.

Fateful comes out September 13th so go buy it! If you want to pre-order you can do so at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Happy Reading!