Annaberry Reads: January 2017

The Perfect Waltz by Anne Gracie

Title: The Perfect Waltz
Series: The Merridew Sisters, #2
Author: Anne Gracie
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Date Published: November 1, 2005
3 Stars

He came in search of a convenient bride...

London's Ball of the Season is hardly the milieu for society black sheep Sebastian Reyne. But his younger sisters are in desperate need of care, and Sebastian is seeking a practical, down-to-earth wife. What he doesn't need is an effervescent sprite like Hope Merridew, a dazzling beauty and the darling of the ton.

...And found love instead.

Who was that mysterious man who devoured Hope Merridew with his eyes? Rumored to be dangerous, and with a mysterious family heritage, the secretive Sebastian proves absolutely seductive to such an impetuous young lady. But was he really the one to make her dream of dancing the perfect waltz with the perfect man come true? Who'd imagine that one dance could ignite a passion so strong that it would seduce all into a delicious intrigue of sensuality and desire?

Quick Thoughs:

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

So, today's Top Ten Tuesday is supposed to be about our ten favorite graphic novels or comics. However, I have only read a few graphics novels (Outlander, Vampire Academy, and Twilight). I got to thinking about books that I've read and would really like to be turned into graphic novels. These are the books that made my top ten:

Title: Splintered
Series: Splintered, #1
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books
Date Published: January 1, 2013
Narrator: Rebecca Gibel
4 Stars

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My Thoughts (more like rambles?) :

Title: Phantom Kiss
Series: Chicagoland Vampires, #12.5
Author: Chloe Neill
Publisher: InterMix
Date Published: January 17, 2017
4 Stars

n this all-new novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight Marked, Merit, Ethan, and the rest of Cadogan House crew discover that not all undead creatures are kindred spirits…

Vampires generally aren’t afraid of things that go bump in the night, but Merit and Ethan are extra jumpy after a recent attack by a dark sorcerer. So when they learn that someone is messing with graves in Chicago’s cemeteries, stealing skulls and snatching souls, they fear that their powerful foe might be back for even more magical vengeance.

But after a specter begins haunting Cadogan House—and targeting vampires—they realize that they're being taunted by an altogether different sort of monster. A ghoulish villain straight out of the Windy City’s urban legends is on the prowl—and he won’t stop until he’s killed again...

Includes a sneak peek of Blade Bound, the epic final novel in the New York Times bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series.

My Thoughts:

Title: Midnight Marked
Series: Chicagoland Vampires, #12
Author: Chloe Neill
Publisher: NAL
Date Published: March 1, 2016
4 Stars

As the Chicagoland Vampires series continues, Merit and Ethan find themselves in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, where winning may require the ultimate sacrifice...

A vampire’s grudges don’t stay dead long...

Merit is one of Chicago's most skilled vampire warriors; these days, she doesn't scare easily. But she and Master vampire Ethan have made a new and powerful enemy, and he won't give up until he owns the Windy City.

With his last plan thwarted, he's more determined than ever to watch Cadogan burn. Ethan has put the House's vampires on high alert, but their enemy will stop at nothing, including pitting vampire against vampire...

In this deadly game of cat-and-mouse, the stakes are life or death—and winning might mean sacrificing everything...

My Thoughts:

Title: The Fill-In Boyfriend
Author: Kasie West
Standalone
Publisher: Harper Teen
Date Published: May 5, 2015
Rating: 4.5 Stars

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

Quick Thoughts:

Title: Retreat
Series: Getaway, #1
Author: Jay Crownover
Date Published: December 28, 2016
Rating: 4 Stars

Every once in a while, you need to get away from it all.

I was a woman on the edge, shaken and shattered after a breakup that felt like it tore my entire world apart.

My best friend, sick of watching me drown in misery and melancholy, harassed me until I agreed to go with her on a week-long wilderness retreat.

She promised days spent bonding and getting in touch with our inner bad-asses.
It was supposed to be all about the two of us roughing it and making do with the bare minimum. She assured me we were going to be pushed to our limits in ways that were unimaginable. Neither one of us could have ever guessed just how right she was.

Nowhere in the glossy brochure did it say anything about the fact I was going to have to battle the insufferable but deliciously rugged and sexy trail guide instead of the elements. The brochure also forgot to mention the part that warned when you left civilization behind, there was no place to pack your inhibitions and fears.

I was told that I would be facing a week where the only thing I should expect was the unexpected. However, no one mentioned that I was going to have to fight for my life…and my heart as soon as I ventured into the unknown.

I was a pro at hiding from my feelings but when it came time to face a real threat, one that could change everything, I learned I was more of a no surrender, no retreat kind of girl.

Retreat is a standalone novel, the first in the Getaway series which centers on the hardheaded and brokenhearted Warner brothers and the women that dare to love them.

These boys are very good at putting the wild in wilderness.

My Thoughts:

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

So, there were a lot of books that were released in 2016, that I had planned on reading, but just never got around it for some reason. It was really hard to narrow my list down to ten, but these are the books that came to mind first:

Book Release Blitz: Resounding Silence by Quinn Loftis

Today we are celebrating the latest book from Quinn Loftis!

Resounding Silence is a novella and part of Grey Wolves series.

The events chronicled herein occur after the destruction of Reyaz the Warlock, which was recounted in Sacrifice of Love. A few months of peace were enjoyed by the various supernatural races before an increase in attacks by vampires in the human realm, which was recounted in Den of Sorrows, forces the elves, fae and werewolves to go to battle once again.

Duty, sacrifice, service, and discipline. These were the characteristics that described Cyn, the warrior fae. Though love was out of her reach, she thought