Book Review: Vampire State Of Mind By Jane Lovering

Name: Vampire State Of Mind
Author: Jane Lovering
Publisher: Choc Lit Books

Summary: Jessica Grant knows vampires only too well. She runs the York Council tracker programme making sure that Otherworlders are all where they should be, keeps the filing in order and drinks far too much coffee. To Jess, vampires are annoying and arrogant and far too sexy for their own good, particularly her ex-colleague Sil, who’s now in charge of Otherworld York. But when a demon turns up and threatens not just Jess but the whole world order, she and Sil are forced to work together, and when Jess turns out to be the key to saving the world it puts a very different slant on their relationship. The stakes are high. They are also very, very pointy and Jess isn’t afraid to use them, even on the vampire that she’s rather afraid she’s falling in love with ...


Review: Firstly I want to apologise for my lack of reviews and posts. I have a few that need finishing and posting they will be done soon. I have also been unwell twice work has been manic and I was preparing for a holiday. I had started reading a few books but nothing was really grabbing me.

One day I got to work early and decided I needed a Starbucks fix when I noticed that Vampire State Of Mind was their pick of the week. So I downloaded my freebie and read the first few chapters rather quickly.

Jess is an easily loved character she goes between being a strong independent woman also into an emotional naive wreck. This book is addictive.
The sexual tension between Jess and Sil is apparent early on and it continues heavily into the end of the book.
There are so many twists and turns with a major one involving Jess and her history, a definite OMG moment and when the twists and turns start oh do they continue. I honestly believe if I'd read this on a day off and when I wasn't sick I could have easily devoured it in a day. I love how you also get part from Jess part from Sil and also just the story. It really does add to the description and the drama of the story.
Malfaire was a character I instantly didn't like and oh was I right to dislike him. Just when you feel like you know where the story is going BAM another major twist yet again about Jess. The pace of this book slows down to be descriptive then it speeds right back up.

I truly adore Jess and Sil they are both such stubborn characters but both are easily likeable.
I won't spoil the ending but I loved it. I could definitely read more about Sil and Jess but if this is just a stand alone book then I am a happy book worm. I really like Jane's writing I look forward to picking up another of her novels. If you're looking for a book to grab your attention and have you hooked from page one, then Vampire State Of Mind is a MUST!.
I look forward to devouring more books from Jane and Choc Lit, I also promise the reviews and posts will be coming back more regular.


 

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Book Review: If You Find Me By Emily Murdoch

Name: If You Find Me
Author: Emily Murdoch
Publisher: Indigo
Release date: OUT NOW
Summary: THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND ...
A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen-year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey's younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and the girls are found by their father, a stranger, and taken to re-enter the "normal" life of school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must come to terms with the truth of why their mother spirited them away ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won't let her go ... a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn't spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Review: My god! What an emotional ride. This book is one of the best contemporary thrillers I have ever read.

If you know me I'm not really into thrillers at all. I am all about romance novels etc but this book has defiantly made me second guess the genre in a good way. I absolutely can't express to you how amazing this novel is. The plot is SOOO original! Like I have never ever come across something like this. The shocking moments, the cries, the screams, the anger and the joy I felt through this is unimaginable.

Carey and her sister Nessa have had some horrific things happen to them and through Emily Murdoch's writing I could feel everything the girls were feeling. Emily's word images were so vivid. It must of been hard to write certain scenes and I feel like she handled it perfectly.  I loved that it was in first person I think for this kind of story it was very important. What's amazing about Emily's writing is if she wants you scared she will make you SCARED. If she wants you heartbroken prepared to be, her writing is so clever and gritty it was epic.


Emily didn't hold back in her writing. It felt true and legit. It hit you where it was supposed to and then left you to pick up the pieces. Each page, each paragraph and each sentence had me on the edge, not on the edge of my seat no... On the edge of everything, my emotions and my sanity. I loved the characters they had such an essence. Each one of them! They all made an impact in my reading and my heart. I love Nessa... She is such a sweetheart and it made me want a little sister so bad. Her and Carey's relationship felt so true... You could see the unconditional and loyalty love between them and Emily did an amazing job.


I feel like I want to say much more but honestly? I just want you guys to read this incredible book. If you want a beautiful book about survival, bravery, loyalty and identity then go and buy it now. You won't regret it.

WATCH THE THRILLING BOOK TRAILER HERE

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DR MAKEUP - LOOKS ON BOOKS #5

Hey guys so today I decided to base my Looks On Books meme on the amazing novel Unhinged by A.G Howard. The Sequel to Splintered.

Summary: Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head

This was so fun to do. The stuff you will need for the basic look is:

1. Purple and white face paint

2. Purple and green eye shadow

3. Purple Lipstick

4. eye lashes

5. Black Liquid eyeliner

6. Small Paint brush

1. Apply some pale foundation or a foundation lighter than your skin tone on your face then start to blend the purple eyeshadow on both your lids.

2. Once that's done get your thin paint brush dab it into the purple face paint and start to do swirls from your waterline running down your cheek like the picture above and the book cover pic. Try to make it as neat as possible.

3. At the ends of the swirls add a white dot or a green dot in the middle of the circle just to add a flowery effect.

4. Get you black eyeliner and from the inside of your eye lid draw a line and flick it at the end just under your eyebrows. Its gives an effect to make your eyes look bigger!

5. With your black eyeliner draw a small circle above your cheek bone and then draw 3 lines coming out from each side of the circle, so it looks like you have a spider on your cheek.

6. Once that is done get some purple lipstick apply it onto your lips and then on your bottom lip put some silver lipstick in the middle and blend.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! The UNHINGED inspired book cover look!

 You guys can get Splintered the first in this series HERE in the UK. Make sure you look out for Unhinged COMING SOON!!!

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DR MAKEUP - LOOKS ON BOOKS #4

LOOKS ON BOOKS is a MEME hosted by myself Casey at Dark Readers. Its a feature of mine that combines my two favourite things makeup and books. I base my looks on the cover of the books or the characters so check it out :D

Hey guys so today I decided to base my Looks On Books meme on the amazing novel AngelFall by Susan EE. I decided to base this look on the EPIC ANGELIC book cover check it out:

Summary: It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

This was probably the hardest book cover to do a look on. There is so much colour, blending and woah going on it was really tricky. I gave it my best shot! So what makeup you will need for the basic look is

1. White and purple face paint.

2. brown and gold eye shadow

3. silver and black liquid liner.

4. silver or black lipstick

5. A small paint brush

6. Pair of eyelashes

1. Get a Sponge of some sort and gently start to dab the white face paint on your face, Especially around the eyes and cheeks avoid the mouth area as you want to put lipstick on.

2. Once that's done get the same sponge you used and start to gently blend the purple face paint into the white. You can use dark blue instead of purple but I liked how the purple looked more.

3. Once that is done get an eye shadow brush and dip it into your brown eye shadow. Dab the brush onto your cheeks to make brown dots. Blend it into the white and purple face paint but not to much. Do the same with the yellow and gold eye shadow.

4. Once that's done get your gold eye shadow and brush it on your eyelids. It doesn't have to be neat at all as you can see the book cover is a blast of colour too.

7. Once all your colours are blended its time to draw the wings on your eyes and forehead. Now this it can be very messy and very tricky! so all I can say is make sure your liquid liner brush has a thin tip. All you need to do is a wing like effect like the one above. A Tip is to balance your little finger on your cheek as you do it, It helps your balance.

8. Once that is done place your eyelashes and some mascara on your eyes and some black or silver lipstick and there you have it! the ANGELFALL LOOK! READ MY REVIEW FOR THE NOVEL HERE

Release date 28th May in the UK!

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ANGEL FALL BY SUSAN EE BOOK REVIEW

Name: AngelFall
Author: Susan EE
UK publisher: Hodder
UK release date: 28th May
Summary: It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel. Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Review: As Soon as I read the first couple of pages my heart started beating ten a dozen. I have never read anything like this. It's beyond incredible. There are no words that can do this book justice... Not one.

This book from the first page had me flying literally! I had no idea that a angel related novel could be this good. The emotion I felt! The crying, the heartbreak, the shocking moments and humorous ones in the first 41 pages.

The cleverness of this novel. The detail the undeniable and credible story I couldn't and won't forget about for many many years. As a lover of books I always find myself sitting at home on my window sill looking out in the rain And just imagining myself being picked up and put in a world full of adventure and meaning and I think this book did it for me. I didn't want to come back to reality.

The plot is spectacular.... Angels are BAD. So so bad. Not at all lovey dovey Angels from a lovable YA, that you can suddenly make good. No these Angels will ripe of your head off, hang you upside in a tree and let all your blood run out your neck. Shocking....yes does it make one heck of an awesome unimaginable story? F*ck yeah.

The characters in this novel are not are at all two dimensional. I felt like I was in a cinema watching this on the big screen that's how emotional this book was. Raffe is one epic character he is one of the essence of this book that makes it so good! The way Susan describes his looks, his movement, his emotions I couldn't hold myself together without swooning or shouting at him through the pages.

Penryn. Even the name oozes stance. I can't explain to you how epic, intoxicating and unforgettable this character is. She's the lead and the STRONGEST female character I have ever read. She would travel to the end of the earth to save her sister. The way Susan writes Penryn's scenes you feel everything she feels, love, hate and agony and you can't help but want to climb into the story and tell her that it'll be okay. Her and Raffe's relationship is something rare in the older YA I've read. Its something very special and I cannot wait to see what Susan has coming for these characters.

I could be here writing a review for hours but I don't want to because I want you guys to read this for yourself and experience what I have.

As a quote in the book says..
"Sometimes, as we're stumbling along in the dark, we hit something good" I can say The same for this book. Sometimes we stumble through novels and one day we pick up something good.... ANGEL FALL

This book is one of the reasons I read. It'll blow your mind.. Literally.

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EXCLUSIVE BOOK TRAILER REVEAL: IF YOU FIND ME BY EMILY MURDOCH

 

Hey Guys so I am here today to exclusively reveal the book trailer for If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. This is an epic thriller that you guys NEED to read! the cover is epic and spooky too!!!

the book is available now in all leading UK book shops and online! get your hands on it people!!!

Summary: A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down

 

So without further or do here is the EPIC book trailer for If you find me! ENJOY!

 

 

 

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