Vampire's Kiss

Publisher: New American Libarary/Penguin group

Publish Date: 6 March 2012

Source: ARC from publisher

Series: The Watchers

Other Books in the Series: Isle of Night, Blood Fever (August 2012)

IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE PARTNERED WITH A VAMPIRE, YOU HAVE TO WORK THE NIGHT SHIFT.

By her wits, blood, and sacrifice, so far Drew has survived the intensive training on the Isle of Night. As a second-year Acari, her ultimate goal is to become a Watcher, and now she has a shot at her first mission. Except nothing is as it seems. The vampire Alcántara is as sinister as he is sexy, Ronan is more distant than ever, and it turns out there are other vampires out there. Bad ones.

Ancient, bloodthirsty, and powerful, these undead are really old school. They’ve captured one of the Watcher vamps and are torturing him for information. The only chance to save him is to infiltrate a major summit the baddies are holding on their own island. There will be mortals there, serving as butlers, maids, and various hired help. Drew had better brush up on her skills as a serving girl, because she’s about to go undercover…

But, when their vampire prisoner turns out to be a gorgeous bad boy, Drew’s first mission quickly turns into more than she bargained for…

Annelise Drew aka Acari Drew has won the Directorate Award competition and things return to “normal” on Eyja næturinnar or the Isle of Night after the competition.  Annelise’s prize for winning is that she gets to accompany the vampire Alcántara on a mission off the island.  She had been looking forward to this because she is planning on escaping the Isle of Night.  That is her main focus.  Alcántara shows greater interest in her and Annelise is sure that he has interfered with things in the past.  She has to take these strange classes, including ballroom dancing, in order to prepare for their mission, which she has no details of.

The one thing that makes her happy on the Isle of Night is Ronan.   After her victory in the Directorate Award competition, he seems more distant than ever.  Annelise, being a genius, likes to think things through.  She wonders why Alcántara is showing favoritism toward her and what is going on with her and Ronan?

When Annelise finally finds out the details of the mission, she is happy that it is finally coming near and understands the reasoning for some of the classes she was forced to take.  She learns that there are good and bad vampires and they are going to try to save one of the good ones.  She is going undercover as a serving girl to ascertain the location of the vampire that they are rescuing.  She plans to escape after helping rescue this vampire.  Things don’t always go as planned.  After this mission, the lines between good and bad are very hazy.  The vampire she was saving, Carden McCloud, isn’t what she expected.

I thought this was a great sophomore book in the Watcher series.  It was interesting to read.  Wolff really draws you into the story.  There was a few times where I would gasp because of what happened.  A lot of my questions were answered from Isle of Night, but so many more were raised with this book.  I am really looking forward to Blood Fever coming out in August 2012!

On the cover is a male, who I’m presuming to be Carden McCloud and Annelise.  There is also a monastery, and I’m presuming this to be where the mission will take placed.  Again, I like the colors and found myself looking at the cover quite a few times while reading the book.  I especially like that you can see their eyes so well.

 

•Annelise Drew.  I like her attitude.  She is a fighter.  She has been through an abusive relationship with her father and ended up at the Isle of Night because of her IQ.  She questions why she has to learn all the stuff that they make her do, but she does it because she wants out of there.  She makes friends in Yasuo and Emma and that is unexpected for her.  She doesn’t know how to be a friend.

•Yasuo and Emma.  Annelise’s friends.  Even though she is new at friendship and doesn’t always say or do the right thing, they are loyal to her. 

•Josh.  I wanted to talk about Josh in the Isle of Night review, but I thought I would save it for Vampire’s Kiss.  He is Annelise’s German Etiquette tutor.  He is from Australia and is training to become a vampire.  He has good standards and is a gentleman.  He helps Annelise in more ways than one.   I am interested to see what happens to Josh further on in the Watchers series.

•Carden McCloud.  He is the vampire that they are rescuing from the bad vampires.  He makes snarky comments.

 

• Alcántara.  He is a vampire and is just creepy.  Every time I would read about him, it would give me the chills. 

•The Isle of Night.  I do not like the things that happen there between the Acari, vampires, tracers and proctors.

•The Bad Vampires.  They are “bad.”

Don't forget to check out my contest where you can win a personalized, autographed ARC of Vampire's Kiss from Veronica Wolff.  Unfortunately, this contest is restricted to US only.

Kiss of Frost

Publisher: Kesington

Publish Date: 29 November 2011

Series: Mythos Academy

Source: bought

Other books in the series: First Frost, A Touch of Frost, Dark Frost (June 2012)

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year-warrior-in-training at Mythos Academy, and I have no idea how I’m going to survive the rest of the semester.  One day, I’m getting schooled in swordplay by the guy who broke my heart – the drop-dead gorgeous Logan, who slays me every time.  Then, an invisible archer in the Library of Antiquities decides to use me for target practice.  And now, I find out that someone at the academy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead.  I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword – with Logan’s help – I just might die by the sword…

Gwen Frost is a student at Mythos Academy, which is a school for training to defeat the Reapers of Chaos and prevent the evil God, Loki from escaping his prison and starting the second chaos war.  In Touch of Frost, Gwen found out that her family has a history of fighting for the God Nike.  Gwen and her family are gypsies.  She doesn’t think that this will enable her to fight because she doesn’t have physical gifts like the other students at Mythos. 

Gwen was not going to go to the Winter Carnival at the Powder, a ski resort.  Her best friend, Daphne talked her into it because a Reaper is after Gwen.  Gwen thinks Winter Carnival would be a good place to meet someone to help her forget about Logan, who is dating another person and practically ignores her.  She first meets Preston in the lobby of the hotel when waiting for Daphne and her boyfriend Carson to check into the rooms.  Preston seems like the perfect guy to help keep her mind off of Logan.  He is from the New York Academy. 

After arriving at Powder, strange things happen to Gwen there also that make her wonder if the reaper could have followed her to the ski resort.  Part of Gwen doesn’t care and wants to just forget about her broken heart.  What is going on with Oliver and why is he acting strange toward her after she touched his notebook?

Kiss of Frost was a good follow up to Touch of Frost.  I thought the second book expanded on the characters that were introduced to you in the first book.  I loved following Gwen and her experiences; trying to figure out who was trying to kill her.  There is a lot in this book that you don’t expect and made it fun to read.  I had trouble putting this book down also.  I’ve said it before, but Estep knows how to draw readers into the stories that she tells.  She is an amazing author.

“Come on, Gypsy girl. I'm bleeding to death here, in case you haven't noticed. At least make it worth my while and kiss me before I die.” 

On the cover of Kiss of Frost, is Gwen.  She has her eyes closed and snow is all over her face and she has some in her hand.  She has her lips puckered like she is either blowing or kissing the snow.  You also see some architecture on the front.  It reminds you of the Library of Antiquities.  I liked this cover.  I especially like again, how the “T” in frost, is the sword.  I think that this cover fits the story well.  I especially like on the back of the book, the architecture and the quote there:

Logan Quinn was trying to kill me.  My spartan classmate relentlessly pursued me, swinging his sword at me over and over agin, the shining sliver blade inching closer to my throat every time.  A smile tugged at his lips, and his ice - blue eyes, practically glowed with the thrill of battle...

 

•Gwendolyn Frost.  She is the main character here.  Her weakness is finding out other people secrets.  She just cannot leave well enough alone.  Sometimes it works to her advantage and others, it does not.  Using her psychometry magic, she attempts to figure out who wants her dead.

•Daphne Cruz and Carson Callahan.  Daphne is a Valkyrie and Carson is a Celt.  They are boyfriend/girlfriend and Gwen’s closest friends.  Daphne talks Gwen into going to Winter Carnival.  Carson and Daphne spend time with Gwen when at the Carnival.

•Logan Quinn.  Even though he is busy making out with his Amazonian girlfriend, Savannah Warren, doesn’t pay much attention to Gwen, and is the reason for her broken heart, I still like his character.  He is always there for Gwen when she needs him.  She just wishes that she didn’t need him so much because it hurts to see him.

•Oliver Hector and Kenzie Tanaka.  Both are Spartans who are helping Gwen to train with her sword and become better at defending herself.  There are issues with Oliver in Kiss of Frost.  He acts suspicious toward Gwen at Winter Carnival after Gwen had touched his notebook and found out his secret.

•Fenrir wolves.  Gwen encounters one at Powder.  Professor Metis said that there are some Fenrir wolves that are in the wild.  I like wolves.  Yes, they are mean, nasty, growl at you, and are trained by the Reapers to kill you, but that doesn’t mean they are all bad.  Look at Gremlins.  They were cute and look how that turned out.

“What are you smiling at?’ - ‘Oh, nothing much. Just my hero” 

 

•Preston.   Gwen chose him as someone to help her forget about Logan.  From the beginning of the book, I didn’t really like him.  I’m not sure why, but I didn’t.  He seems like a nice enough guy.

•Savannah Warren.  She is Logan’s girlfriend and enjoys making out with him.  If I were Gwen, I’d be sick of it too.  The fact that Gwen has a thing for Logan would be irrelevant.  Savannah also likes to pick on Gwen and others.

“I didn't know if he really meant talk, make out, or something else completely, but I'd be happy with any of them.” 

Contest: The Watchers

IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE PARTNERED WITH A VAMPIRE, YOU HAVE TO WORK THE NIGHT SHIFT.

By her wits, blood, and sacrifice, so far Drew has survived the intensive training on the Isle of Night. As a second-year Acari, her ultimate goal is to become a Watcher, and now she has a shot at her first mission. Except nothing is as it seems. The vampire Alcántara is as sinister as he is sexy, Ronan is more distant than ever, and it turns out there are other vampires out there. Bad ones.

Ancient, bloodthirsty, and powerful, these undead are really old school. They’ve captured one of the Watcher vamps and are torturing him for information. The only chance to save him is to infiltrate a major summit the baddies are holding on their own island. There will be mortals there, serving as butlers, maids, and various hired help. Drew had better brush up on her skills as a serving girl, because she’s about to go undercover…

But, when their vampire prisoner turns out to be a gorgeous bad boy, Drew’s first mission quickly turns into more than she bargained for…

Veronica Wolff, author of the Watchers series has generously donated and ARC of Vampire's Kiss to one of the YABR readers.  She will also autograph and personalize this book. Vampires Kiss is the second book in the series, coming out on March 6.  The first book, Isle of Night, was amazing.  To add to this giveaway, I will be giving away one copy of Isle of Night.  Sorry, this contest is US only.

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Touch of Frost

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date: already out

Series: Mythos Academy

Other books in series: First Frost (e-book), Kiss of Frost, Dark Frost (29 May 2012)

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

Gwendolyn aka Frost, aka Gwen, has experienced some hardships in her life.  The hardest being the death of her mom, who was hit by a drunk driver.  After that, everything changed:  Her school, friends…  Her grandmother decided that it was time she went to Mythos Academy.  Mythos Academy and it’s students are described in Kiss of Frost as “the descendants of ancient warriors, and they are at the academy to learn how to fight and use weapons, along with whatever magic or other skills they might have.”  These students include the following: Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans and Gypsies.  Gwen currently doesn’t have any friends at the Academy.  All the students who go there are rich and spoiled.

                                                            

Gwen is a gypsie.   More specifically, she has the gift of psychometry, meaning she can touch objects and see things about them.  This comes in handy when she is trying to find things for others students.  That is what she mainly uses it for at the beginning of the book.  Also works well for finding out secrets.  She is a second year student at Mythos.  She not only has her studies, she also works at the Library of Antiquities.   Even for this “strange” school, abnormal things start to happen.  First, one of popular girls, Jasmine Ashton, is murdered in the Library.  What is even stranger is the fact that it doesn’t seem to affect anyone.  Gwen is determined to figure out what happened to Jasmine because secrets are her thing. 

During that time, however, she keeps bumping into the Spartan, Logan Quinn.  He is the labeled as the deadliest guy in the school.  Spartans can kill you with anything.  That is their gift.  He has the reputation of signing mattresses of girls that he has slept with.  Why is she running into him (literally)?  What is happening at the academy?  Is Gwen really safe there and does she belong?  

I had read the synopsis of this book a while ago and wanted to read it.  The opportunity just never presented itself until now and I’m glad it did.  I like the whole mythology angle of this book.  It not only covers the usual Greek and Roman mythology, but there are others as well.  It seems as though Loki has been brought up a lot in recent books/movies.  Overall, it is a really good book with an interesting plot.  

The cover features Gwen Frost.  You can see her signature purple eyes.  You also see part of the architecture and what looks to be gargoyle.  I like how the “t” in Frost is made up of the sword instead of the font for the rest of the word.

•Gwen Frost.  She is the main character.  After going through her mother’s death, she is sent to Mythos Academy and feels as though she doesn’t belong.  She has no friends.  She is not über strong or super-fast like the other students.  She definitely doesn’t have a weapon or know how to use one.  Even still, she sticks to what she knows, psychometry, to solve mysteries.  Even though Jasmine wasn’t very nice to anyone, she still tries to find out who murdered her in the library and cares when nobody else does.

•Daphne Cruz.  The book starts out with Gwen and Daphne in the bathroom where Gwen is talking to Daphne about a missing bracelet.  Daphne is part of the popular crowd.  Even though she doesn’t really acknowledge Gwen, I still like her character.  She is there for Gwen when she needs her, even though it is against her will.  (She is a Valkyrie, so it isn’t TOO much against her will.)

•All the different students.   Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans and Gypsies…Oh my.   They make for a stimulating book.  There are some others mentioned in the book, but those are the main ones.

•“Logan freaking Quinn.”    He is a Spartan that keeps running into Gwen or vice versa.  He doesn’t have a good reputation at Mythos, but he is one of the cutest.  The relationship between Logan and Gwen is hot and cold.  

•Jasmine Ashley.  She is the resident bad/evil person.  She is the girl who is the most popular in the school and because of that, she treats everyone else poorly.  No wonder people didn’t care that she was brutally murdered on the academy campus.

•Morgan McDougall.  She is one of Jasmine’s best friends and takes up her position after Jasmine is murdered.  She (and Jasmine) are Valkyries.