Title: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Published: February, 2010 by Harlequin Teen
Pages: 363
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth – that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Final Thoughts:
I think I may have left this one a little too late. I’ve heard people rave about this faery series, putting it up there as one of the best. But, for me, I just couldn’t seem to connect with it. I found myself rushing through it just because I wanted to get to the next book on my to-read list—not a good feeling. I couldn’t find fault with the characters—I wasn’t annoyed by them, they weren’t stupid—the story just didn’t grip me. I wish it had, because it was a wonderfully descriptive and well developed world. So that, again, makes me wonder whether I would have enjoyed this book more had I read it a few years back.

Title: Timestorm (Tempest #3)
Author: Julie Cross
Published: January, 2014 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 358
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The battle between the Tempest division and Eyewall comes to a shocking conclusion in this final installment of the Tempest trilogy, where the need for survival stretches the boundaries of history, both past and future, and the world Jackson once knew is a place forever marked by the detrimental effects of time travel.

As Jackson recovers from his brush with death, he’s surrounded not only by the people he loves most—his dad, Courtney, and Holly—he’s also amongst a few of the original time travelers. As he learns more about their life and how this world began, it becomes apparent that they need to put a stop to Thomas and Doctor Ludwig’s experimenting at Eyewall Headquarters. What starts out as an escape plan becomes a war between time and humanity, between freewill and peace. It’s the battle Jackson was born to fight and he’s not about to back down. Not for anything. Not for anyone.

Final Thoughts:
What was with that ending? No, I’m not going to give it away, but seriously…I didn’t like it. Timestorm was all over the place for me. There were moments where I was in love with the book, where it managed just the right balance of time-traveller stuff and the romance, but at other times, the book had a tendency to drag. It was the final book, so I expected a back and forth battle between the series-long antagonist, Thomas, and our hero, Jackson, but unfortunately that played out as more of a side issue to the Jackson/Holly love saga.

Title: Angel Arias (Night Creatures #2)
Author: Marianne de Pierres
Published: October, 2011 by Random House
Pages: 264
Rating:  
Purchase: Booktopia

Retra – now called Naif – has escaped from Ixion, the island of ever-night. She doesn’t know if her friends on the island survived the battle between the Ripers and the rebels. But she does know that she must return home, behind the sealed walls of Grave, to find out why the Ripers have been seen there talking to the councillors. What links the two worlds?

First she must convince Ruzalia to help her. The fierce pirate captain saves those who face terrible fates on Ixion, but that doesn’t guarantee their gratitude. Instead, she faces a revolt – and Naif is caught in the middle.

Naif will need all her courage to survive. For Lenoir, who wants to keep her safe, for her friends Suki and Rollo, if they live, for Markes, who has secrets of his own, and for the new friends she will make on this journey.

The fate of worlds depends on it.

Final Thoughts:
Fast paced and full of suspenseful situations, things never seem to let up for Naif. But while it may have had that in its favour, it suffered from the second book syndrome in a way. It still held up quite well as it kept me actively reading, but it felt like there was a spark lacking. Burn Bright introduced us to Ixion, a night time world full of monsters and mystery, but here, we’re sent back to Naif’s hometown on reconnaissance. The majority of the book is spent on the hunt for information whereas it could have been used for something just a little more exciting. But with the third book shaping up to be an Ixion showdown, I’m holding out hope.

Title: Trial By Fire (Raised By Wolves #2)
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published: June, 2011 by EgmontUSA
Pages: 357
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were. With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone.

Final Thoughts:
Not as compelling as its predecessor, Trial By Fire felt like it was lacking something for a good chunk of the book. With Bryn now an Alpha, there is a distinct change in the dynamic, but personally, I didn’t think it was one for the better. The politics take over the story with very little actually going on until the final quarter. When it got going, it became great, so I’m left wondering if the pacing had been tweaked if I would have enjoyed this book a whole lot more than I actually did.

Title: Finale (Hush Hush #4)
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Published: October, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Pages: 454
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Nora and Patch thought their troubles were behind them. Hank is gone and they should be able to put his ugly vendetta to rest. But in Hank’s absence, Nora has become the unwitting head of the Nephilim and must finish what Hank began. Which ultimately means destroying the fallen angels – destroying Patch.

Nora will never let that happen, so she and Patch make a plan: lead everyone to believe they have broken up, and work the system from the inside. Nora will convince the Nephilim that they are making a mistake in fighting the fallen angels, and Patch will find out everything he can from the opposing side. They will end this war before it can even begin.

But the best-laid plans often go awry. Nora is put through the paces in her new role and finds herself drawn to an addictive power she never anticipated.

As the battle lines are drawn, Nora and Patch must confront the differences that have always been between them and either choose to ignore them or let them destroy the love they have always fought for.

Final Thoughts:
This was the book that just wouldn’t end. Usually I like a long read, but with Finale, I just had to keep putting it down. I think it took me around three weeks to get through this tome. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it to be a masterpiece judging on the previous books, but I was at least expecting something a little more. Hush, Hush had me addicted, but I’ve been growing more and more frustrated the further I delved into the series. Nora is an idiot—it’s as simple as that. She likes to think she’s not, but she is. If you can put up with that, by all means, jump in, you’ll probably…what am I saying, I can’t recommend this book.

Title: Moonlight Mayhem (Spellbound #2)
Author: Sherry Soule
Published: July, 2012 by Moonlight Publishing
Thanks: Sherry Soule
Pages: 325
Rating:  
Purchase: Amazon

Otherworldly Creatures. Dazzling Magic. Fiery Romance.

Shiloh Ravenwolf thought she was getting used to the strange events in Whispering Pines, until the full moon brings another surge of supernatural threats to her coastal town. Ferocious wolves, deadly necromancers, and shambling zombies have descended upon the neighborhood, so Shiloh needs to gain control of her magical abilities—fast!

It sucks that she has a crippling fear of the dark, which for a demon hunter can be an epic problem. But she spends so much time wallowing in the darkness, how can she not become a part of it?

When her classmates are attacked by a mysterious creature and her father is murdered, Shiloh vows vengeance. Forcing her phobias aside, she forms an unlikely coven of supernaturally gifted teens to help her eradicate this menace. Except that’s not all Shiloh has to worry about. She’s battling a different monster within herself and struggling not to become the very thing she fights: evil.

But with demon blood inside her—anything can happen…

Final Thoughts:
It took me a couple weeks reading on and off to get through this one. While I enjoyed the book, it didn’t capture me in the quite same way that the first instalment did. Gone were the hidden secrets and gothic undertones that we got exploring the Ravenhurst Manor, instead, replaced by a not-a-werewolf wolf infestation story. Unfortunately, in that regard, there wasn’t a lot of mystery to keep me guessing. So, if you’re one for big twists, you might be a little disappointed.

Title: Hair Of The Dog
Author: Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James
Published: January, 2012 by Dreamspinner Press
Thanks: Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley
Pages: 250
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

It’s nine o’clock the morning after his father’s funeral, and Ezra Jones already knows it’s going to be a bad day. He wakes up hungover, sore, and covered in blood. Then it gets worse: the handsome and compelling Callum Dawson shows up on his doorstep claiming Ezra’s been turned into a werewolf. Ezra wants to be skeptical, but the evidence is hard to ignore.

Ezra doesn’t have a lot of time to get used to the rules Alpha Callum imposes—or the way his body responds to Callum’s dominance—as he’s busily working for the CDC to help uncover the origins of a lycan epidemic. When the sexual tension finally breaks, Ezra barely has time to enjoy it, because a new danger threatens. Someone wants Ezra for their own unscrupulous purposes and will do anything to get him.

Final Thoughts:
I raced through this one, picking it up whenever I had a spare ten or fifteen minutes—I just really got into it. It’s been a while since I’ve read a predominantly werewolf-focussed book, so that could have been part of it too. Being co-authored, I expected glaringly obvious breaks whenever the point of views shifted, but thankfully, the writing flowed together seamlessly. I did have a problem with the ease by which Ezra came to accept everything lycan. It was the sort of thing that took you out of the story, because any sane person would have been far more sceptical. Beyond a gash, there was no proof, at least nothing that the human mind wouldn’t have been able to come up with an alternate explanation for. Aside from that (and a few other things), I found the book enjoyable, and relatively easy to get into—it fits well as a solid 3-star read.