A Review for Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning

Posted by Donna

Published Date: September 16th, 2011

Finished Date: October 27th, 2011

Publishers: Delacorte Press

Source: Purchased

Format: Kindle 

Pages: 352

The Blurb from Goodreads: Mac's quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V'lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul. As All Hallows Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds with devastating consequences.

The Review: So you all know I finished Bloodfever and moved straight on to Faefever and I have to say, wow! Yes…this series is definitely getting better!

In this book we see Mac and Barron’s who are still trying to get their hands on the Sinsar Dubh for their own purposes. However, after some many failed attempts their not quite sure what to do next. While Mac is still trying to find out answers about herself, she is left trying to help stop the walls between Faery and Earth coming down on All Hallows Eve. With the help of the Mackelters, The Sidhe Seers, V’lane and Barron’s hopefully everything will go as planned, but when Mac gets into trouble before she can even help out and she is pushed into a corner that leaves her with no help, unprotected and vulnerable in a truly shocking situation.

Faefever is spilt up into three parts and I have to say, part one and two were okay. It wasn’t until part three that things really started to pick up and then I was left wanting more. The series is as addicting as all the previous books but I can say I’m enjoying them so much more now because FINALLY, FINALLY…..we’re starting to see Mac and Barron’s crack. So far, there has just been banter and small arguments between them but now it’s heating up and you can honestly feel the passion brewing between these two characters.  Yes, Barron’s is still mean sometimes and oh my, that birthday cake. After that scene I was really mad at him but as you can tell, I couldn’t stay mad at him for long. I love that man ;) So yes, finally I’m glad we’re starting to see something happen between these two.

I really enjoyed all the additional characters like Dani, Christian and even some of the Sidhe Seers. They all bring an element of excitement to the story and are all totally unique….which I love. The storyline was again exciting and thrilling. Many major twists and turns through out and Ms Moning definitely knows how to keeps us readers on our toes.

Now…….that ending. OH MY GOD! I honestly had to do a double take. I think I even shouted NOOOOOO at the book. It’s safe to say I was gob-smacked because it was so unexpected and I couldn’t believe the direction that the story went. I had to reach for book four straight away because it was such a huge cliff-hanger.

If you haven’t read this series then I suggest you do. Like me I’d put if off for so long but now I’m finally in the middle of them and I really like them. So, so far Fever is a win! 

A Review for Death's Hand by SM Reine

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie 
Published Date: October 21st, 2011
Finished Date: October 27th, 2011
Source: For Review 
Format: Kindle
Pages: Unknown
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The Blurb from Goodreads: Policing relations between Heaven, Hell, and Earth is messy and violent, but Elise Kavanagh and James Faulkner excelled at it-- until coming across a job so brutal that even they couldn't stand to see one more dead body. Now they've been pretending to be normal for five years, leaving their horrific history a dark secret. Elise works in an office. James owns a business. None of their friends realize they used to be one of the world's best killing teams. After years of hiding, something stirs. Bodies are vanishing. Demons scurry in the shadows of the night. A child has been possessed. Some enemies aren't willing to let the secrets of the past stay dead...
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The Review: 4.5 out of 5. Death’s Hand is the first in a new series featuring Elise Kavanagh and James Faulkner who are bound together as Kopis & Aspis , that’s Greek for sword and shield, Elise being the warrior and James being her protector.  Its been that way for many years, ever since James found Elise practically dead under suspicious circumstances when she was a teen. Together they took on demons and all manner of hell spawn, banishing them back to where they came from for Elise was also an exorcist. After one particularly bad incident that nearly claimed Elise’s life they both decided to retire from the business and set about living their separate lives . . . . . That is until James asks Elise to investigate the possible possession of an acquaintance’s child and in doing so they open a whole can of worms that everyone will be wishing has stayed shut.
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I’ll start of by saying that if you’re looking for a nice, sweet, romantic urban fantasy then look elsewhere! This book is gritty, scary and gruesome and full of things that would give you nightmares if you experienced just a fraction of what the main characters had gone through. Elise reminded me of a female Constantine (as in the Keanu Reeves character from the movie of the same name) a capable warrior & exorcist who just wants to get on with her new life as an accountant and forgetting all about anything to do with hell but is thrust into a power play of magnificent proportions. She is equipped with ‘gifts’ that came with her warrior status and both of them have joint abilities through the bond they have. She isn’t your standard UF heroine, she isn’t everyone’s friend, she doesn’t have all the hot men after her and she doesn’t have an unlimited income. What she is, is a genuine kick ass heroine, what she has been through has defined her and she doesn’t let people in easily. Her ‘shield’ is the only person in the world she trusts and would do anything for. Their relationship can’t be defined easily either leaving lots of questions needing answers. James could also be a very deep character and I feel we have a lot to learn about him especially from his ‘witch’ and ‘leader of a coven’ status and hope that gets explored in the books to follow.

The world that’s been created is quite complex but not confusing and we’re only just getting a glimpse of the possibilities of this series. The exorcism quotes alone must have taken some research but it is really intriguing and imaginative, leaving me with lots of questions but definitely wanting more . . . this is my kind of book and I will definitely be looking out for future books in this series and author.

Death Hand Blog Tour: Halloween Guest Post with S.M Reine

As apart of her blog tour we have S.M Reine on the blog today doing an awesome scary guest post. She is the author of 'Six Moon Summer's' and her new novel is 'Death's Hand'. Please welcome S.M Reine.

Thanks for having me, Book Passion for Life! 
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My new book, “Death’s Hand,” takes place in Nevada, where I’ve lived for almost twenty years. We’ve got hundreds of ghost towns withering away in the desert where life boomed and busted with veins of gold. It’s a real cowboy place, wild and dark, and there are tons of abandoned mines beneath the cities.
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I used to live in one of Nevada’s older towns in a house that remembered the jangling of spurs. Our neighborhood had hitching posts. And my house was haunted.
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It started with footsteps.
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You could trace them from the entryway through the laundry room and into the kitchen, where they would pause, as though someone was checking a pot of stew on our stove. They happened almost every night, and then they started walking during the day, too.
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It got worse from there. I would sometimes catch glimpses of movement behind my reflection in mirrors. I would lay in bed at night and feel someone grab the side of the mattress and shake it. The whole bed trembled. Books occasionally fell off our shelves without being touched, too.
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And it wasn’t just me. My sisters felt stalked, too. One night, the ghost even yelled at my oldest sister, shouting “No!” loud and clear when she tried to do something in the laundry room. She didn’t do laundry for weeks after that (and unfortunately, the stink didn’t exorcise our house).
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I don’t know what made the ghost so angry. Did he hate having clean, dry clothes? Or did he just hate having us in his house? Either way, I was done. Period.
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“We have to move,” I told my mom the next day. “The ghost doesn’t want us here.”
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I was a silly child, and my mom was totally used to weirdness from me. So this didn’t even make her blink. “That’s nice,” she said without looking up from her book.
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“No, seriously, Mom. The ghost yelled at us! It wants us to leave!”
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“Sure. We’ll just break our rental agreement, pay the landlord a huge fee, and then spend hundreds of dollars moving.”
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“What if it kills us? It’s been trying to shake me out of bed!”
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Finally, she rolled her eyes and shut her book. “Then tell it to leave you alone, Sara. Stop being such a weenie.” (She’ll deny it, but those are her words exactly. I swear.)
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So one night, I rallied all my courage and stood in the dark living room. The house was empty, but I wasn’t alone. I heard the footsteps-- entryway, laundry room, kitchen. A flash out of the corner of my eye. A creaking noise. My heart squeezed tight in my chest. I could barely breathe.
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“I’m not afraid of you,” I whispered into the silence. “Leave me alone.”
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Creak. It sounded like it was right behind me.
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I didn’t dare turn around. I shut my eyes. “Leave me alone!” I yelled, and it echoed in our huge living room.
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Maybe the ghosts took pity on me. Or maybe being brave enough to stand in the middle of my haunted house alone made it easier to deal with the rest, too. Either way, it got better after that. I didn’t feel the bed shaking anymore. The footsteps grew sporadic.
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And then one day, I was sitting on the couch, and a little statue fell off the shelf. Like my mom, I didn’t even look up from my reading. “Stop it,” I snapped. “I need to finish this book.”
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That was the last time anything happened to me.
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My family doesn’t live in the haunted house anymore. The landlord was foreclosed upon and they had to move to a newer part of town. Another family has bought it since, and I visited the other day just to see what it looks like now. They’ve completely torn it apart and are building it new even though it was a beautiful house.
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Maybe the ghost didn’t like having them there, either. But if I was them, I wouldn’t be so sure tearing down the house would get rid of the other people who live there.
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S.M.Reine.
Date of Birth: March 14th, 1988
Bio: SM Reine is a writer and graphic designer obsessed with werewolves, the occult, and collecting swords. Her YA fantasy books, "Six Moon Summer" and "All Hallows's Moon," have been praised as fresh, fast-paced and captivating. Sara spins tales of dark fantasy to escape the drudgery of the desert, where she lives with her husband and the Helpful Baby.
Her Books: Six Moon Summer (April, 2011) The 19 Dragons (July, 2011) All Hallows' Moon (September, 2011) Death's Hand (October, 2011) 
Follow S.M Reine on: Blog - Facebook - Twitter 
Buy Death's Hand: Amazon UK -  Amazon US - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords
Buy the Paperback - Death's Hand Paperback

In My Mailbox (#31) & Random Acts of Kindness - October Wrap Up

Donna's IMM hosted by The Story Siren

For Review
Working Stiff by Rachel Caine
Last Breath by Rachel Caine
Lord of the Vampire's by Gena Showalter
All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zain


To Feature on the Blog:
Morganville Omnibus Vol 2 by Rachel Caine


Gifted from my partner: 
Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday


What's in your mailbox this week? 

Another month has been and gone and now were going to show you what we sent and received in the month of October. 

Donna's Received Books:

Clockwork Angel from Emma - Belle Books
Anna Dressed in Blood from Haley - Ya-aholic 

Donna's Books Sent: 

Blood Feud & The Resistant to Misty - Bookaholic Book Club

The Iron King & The Iron Daughter to - Evie - Bookish

Steampunk to Braiden - Book Probe

Silence & The Night Circus to Haley - Ya-Aholic

Moonlight to - Lindsey - Lindsey's Bookshelf

Carrier of the Mark to Emma - Belle Books 

Angel, Angel Fire & Forgotten to Carina - Fictional Distractions (RAK birthday presents) 

Jess's Received Books: 

I am Number Four from Misty - Bookaholic Book Club 
Anna and the French Kiss from Siobhan - Totally Bookalicious

Loads from Donna (Co-Blogger) but we're to lazy to name them all. ;)

Jess's Sent Books: 

Darkness Falls to Siobhan - Totally Bookalicious 

Thanks to Book Soulmates for hosting an awesome event! 

Top 10 Things to do on Halloween by Rebeeca A.Rogers

TOP 10 THINGS TO DO ON HALLOWEEN
by Rebecca A.Rogers. 

Decorate your house in plenty of spider webs, carved pumpkins, foggy cauldrons, and creepy ghosts. If these aren’t enough, opt for spiders. You never know when you’ll turn around and run into a web, spluttering and cussing the entire time, further embarrassing yourself because IT’S NOT REAL.

Stock up on candy like the apocalypse is nigh, then eat it all in one sitting. If you’re alone when this happens, GOOD. More for you. If not, well, you should probably share. Sharing is what makes your mama proud.

Take a nap. In a graveyard. By yourself. If you hear something, it’s not your imagination. That really is a ghost.

Have a Halloween movie marathon—minus the third one in the series because it has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of them.

 Dress up as the Grim Reaper and stand in the middle of the road, randomly pointing at children and parents as they pass by.

Trick kids into thinking they can help themselves to a bucketful of isolated candy sitting in a spooky mannequin’s lap, when, in reality, the bucket is strategically resting in your lap and you’re about to give the kid reaching for a Snickers the fright of their life.

 Instead of bobbing for apples, bob for ghost peppers.

Convince your friends to join you for a haunted fright-house walk through, then laugh at anyone and everyone who jumps out and tries to scare you. Try to guess where they’ll appear next. Remember: the more obnoxious you are, the more likely it is you’ll be kicked out.

If any older kids—and by this I mean: old enough to drive a car—try to do the whole trick-or-treat thing, just stand deathly still and stare at them until they get the message. DO NOT GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT.

And the number one thing to do on Halloween is: Assemble a team of your closest friends/family members, put on a few pointy hats and long robes, grab a couple of sticks lying around your front yard (or your neighbour’s; it’s whatever), and tell every kid that crosses your path you’re SO sorry, but they just didn’t make it into Hogwarts this year.

Or you could be like me and not do a single thing on Halloween except sit in the dark, frantically praying no kids will come to the front door because you didn’t actually buy any candy. 

Rebecca A. Rogers 

Date of birth: February 21st, 1986

About this Author: Growing up, Rebecca pretended to be characters from books, movies and TV shows (especially Xena). Now, though she doesn't run around her backyard and freak out the neighbours with Xena calls and invisible weapons, she still lives inside her imagination, and it's better than reality. She's an avid gamer, chocoholic, coffee addict, animal lover, and owns way too many books and shoes. 

Her Books: Silver Moon (June, 2011)  Under the Stars (August, 2011) Black Moon (January, 2012) Blood Moon (2013) 

Buy Silver Moon: Amazon UK - Amazon US

Buy Under the Stars: Amazon UK - Amazon US

Find Rebecca on: Blog - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads

Halloween Guest Post with The Unread Reader, A Cupcake and A Latte, Totally Bookalicious & Book Probe.

We all know how spooky Halloween can be and here at Book Passion for Life, we're curious as to what you people get up to on Halloween. So we've enlisted the help of a few awesome bloggers....to tell us what they get up to on Halloween. 

Missie, The Unread Reader. 

For Halloween, I don't really do much, but in the last couple of years, I've made it a tradition to watch THE BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER marathon on the tube. I also love passing out candies to trick or treaters, so I always make sure I have enough to last me the whole night. My little cousins come over to do their Trick or Treating in my neighbourhood so we usually spend a lot of time getting them dressed up and then we take lots of pictures! I also dress up my dog, because the kiddos that stop be LOVE seeing a dog in costume. So yeah, I don't do anything too grand on Halloween, but my family and I make it a fun night by hanging out together and giving out some treats. 

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Wendy, A Cupcake and a Latte.

A Cupcake's Favourite Thing About Halloween. 

One or more people would often assume that perhaps Halloween is my favourite time of the year for cupcakes. Those delicious orange and black decorated morsels, adjourned in delectable sprinkles. Though the cupcakes are delicious, and boy are the ever, that isn't my favourite thing about Halloween. 

It's the costumes! 

Those pieces of fabric, sewn together creatively to look like a master piece. Costumes with the power to turn you into an angel or a devil instantly. This time of year has always fascinated me, whether it be horror films or it's costumes. It's undoubtedly one of my absolute favourite time of the year, and with that, I'm wishing everyone out there a VERY HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Don't do anything this cupcake wouldn't do ;)

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Siobhan, Totally Bookalicious.

Just want to say a big thank you to Donna and Jessica for letting me guest post on here today, you ladies are awesome. 

Anyway, I am here today to just talk a little about what I do at Halloween. Honestly, it's not really all that interesting compared to my wild nights out clubbing before I had my son. LOL. Oh yeah they were rather wild. Ah fun times!

For the last five years I have been doing the same thing around Halloween. It's something I really enjoy. So while I was pregnant back in 2006 I found a lil well known movie with a scary vampire in it. Can you guess? Bram Stoker's Dracula. That's right I had only just found it. Shock Horror. And as soon as I watched it I feel deeply in love. 

After watching the movie I decided to give the book a go. Usually I shy away from old books just because the language is hard to understand. And I'm not going to lie it took me several tries to actually finish the book. However, once I finished it the first time I was left mesmerized and I have read the books so much I have had to buy a new copy. So every Halloween I have my own little tradition. On the week running up to Halloween I get my copy of Dracula and read a little each night then come Halloween night once my son has been Trick or Treating and is either in bed sleeping or hyper on sweets in his bedroom (which is usually the case) I snuggle up in my bed with all the lights odd and with some stolen sweets from my son and watch the movie.

That's my Halloween, maybe a little boring but to me it's perfect. Vampire's have always been my addiction and Dracula is the ultimate vampire and the movie and book is just perfect for some Halloween fun. 

Braiden, Book Probe


Halloween is not really celebrated here in Australia. We seem to leave this holiday for the Brits or the Americans. I guess the only reason why Halloween exists down under is so that there is a reason to hold yet another party with friends and family, and get smashed to the point that you think you're a real vampire and that you're plastic vampire fangs will really pierce someone's skin. Someone please help them! Anyway, that's what we're doing this year I think. Dressing up is not really my thing (unless it's for the stage and I'm performing), so I really don't get as much joy out of this event as other people may get. Forget about candy; we say lollies and chocolates. Trick o' Treating makes you fat too. If kids come knocking on my door, I just ignore them and hope they move on to the next. I'd rather wait for Christmas and have door-carolers. But sadly this is Australia. They are non-existant. 

Thank you all for joining us today!!!! 
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

Halloween Guest Post with Angeline Kace

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So here at Book Passion for Life, we're kicking off the Halloween weekend with an awesome guest post by author Angeline Kace. We hope you like and please don't forget to tell us what you think of Angeline's story. 

The Time My Dog Fought with an Invisible Entity

by Angeline Kace.

One of my favorite things about Halloween is the scary stories, so I thought I’d share a true story that happened to me.

Strange things used to happen all the time at the old house where hubs ...and I used to live. But one event trumps all the others.

It was late at night, and hubs and I were asleep with our dog snoring at our feet.

Out of nowhere, the dog jumps off the bud, runs to the door, and starts to tussle with something big.

Growling rumbled through the room, and bodies crashed against the door and its frame.

Hubs jumped from the bed and ran to break up the fight and switched on the light.

“What the heck’s going on?” I screamed.

As soon as the light turned on, our dog turned around in circles looking for whatever he was just fighting with. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his ears were perked up.

Hubs looked down the hall with the dog following on high alert and ready to pounce this thing once they found it.

I followed behind them and stopped.

The door had a thick, brown liquid slowy sliding down the wood.

“Hun! Come look at this,” I said.

He returned. “What is that?”

“I have no idea. Where would that come from?” It looked like someone had chewed tobacco and spit it out on our door, but it was thicker than that. “Smell it,” I told him.

He reached his hand out and slid his finger up through the liquid. He sniffed it. “It doesn’t smell like anything.”

“What? Let me see that.” I jerked his hand toward me and sniffed it. It was scentless. “What in the heck is that?”

The only thing we knew for sure was that our dog was fighting with SOMETHING until hubs turned on the light, and then there was no creature, but a strange, unexplained liquid running down our bedroom door. 

Angeline Kace. 
Visit her website: Angeline Kace.com
Visit her on Goodreads: Author Profile
Visit her on Facebook: Author Page
Buy her Book: Paperback UK - Paperback US

A review for Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver

Posted by Jess
Published Date: August 4th, 2011 (UK release)
Finished Date: October 27th, 2011
Publishers: Hodder & Stoughton
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 393


The Blurb from Goodreads: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

The Review: "I love you. Remember. They cannot take it."

I'm not even sure where to begin with this review. Delirium was just an intensely powerful read, that it left me on the edge of my seat for a lot of the time.

I've wanted to read this book for so long now, and I was so happy when Donna managed to get it from Harper for me to review. It's taken me a while to get to reading it, but I finally managed to.

I knew this was a Dystopian, but I didn't know what the concept was until I started reading it. Love. Love is a disease medically called Amor Deliria Nervosa, at least that's what the government think. So they've created a 'cure' that every one must have when they reach the age of 18. We meet Lena Haloway. Lena doesn't know any different, and she's excited to receive her 'Procedure', so that she can be 'cured' or be prevented from being 'infected' with the disease. But then she does the unthinkable...she falls in love.

Well what can I say. Delirium was just beautifully written. Lauren Oliver has such a way with words that all her descriptions just jumped off of the page. Such vivid descriptions and the way everything is written just leaves you sucked in.

The first half of the book is pretty slow to get going, lots of story on the state of the U.S, we understand that they believe love is a disease, but we lack the understanding as to why they came to this conclusion. So a little more on the background of why, more than the how's and the cure would have been good. That's my only gripe though. Everything else was flawless. The characters I thought were wonderful, Lena to start off annoys me a little and I found it hard to connect to her, but later on as events unfold I begin to sympathize with her and slowly my liking for her grew. Alex. Well Alex, if you don't read this book for something, please at least read it just for him. Alex is an incredible character, he was my favourite. Lauren Oliver created a boy-sorry-man that just makes your heart go all a flutter and you simply fall head over heels for him. Lena's best friend Hana was great too. She pretty much starts off as a rebel and Lena is the quiet subdued one, but eventually Hana realizes she's just settled in the 'cure' life and Lena realizes, it's not what she wants at all, she loves; and it's because of that love that the epic chain of events takes place, leading to a dramatic climax that will leave you wanting so much more! 

I'm not really sure what else to write, I've said all I can. Only that I must have Pandemonium NOW! I need to know what's happened to Alex. God, I hate the self sacrificing heros! Why, why do that to us readers? Especially when we fall in love with you. Anyway, safe to say I have officially been infected with 'Amor Deliria Nervosa'.

Thank you to Hodder for allowing me to review this wonderful, wonderful book.