Review: Guardian - Courtney Cole

Name: Guardian

Author: Courtney Cole

General Release Date: 1st July 2011

Date I finished it: 22nd August 2011

Type: Paperback

From: Review copy from author

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Firstly, a massive thank you to Courtney for sending me a review copy of Guardian!

To be honest, I've lost track of how many of Courtney's books I've actually read now, but each and everyone of them I thought were brilliant and Guardian is no exception to that!

Guardian follows sixteen year old Whitney as she struggles to keep her family together after her father's death.

Her mother has been pretty out of it for a while now, but her mental health is rapidly deteriorating. Whitney is trying to keep her mother's problems a secret from friends by taking on all of her responsibilities when it comes to running the house and taking care of her six year old sister.

Whitney is also a normal teenage girl, she has relationship dramas and is trying to pass drivers ed and get her license as well as deal with her own grief over the loss of her father and when her guardian angel shows up things just go from weird to crazy for Whitney.

I loved this book so much, it was my first "angel" book and it has really made me want to read more books of the angel persuasion. Which is good since I have a few already in my to be read pile!

I really liked the fact that the main plot did not surround angels or anything paranormal really. The real grit of the story is about a girl coming to terms with her fathers death. To me the paranormal stuff was a behind the scenes story really.

Don't get me wrong I loved the paranormal parts to it, but for me it was a kind of added extra in the book.

As always Courtney has managed to write such an amazing twist in this book like she always does!

I honestly did not see that one coming, but once I read it a lot of things started to make sense to me.

I really loved seeing Whitney grow and the grief start to subside a bit as the book progressed.

The writing in this book is amazing, you can tell that Guardian was written from the heart and it touched a nerve in me. I'm not going to lie, I did have a few tears running down my face while reading this!

Even though there is the angel element to this book, it is completely believable.

Overall Guardian is fantastic and I think one of Courtney' best books yet!

Review: Bleeding Hearts (Drake Chronicles #4) - Alyxandra Harvey

Name: Bleeding Hearts (Drake Chronicles #4)

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

General Release Date: 3rd October 2011

Date I finished it: 22nd August 2011

Type: Paperback

From: Review copy from publisher

My Rating: 4/5 stars

I was so excited when this book arrived in the post for me to review from Bloomsbury! I was a latecomer to the Drake Chronicles series, but am actually glad of that now! I don't think I could have waited in between books to find out what was going to happen. I am so lucky to have read the first four books in the space of a week!

Bleeding Hearts is told from Lucy, Connor and Christabel's points of view. Which is a little different this time around, the past 3 books have only been told from two characters points of view. I liked this little change as it was nice to hear from Lucy again, I hadn't read her point of view since way back in book one.

Christabel is Lucy's cousin, who is living with Lucy for the time being. Although Lucy hasn't told her anything about the Drakes or vampires. Instead she lets her cousin think that her parents are just really strict because there are gangs in Violet Hill, so they both have a sunset curfew. Christabel is mistaken for Lucy and kidnapped by the new Hel-Bar leader. Connor Drake who is falling for Christabel goes after her which soon finds them both trapped in an impossible situation and neither of them know if they will survive.

I really enjoyed all the little quirks that Christabel has, especially her passion for reading! She is a really great new addition to the series and I'm looking forward to reading more about her and Connor in the future!

We do see some more of our other favourite couples in this book as well, Lucy and Nicholas, Solange and Kieran, Isabeau and Logan, Hunter and Quinn.

I'm really starting to feel like every single Drake brother is going to fall in love before this series comes to an end, I really cannot wait to see who the rest of the brothers are going to fall for!

The ending of this book left me completely shocked!

Lucy has made a completely life changing decision and Solange leaves the reader on a complete cliff-hanger!

I really cannot believe the book ended like that, I need book 5 pronto!!

Review: Out For Blood (Drake Chronicles #3) - Alyxandra Harvey

Name: Out For Blood (Drake Chronicles #3)

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

General Release Date: 1st November 2010

Date I finished it: 20th August 2011

Type: Paperback

From: Review copy from publisher

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Bloomsbury very kindly sent me this book to review, so a massive thank you to everyone over at Bloomsbury!

This is the third book in the Drake Chronicles series, and this time the story is told from Hunter and Quinn's points of view. At first I wasn't too sure about the fact that every book in this series so far has been told from different characters points of view. After reading Out For Blood however I don't know why this hasn't been done in a book series before (okay maybe it has but I'm just not aware of it or haven't read a series like that...yet!)

I honestly love this concept, and it works so well for the Drake Chronicles. As we know there are already so many different characters, the seven brothers, Solange, Lucy etc. To me it feels as if Alyxandra is giving each and everyone of her characters a voice and a chance to speak up with every new book!

Out For Blood introduces the Helios-Ra Academy, a boarding school for young vampire hunters.

I am a total addict when it comes to boarding schools in books. I honestly don't know why I just love reading about them! Because of that right away this book had me interested!

There isn't really much I can say about the main plot in this book without giving too much away, to be almost everything in this book seemed important. There are still Hel-Bar attacks happening, and this time they are targeting the Helios-Ra Academy, but there is something strange about them this time around. There is also some weird new drugs doing the rounds at the academy, which are supposed to make the kids better and stronger fighters, but all it seems to be doing is giving kids the flu.

I really loved this book, it's my new favourite out of all the Drake Chronicles so far!

Other characters from the first two books show up in Out For Blood as well, I really liked seeing what Lucy and Solange had been up to as a bit of a background story, it broke up Hunter and Quinn romance nicely.

Overall, I want to go to the Helios-Ra Academy...someone sign me up please!!

400 Follower Giveaway Winner!

There was over 100 entries to my 400 follower giveaway!! WOW!

The winner who has bagged them self a copy of After Obsession is....

Beckyy

Congrats!! The winner was chosen by random.org and has been emailed!

Don't worry if you didn't win this time, I'm planning a 500 follower giveaway now!!

Author Interview: Nicole Peeler

I am so excited to have Nicole Peeler on the blog today!

Nicole is the author of the Jane True series, which aside from having some amazing covers sound like really good reads!
I am ashamed to say I haven't actually managed to read any of the series yet, but I hope to very soon!

Thanks very much for stopping by BelleBooks today Nicole!







What made you venture into writing something in the paranormal/fantasy genre?

Hello, and thanks for having me! As for why I chose this genre, it's what I read and loved when I was young. It felt really natural to try my hand at a genre with which I'd grown up.

Your Jane True series has a lot of different characters in it, witches, vampires and a half mermaid?!

Did you intentionally set out to have so many different types of creatures in the series?

Jane's not actually a half-mermaid, she's half-selkie, which is a seal shapeshifter. The mythology is Scottish, actually, so nice and close to home. And I did intentionally use many different mythologies. The "joke" in my book is that all of our myths are based on reality, but we got things a bit wrong. So my vampires aren't quite "normal" vampires, nor are any of my other creatures.

What is your favourite book in the series so far?

I think it's probably book three. I had a lot of fun writing that book.

How much say do you have in the artwork for the book covers? (Because I love them and think they covers are awesome and so unique!)

Thanks, but authors never have any say over their covers. We just write what's inside. That said, I do love Sharon Tancredi's artwork.

What inspired you to write?

I think it's that I wanted to make people feel the way I do when I'm reading a book I enjoy. It was about telling a story and thrilling an audience.

How long does it generally take for you to finish writing a book?

I'm a pretty fast writer, but a slow plotter. A rough draft takes me anywhere between 2-4 months.

What would you say is the worst part of the writing/editing/publishing process?

Probably the publication! It's always nerve wracking to wait and see what people think about your latest book.

And the best bit?

Probably the letters from fans and the interactions with readers. That's always very enjoyable.

Is there anything you are working on just now?

I'm revising book five, Tempest's Fury, to be handed in very shortly.

Do you have any advice for young authors out there?

My advice is to know your first draft is a rough draft, and to focus on finishing a whole project rather than writing a perfect book on the first go. Rough drafts are supposed to be rough, and it's more important to finish and polish than to spend years on a single chapter.