Shiver Review

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 400 pages (paperback)
Description: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Shiver is written in two alternating points of view; Sam and Grace’s. It is a story on genuine true love despite the hardship these two characters have to face. I felt myself, slowly but surely getting attached to Grace’s character. Her quirky and strong personality is very likable and at times funny too. Sam and Grace are quite different in personality, they have flaws, strengths and weaknesses which makes them more realistic. I can imagine them living somewhere in our world despite the fact that Sam is a werewolf (hopeful thinking?!..).

The plot starts off very slow, and does take quite a bit of time to develop and become fast-paced. There were a few times when I was contemplating giving up reading this book; due to the pace in the book. However, I’m glad I didn’t, it was all worth it in the end. The slow prose allows the reader to form a bond with the two main characters, whose alternating points of view transition seamlessly.

Despite the fact, that Sam is a werewolf, on the verge of changing on many occasions due to the cold, the author manages to make it realistic and not over done. It seemed like being a werewolf was secondary to the story; more important was the love between ‘yellow eyed’ Sam and ‘quirky’ Grace.

Maggie Stiefvater is a master at portraying the love between the two characters. Their love is poetic, cute and genuine. At times it becomes awkward without it being overtly intimate, I simply felt like I was watching from a distance and intruding.

As soon as I started really getting into the plot, it ended. However abrupt the ending was I was still nevertheless delighted with it, and left asking for more. I look forward to reading the next book in this trilogy. Overall this book gets a satisfying 4/5.

Vampire in Denial Review

Author: Dale Meyer
Description: Like being a sixteen-year-old vampire isn’t hard enough, Tessa’s throwback human genes make her an outcast among her relatives. But try as she might, she can’t get a handle on the vampire lifestyle and all the…blood.

Turning her back on the vamp world, she embraces the human teenage lifestyle—high school, peer pressure and finding a boyfriend. Jared manages to stir something in her blood. He’s smart and fun and oh, so cute. But Tessa’s dream of a having the perfect boyfriend turns into a nightmare when vampires attack the movie theatre and kidnaps her date.
Once again, Tessa finds herself torn between the human world and the vampire one. Will blood own out? Can she make peace with who she is as well as what?

Tessa is portrayed as an average teenager, well as average as a vampire teenager can be! At the beginning of the story she is shown to be quite shy and insercure about the way she looks, as well as her human genetics which are a huge throw back to her, thus labelling her as an outcast in the vampire world.
Going along a few chapter, Tessa's demeanour changes completely, she turns into a confident, harsh and sometimes selfish, vampire, in order to save her human friend Jared, with whom she seems connected with, even though the just meet.
Cody on the other hand, is a charming and confident vampire who just seems to have noticed Tessa for the first time since her change of demeanour. He reluctantly helps Tessa in her search for Jared.

Overall, the book was an OK read, I was really struggling to get into the book. I guess I'm not into vampire stories. Nevertheless, having read other books by Dale Meyer, I have to say that she is an incredibly good author and of course, I recommed you all to read her books, because I sure did love the other ones. And if you're into Vampire stories, this book maybe the one for you...

Operation Sheba Review

Title:Operation Sheba

Author: Misty Evans

Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd

ISBN: 9781605043265

Pages: 312

Review: Well written, fast paced, an exciting page turning suspense novel! Operation Sheba has it all, the romance, the bullets, and the CIA. What more could we ask for?
Evans writes in such detail about the world of CIA operatives, I won't be surprised if she works for them!
Conrad Flynn a CIA operative is mystertiously killed in a mission, turning Julia Torrison, his partner and lover's, world upside down.
Julia returns to the state and changes her identity, starting a new life, one which involves CIA Director, Michael Stone. A year and a half later Julia's world is turned upside down again when Conrad returns, well and very much so alive. Julia learns he faked his death in order to uncover a mole in the agency. Can Julia trust Conrad? Is the mole closer to Julia than she likes to think?
Overall, a fast paced, exciting thriller. Definitely will be reading the next books in the series.