BEASTLY
Author: Alex Finn
Source: Personal Purchase

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen; Revised edition (February 8, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061963283
ISBN-13: 978-0061963285

SUMMARY:

Love is never ugly 

Now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer 

I am a beast. A beast! Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. I am a monster. 

You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll,stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell. 

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly. 

MY THOUGHTS:

I love books that retell my childhood fairy tale reads and movies.  In Beastly, we get a modern day story of Beauty and the Beast.

This book starts out strong and kept me very interested in the story.  While Kyle was a typical pretty boy jerk, you still get to see glimpse’s of his good side that is hidden beneath. He has the perfect look that has gotten him almost anything along with Daddy’s money.  When he meets Kendra, a witch, he makes fun of her and even stoops to humiliating her at the dance.  She puts a curse on him that night and by morning he wakes up as The Beast.  He only has 2 years to find true love to break the spell.

While I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, I did have one problem with it.  While we start off with a strong modern day fairy tale, at times I felt the author reverted back in time with it.  Just some of the things the characters would say, or the way Lindy would act made it feel too Disney themed at times.  Other than that, this book was an enjoyable read and kept me interested from page one up until the last word of the book.

This was a great story that I think not only teens will enjoy, but adults who love the fairy tale romance with a happily ever after that is guaranteed with the old fables we grew up on.  I can’t wait to read the other books by this author!

MY RATING:

Very Good! I would recommend this book! 4 STARS

ABOUT THE MOVIE:

According to IMDB .com, Beastly will be in theaters on March 4th, 2011 (USA).  While I can’t wait to see the movie, especially with the perfect casting of Alex Pettyfer as Kyle/Adrian, but it is just a great modern day adaptation of the book.  While they didn’t do a great job at casting Lindy, I am willing to overlook that.  They also didn’t portray the Beast like they did in the book.  If you remember Beast from the Disney movie, that is how the book describes him.  In the movie preview below, you can definitely see that they changed the look of The Beast for the big screen. They also cast Mary Kate Olsen as the witch.  PERFECT! She fits that part and plays it perfectly.  The one other thing that bugs me about the preview/movie is they change the time line.  In the movie he has only one year, but in the book Kyle has two years. I still can’t wait to watch it though!

BLOOD ON SILK
Author: Marie Treanor
Source: Author Submission
*I received this book free of 
charge in exchange for an honest review*

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: NAL Trade; 1 edition (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451231562
ISBN-13: 978-0451231567

SUMMARY:

While in Romania researching historical superstitions, Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk comes upon the folk tale of Saloman, a seductive prince staked centuries ago, legend’s most powerful vampire. Now, in the ruins of a castle crypt, Elizabeth discovers supernatural legends that have come alive. Her blood has awakened him. Her innocence has aroused him. But Elizabeth unleashes more than Saloman’s hunger, and it’s going to unite them in ways neither could have imagined.

MY THOUGHTS:

This book took me a bit to finish.  It is not because it was too long of a read, but more of ‘digging through narrative’ kind of read.  The author used a lot of narrative and long descriptions to make a simple point.  Sometimes this can be a good thing, but in this book, it seemed to be repetitive.  I found myself skipping through these parts because at times, the description felt like it was words to just make a word count. 


Saloman was the typical broody and deadly vampire.  I couldn’t enjoy his character too much because he seemed vile and evil to me.  I couldn’t get an ounce of human emotion for him and his personality.  Elizabeth was odd for me.  While she was strong in parts, she also had a weak side as well.  That is fine for me.   I like my characters to have flaws at times and that can make a great book in itself.  Yet, I still couldn’t bring myself to care what happened to her either. 


While I did finish the book, and the author peaked my interest near the end to read the next one, this wasn’t a typical vampire story I normally would read.  I just couldn’t bring myself to love or care about the characters.  I will say that just because I am not a fan of this book doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it. This darker sort of story might be your taste.  I could have been having an off day in reading this and it just didn’t appeal to me at that time.  If you are a fan of the darker stories, you should give it a go.  Overall, not one I will re read, but I might give the second book a chance to redeem this one. 


MY RATING:

MAD LOVE
Author: Suzanne Selfors
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge
in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (January 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080278450X
ISBN-13: 978-0802784506

SUMMARY:

When you’re the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can’t write it. Alice needs a story for her mother—and she needs one fast.

That’s when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol’s voice in her head and see things she can’t explain, she must face the truth—that she’s either inherited her mother’s madness, or Errol is for real.

MY THOUGHTS:

This is the first book I have read by this author and I must say that this was a cute and enjoyable read!  The author gave me a new take on Cupid and what his appearance could really be.  In Mad Love, Cupid is not the chubby naked baby that we have come to recognize as Cupid on Valentine’s Day.  In this book he is mysterious, kinda cute and needing his story told by Alice.

Alice on the other hand, has a crush on skateboarder Tony.  Alice is also trying to deal with her Mother being in a hospital for mental illness.  She is stepping into her Mother’s shoes as a writer of romance while struggling with money problems that a teenager shouldn’t be dealing with.  She covers for her Mother at a book signing and even goes as far as writing the publisher to tell them the next book is on the way.  Now Alice is forced to write a romance novel with no idea how to write one.

Enter Cupid, or Errol as he likes to be called.  He tells Alice that he wants her to write his love story.  She thinks Errol is a crazy stalker at first, but quickly realizes he is the real deal.  Now Alice finds herself listening to Errol’s story of love and getting a new take on it as well.

I liked this book because of the fun and quirky story.  The writer did a wonderful job of telling the story and the pace was perfect.  Overall it was a cute and fun read that teens will enjoy. 

MY RATING:

Very Good! I would recommend this book! 4 STARS

HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF
Author: Molly Harper
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge 
in exchange for an honest review*

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket (February 22, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439195862
ISBN-13: 978-1439195864

SUMMARY:

Northern Exposure 

Even in Grundy, Alaska, it’s unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham—who has been openly critical of Mo’s ability to adapt to life in Alaska—has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble. 

For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it’s love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he’s worried that he might be the violent canine in question. 

If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he’s not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . . .

MY THOUGHTS:

Just look at that cute cover!  I love the fun look it has even if the male on the front is a little different that what I thought Cooper looked like.  The cover portrays the fun and sometimes hilarious feel of the book! While I have the Nice Girls series by the author, I haven’t had a chance to read them yet.  So I was excited to finally get to sit down and read at least this series by her!

Mo was brought up by hippies that were a little out there.  She has struggled her entire life to break free of their beliefs and such.  When she breaks up with her boyfriend Tim, she heads off to the great town of Grundy, Alaska.  The book begins with Mo finally arriving in Grundy after leaving her roots in the South.  To say she was in for a shock is speaking lightly.

After landing a job at the local bar/restaurant  in Grundy, she meets Cooper.  Cooper is the typical brooding and surly Alpha of the book.  Mo quickly discovers his secret of being a werewolf and quickly adapts to the discovery.

While I enjoyed the book, I found parts of it not as exciting.  I felt that Mo was too quick to accept what Cooper was and felt she should have had at least one or two panic scenes.  Cooper was broody but his past problems were not really a plausible excuse for his actions.  He would be lovey and sweet one minute, and then just as quickly he is snapping his mouth at everything.  Some parts of the book would be fast paced, yet some parts seemed to drag.  Just when it would start to get going at a nice pace, either it would jump ahead in the time line too quick or slow down to the point of wanting to put the book down.

After finishing the book, I was still pleased with it.  It had flaws, but the book was still enjoyable and was exactly how I expected it to be by looking at the cover.  I knew I would be getting a fun and humorous read.  I knew it wasn’t going to be a serious themed book but a book that leaves you with a smile and feel good feeling when finishing. Not one of my favorite books, but definitely not the worst.  I would recommend this read if you are looking for a feel good read.  Furry and fun with a cute romance in between!

FAVORITE QUOTE:

“You know how some people just rub you the wrong way?  Well. Cooper’s my own personal sandpaper.”

“He’s like that with everybody,” Darby assured me.  “Don’t take it personally.  Some people were just born with a pinecone shoved up their butts.  In Cooper’s case, it’s lodged sideways.”

MY RATING: