Sneak Peak Sunday (24)

The Ingredients of Love
by Nicolas Barreau
Paperback, 272 pages
Expected publication: December 24th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

A charming restaurant
A book and its mysterious author
A little secret
A romantic meeting
Paris and all its magic . . .


Cyrano de Bergerac meets Chocolat and Amélie in this intelligent, charming, and entertaining publishing sensation from Europe.
While in the midst of a breakup-induced depression, Aurélie Bredin, a beautiful Parisian restaurateur, discovers an astonishing novel in a quaint bookshop on the Ile Saint-Louis. Inexplicably, her restaurant and Aurélie herself are featured in its pages. After reading the whole book in one night, she realizes it has saved her life—and she wishes more than anything to meet its author. Aurélie’s attempts to contact the attractive but shy English author through his French publishers are blocked by the company’s gruff chief editor, André, who only with great reluctance forwards Aurélie’s enthusiastic letter. But Aurélie refuses to give up. One day, a response from the reclusive author actually lands in her mailbox, but the encounter that eventually takes place is completely different from what she had ever imagined. . . . Filled with books, recipes, and characters that leap off the page, The Ingredients of Love by Nicolas Barreau is a tribute to the City of Light.

Paris? Romance? Comparing it to Amelie? Have an awe inducing synopsis? It basically the epitome of awe-inducing. I really want this for Christmas now!

Review: Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Hardcover, 355 pages

Published February 15th 2011 by HarperTeen

Rating: 4.1 Glasses

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life. 

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

I remember reading the first book last year during english class. We were playing bingo and I won some skittles as well as the honor of being the first person to win that semester, needless to say, Body Finders was amazing. So when I picked up Desires of the Dead I was expecting some awesome stuff, and awesome stuff I did find.

Before I begin, let me say that I love Jay. I could tell there was some potential with Rafe going on, but I love Jay to much to even consider it. When I first started reading it, I thought it was going to turn out like Blue Moon, by Alyson Noel, a book that I hated to the core. Some guys becomes friends with her boyfriends and messes up her life, blah, blah, blah... thankfully, it was nothing like that, well, it sorta was, but it wasn't bad.

The book is filled with just the right amount of romance and mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat. I seriously had a hard time putting the book down when I got into the thick of it. However, there were some major parts of the book that I didn't like. Even though I feel like I know Violet really well, and Jay and Chelsea almost just as well, there's very little space in this novel to expand on other characters. Sure there's Mike and Megan, and their dad and everyone else in their group, but I felt like they were just there, their characters weren't as strong as I would have liked them to be. Also, I had a hard time believing her parents would be that chill. I mean, I know this is fiction, but really? I think out of all the new characters introduced in the book, Sara Priest is the most interesting and seems to have the most potential in the forth coming books.

Overall, even though I really liked the new mystery and romance between Jay and Violet, it didn't exceed my expectations nor it didn't disappoint them either. Despite its flaws, it's a great read and worthy sequel of The Body Finder.

Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hardcover, 427 pages

Published October 19th 2010 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Rating: 3.4 Glasses

Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it: a mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever and even worse, he's started spending time with Nora's arch-enemy, Marcie Millar. 

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn't been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feeling that he's hiding something. 

Haunted by images of her murdered father, and questioning whether her nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death, Nora puts herself increasingly in dangerous situations as she desperately searches for answers. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.

So I picked up Crescendo at the library the other day and I just finished. Filled with mystery, a lot of miscommunication, and sketchy characters, the second novel definitely continues Hush, Hush's legacy of angel love, if that's even what you'd call it. 

I really wanted to love this book. I wanted to swoon over it like I did with Hush, Hush and fall in love all over again with Patch, but I just couldn't. As good as Crescendo was, it didn't live up to my expectations. I found myself  constantly getting upset with Nora and Patch. If they just talked and listened to each other like normal people do in relationships, none of their problems would have existed.

But if you look past all of that the book is actually a really good read. The death of Nora's father comes in to play as you try and figure out what really did occur that dark night years ago. Then there's a weird thing going on with Patch and Marcie that leads to a problem with his and Nora's relationship. Vee plays a larger role in Nora's life in Crescendo and she's a lot more bearable than her attitude in the first book. She's dating Rixon throughout the novel after she was introduced to him by Patch.

Although the Patch and Nora action isn't as much in the book when they are together you're either annoyed with Patch or just frustrated that they can't be cute and get along most of the time. 

Despite the fact that I didn't really like it as Hush, Hush, it was a follow up to an amazing start of a series and I can't wait to get my hands on Silence. I mean, who can't help but love Patch, no matter how stupid he can get.

Series Overview: The Fever Series

The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

Darkfever
Bloodfever
Faefever
Dreamfever
Shadowfever


Overall Series Rating

Four and a Half, but I'll round. ;P




Winter break ended on a high note, fo'sho. My reading list for 2011 is offically over! But looking past all that gangster speak, reading Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series was one of the best decisions I made during my break from classes.


Five days, five books, and a whole lot of awesomeness.
Because I read them so fast, it's going to take me a while to review all of them so I thought I'd just like do one quick series overview so I can move on with my to-read list. 


Summary for Darkfever (Fever #1)

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….
As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….

And that's how the story begins. Interesting, isn't it? I can't reveal that summaries for the next four books without spoiling anything, but if your in for a very different kind of romance novel then this is the story for you.


My Thoughts.

If your looking for a good romance novel with an amazing plot then definitely pick this up. I mean, Jericho Barrons is the most interesting man on the planet - well in Dublin at least.
The entire series as a whole was interesting, capitaving, and drew me in with its mysteries and hopes for the two main characters, Mac and Barrons. At first this isn't a romance at all, but it soon becomes one as their lives are intertwined.


The series in general had a really good pace, however the amount of foreshadowing that occurred in the first three books really gave away a lot of things. However, the last book completely and utterly redeems itself in some ways, and leaves us still with questions unanswered. 
But would I read it again? Psh, yeah.


*SPOILER-Y REVIEW BELOW*