Blogmas Book Review: The Rogue Hunter by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
Samantha Willan is a workaholic lawyer. She’s grateful for some rest and relaxation in cottage country, and after a recent breakup she wants to stay as far away from romance as possible. Then she meets her irresistible new neighbor. There’s something strange and mysterious about his eyes. Is it just her imagination, or are they locked on her neck?
Garrett Mortimer is a rogue hunter. His last assignment united Lucian Argeneau with his lifemate, and Mortimer is hoping this one will be less…adventurous. He’s here to track down a reported rogue, but fun in the sun is every bloodsucker’s nightmare. Worse, he can’t seem to get his mind off Samantha, especially when he spies her skinny-dipping in the lake. After eight hundred years as a bachelor, is he ready to turn a volatile attraction into a lasting love affair?
Review:
The Rogue Hunter was the first Lynsay Sands book I ever read. This was way back in high school when it definitely was not an age-appropriate book for me to be reading. I remember the boys that I would sit with at lunch stealing my books from Antonia and me, flipping to the particularly interesting sex scenes and reading them aloud until we could manage to steal the books back. While it was really embarrassing then, it’s a memory I’m rather fond of now. So, finally arriving at this book in the series had me excited.
I love this world that Sands has created. The interesting twist on the vampire origin story is one of my favorites. Science-based rather than magical. It’s my favorite. I think it’s such an interesting twist on the well-loved vampire.
The characters Sands creates characters that you can’t help but love. The Willan sisters are no different. It’s no secret that I love stories with siblings in them, so getting one with three sisters was a delight. I loved their interactions and clear love for one another. Sam is the love interest in this particular story, though I have a feeling we will be seeing her sisters again. I liked Sam because she was smart and ambitious. She’s a lawyer trying to make partner at her law firm. So, instead of enjoying her vacation she ends up on a search for the daughter of a wealthy client. I loved that this book acknowledged her past and that she was growing from that past. Being hurt by someone she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with had left its mark and she was trying to work through and move past that.
Enter Mortimer. He was a little typical of the characters from this series. An aging immortal who is beginning to tire with life. Oh if only he had a lifemate. When he realized that might be Sam, he’s a bit put off. But only until he starts to get to know her. I liked that Sam was his lifemate, a girl that was not at all what he had pictured for himself.
The mystery was a little lame and didn’t occupy much of the story. With this, there also was a rather lack of rogue immortals. The title is The Rogue Hunter, which does fit as a title for Mortimer, but there wasn’t really even a rogue in the story which was a little disappointing. I have a feeling this will change in the next book though so I’m looking forward to that.
Overall, I liked this. It wasn’t my favorite, but it also wasn’t my least favorite. It was fun and enjoyable.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Vampire, Interrupted by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
IT WAS A CASE SHE COULD SINK HER TEETH INTO…
After seven hundred years of life, Marguerite Argeneau finally has a career. Well, the start of one, anyway. She’s training to be a private investigator, and her first assignment is to find an immortal’s mother. It seemed simple enough, until Marguerite wakes up one evening to find herself at the wrong end of a sword. Now she realizes she’s in way over her head.
Julius Notte wants to protect Marguerite, and not because someone just tried to take her head off. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s his lifemate and he’s determined to woo her. It’s been over five hundred years since he last courted a woman, but surely the techniques haven’t changed. Now if only he can keep her alive—so to speak—so they can have that happily-ever-after.
Review:
This one was a little weird at the beginning. It sort of just jumps right into the story. Most of these books you can read in any order, but this one I think would leave the reader a bit confused until things are explained later in the story.
Because I’ve read all of the books previously in the series, I was mostly in the know except for the big twist. Most of these books have a bit of mystery in them, but this one was absolutely full of it. Someone is trying to kill Marguerite, while she’s on her first case as a private investigator.
I really liked this one. If anyone deserved to find their lifemate it was certainly Marguerite. I loved the story of her and Julius. It was captivating and full of suspense and mystery. I really can’t say too much because the mystery of these two is the best part of the book.
Marguerite is one of my favorite characters in this series. She’s the one that holds the family together, so when they add a few more members of the family I’m so happy for her. She’s determined not to be controlled like she was by her first husband ever again. I really liked how this way portrayed because insecurities from past relationships are something that happens to many people in the real world.
Overall, I enjoyed getting to see Marguerite fall in love and solve a mystery.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Vampires are Forever by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
Vampires Don’t Exist…Do They?
Inez Urso is beginning to have her doubts. Her business associate Thomas Argeneau has some interesting traits, like an allergic reaction to the sun, excellent night vision, and not much of an appetite for food. And to top it all off, he just tried to bite her neck…but maybe that was a sign of passion. If so, she’d be happy to experience more, despite her determination not to mix business with pleasure.
He’s Been Waiting Forever For A Woman Like Her…
Well, if not forever, at least two hundred years. Inez is the most beautiful woman he’s seen in centuries. Those luscious lips, seductive curves, and her elegant neck…he just couldn’t resist the temptation of one little bite. Now Thomas will do anything to convince her that only an immortal like him can satisfy her all night long…
Review:
In this installment of the Argeneau series, we follow Thomas. He’s the kid brother that no one takes seriously. I was excited to finally get his story. He had to watch all of his siblings find their lifemates and fully expected to wait 100+ years to find one for himself.
I adored Thomas. He learned some things about his family, that maybe know him a little better than he thought they did. He secretly writes music, something he’s pretty successful at. But hides this from his older brothers. Until he finds out they all already know about it. I liked the familial growth that we got to see. I think the family dynamic is one of my favorite parts of this series.
Then there’s Inez, she’s the new vice president of the British branches of Argeneau Enterprises, but because of Bastien’s being a bit too wrapped up in his lifemate, Terri. So, he sort of forgets to tell her the big vampire secret when he promotes her. Thomas is left with that responsibility. He bites her and then, too late, realizes he can’t read her mind to wipe her memories. Then the lifemate antics ensue. I liked Inez. She was very logical. She’s smart and capable, but also way too judgmental of herself. I didn’t love how much she criticized herself. Her looks, her weight, etc, I didn’t love that at all.
I did love the pair galivanting all over Europe attempting to find Marguerite. The mystery of what happened to her was interesting enough to keep me invested in the story. Though I was a little annoyed that we never really get an answer as to what’s going on with her.
Overall, I enjoyed Vampires are Forever. I love the twist on vampires. I love Thomas with my whole heart. I love him with Inez. I just loved it.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands

Goodreads Summary:
FATE GAVE HER FANGS…
Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black’s been catching her z’s in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there’s more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can’t very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she’d meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman – dead or alive.
HE’LL SHOW HER HOW TO USE THEM…
Rich, powerful, and drop—dead gorgeous, Victor’s the perfect man for a novice neck—biter like Elvi. He’s willing to teach her everything he knows, but he’ll have to do it fast. Someone’s out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe – and satisfied – for all eternity.
Review:
The Accidental Vampire is now my favorite of the series. It’s so hard for me to decide which is my favorite because I have so much fun each time I read the next book in the series. But this one, man, this one had me laughing so hard that I actually woke my sleeping baby. I just couldn’t stop laughing.
We follow Victor who is related to a different character from a previous book which is something I didn’t realize until over halfway through the book but warmed my little heart when I did learn it. I really liked Victor. He wanted to give Elvi the benefit of the doubt, even though that wasn’t quite his job. Then he learns he can’t read her, and things take a turn for the romantic.
Elvi is the ‘town vampire.’ She was accidentally turned while on vacation in Mexico. The town gets behind her and supports her by donating blood for her. But the funny thing is…everything Elvi knows about being a vampire she’s learned from movies and mythology. It was the perfect set up for absolute hilarity.
Her best friend, Mabel, sets things up so six men (vampires) come to stay at their bed and breakfast, just setting up for more hilarity. It ends up being four suitors and a friend. They all know each other and it was just absolutely great.
I love the twist on the vampire mythology. It’s science-based and I just adore this aspect of the series. I also really loved the dynamic between all of the characters. They were from all different backgrounds and time periods and their personalities were all so different. I just think this one was done so well. With Elvi learning that everything she thought she knew was wrong, these men teaching her the truth was just absolute gold.
I loved this book. I love this series. I love everything about it.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Bite Me If You Can by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
One minute Leigh is walking home in the early hours of the morning, and the next a vampire is sinking his teeth into her neck. Turns out it was a rogue vampire marked for termination, but it does Leigh little good because the damage’s already been done. She’s become one of them.
Lucian Argeneau, hunter of rogue vampires, has been alive for over two thousand years, and there’s very little to excite him anymore. Food has become tasteless, sex is ordinary. The Leigh drops into his life. Suddenly he finds himself craving coffee…and imagining the sassy brunette atop the black satin sheets on his nice big bed. It’s Lucian’s job now to enlighten Leigh on the inner workings of being immortal…and tutoring her is igniting a fire in him that hasn’t burned in centuries.
But until they stop a renegade bloodsucker from destroying the human race, passion will have to wait!
Review:
So, I know I said Bastien’s story was my favorite in the series so far, but that has officially been bumped to second place by Bite Me if You Can. I couldn’t put this one down even though it was almost two am and the right thing to do would have been to go to sleep. I didn’t. I stayed up way too late reading this installment of the Argeneau series.
Lucian is a grumpy immortal that is thousands of years old. He’s had his lifemate and children but lost them long ago. He’s focused on protecting the rest of his extended family. He’s abrupt almost to the point of rudeness but he’s so old that he just really doesn’t care. But when he meets Leigh, a potential new lifemate, he finds that he’s scared at the possibility of having love and losing it again.
Leigh finds herself in a sticky situation and it’s a grumpy Lucian that comes and saves her. Circumstances see to it that it’s Lucian that looks over her while she turns and teaches (sort of) her about what this new change means. She’s wary of the idea of lifemates because of her abusive ex-husband. I really liked Leigh. She had a real can-do attitude and faces her new life as a vampire with a great attitude. I loved her. She saw through Lucian’s grouchy outside and into his marshmallow center.
My favorite parts were when the rest of the family came around. Rachel, who previously had very much disliked Lucian, was now able to read his mind, as could all Lucian’s other nieces and nephews. This enabled quite a bit of hilarity with the direction of Lucian’s thoughts. I was cracking up so much throughout this one.
Overall, Bite Me If You Can is my favorite of the series so far, but who knows what the next installments will bring. I love these characters. I love this series. I love the vampire lore that’s based in science. I love the writing. I just love Lynsay Sands.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Blogtober Book Review: A Bite to Remember by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
Rule #1: Never get involved with someone who won’t be there for you when the sun comes up.
Once bitten, twice shy, and sexy PI Jackie Morrisey wasn’t going there again. Vincent Argeneau may be the hottest guy she’s ever met, living or dead, but she’s here to stop a killer from turning this vampire into dust, not to jump into bed with him.
Rule #2: Never kiss a vampire . . . it can be a pain in the neck.
Okay, so Vincent’s had four hundred years to perfect his kissing skills, and he does look rather tempting when he runs around the house shirtless. He’s also charming, protective . . . did we mention he can kiss? Jackie needs to be on her guard, or else she’ll have to come up with a new rule: If you’re going to fall in love with a vampire, make sure it’s a bite to remember.
Review:
A Bite to Remember was fun because it was the first book in the Argeneau series where the love interest already knew that vampires existed and the history behind their creation. She was also a private detective so this was half romance and half mystery, which was really enjoyable.
Vincent is our Argeneau in this installment of the series. I really loved him. He’s funny and chipper and always trying to look on the bright side. Though he’s realizing that he may have been in danger of starting to fall into the depression that some vampires face where nothing is exciting anymore.
Enter Jackie, the private investigator Bastien has hired to help Vincent find out who is sabotaging his company. Jackie has some old prejudices against vampires because of a relationship she had with one when she was just starting to learn the ropes of her father’s business. Since then, she never lets herself trust or really get too close to any of their kind. I liked Jackie because she was willing to learn things about herself when her best friend points them out.
That brings up Tiny. I loved him. He was a no-bullshit guy and despite being large, he has many talents. I didn’t like how often his size was pointed out. I thought it was unnecessary. But I loved him. Even more after remembering who he ends up with.
I enjoyed the mystery we’re trying to unravel too. I thought I’d remembered who the villain was from reading this years ago, but I was wrong. I thought the big reveal and rescue was great.
Overall, another Argeneau novel that I really enjoyed. The writing was great. The characters were enjoyable and funny. The smut was also great. I just love this series.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Blogtober Book Review: Tall, Dark & Hungry by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
It bites: New York hotels cost an arm and a leg, and Terri had flown from England to help plan her cousin’s wedding. The new in-laws offered lodging. But they were a weird bunch. There was the sometimes-chipper-sometimes-brooding Lucern, and the wacky stage-actor, Vincent. (She couldn’t imagine Broadway casting a hungrier singing-and-dancing Dracula.) And then there was Bastien. Just looking into his eyes, Terri had to admit she was falling for him – someone even taller, darker and hungrier than the other two. She was feeling a mite peckish herself. And if she stayed with him, those blood-sucking hotel owners wouldn’t get to her!
Review:
Tall, Dark & Hungry was almost the best book I’ve read in this series so far. Except for the last fifty or so pages. I didn’t like one choice that the female main character made, even though I understood her reasoning.
Bastien is my favorite Argeneau. He’s the man you go to when you need something. I love him. He heads up Argeneau Enterprises and handles business. So, when his house slowly starts filling with people, he has to juggle quite a few different things, which was certainly entertaining. He’s agreed to host Terri, Kate’s cousin/best friend/maid of honor, while she’s in town for the wedding. But then Kate has to leave because of work, so he’s left to house and entertain her. Also, Kate’s fellow editor has been injured and needs a place to stay. Oh, and Bastien’s cousin Vincent is in town for a play he’s starring in. So, it’s basically a madhouse. But then it gets worse. Kate and Lucern’s wedding slowly falls apart, from the flowers to the caterer to the tissue paper flowers. Bastien and Terri manage to fix it all.
Terri was honestly a little whiney. She’s scared to put herself out there and admit that she likes Bastien because of her experiences with her husband dying years and years ago. And when she is under the false assumption that Bastien has a terminal illness, she runs. I didn’t like that part of the story. Though I did like getting to meet her loved ones in England. They gave her the shake she needed to pull her head out of her butt and get things together.
Overall, I enjoyed this one more than the first three even though I didn’t always like what the characters did. The story was fun and had me laughing so much (which is a problem because I’m reading these at night when I’m snuggling my little one to sleep). I keep finding myself surprised to find that Sands is a really talented writer (stupid stereotypes on romance!) She uses several of the writing techniques I’ve been learning about in my college writing classes. Also, the sex scenes are A+. I’ve pretty much read nothing but this series since picking up the first one. I think I’m addicted.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Blogtober Book Review: Single White Vampire by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
SWM – “Lucern.” Successful biographer of family, books recently categorized as “paranormal romance.” Something of a recluse. Hates crowds, aggressive women. Doesn’t like sunbathing, garlicky dinners or religious symbols. Likes old-fashioned values; spicy Mexican dishes; warm, nice-smelling neck; and plump red lips. Stronger than ten men and can vanish in the blink of an eye. Currently unaware he’s seeking a woman to share eternity.
SWF – “Kate C. Leever.” Newest editor of Romance at Roundhouse Publishing. Perky, fun. Has recently discovered a legacy author just dying to be broken out. In fact, her career could take off from it. (The tall, dark, handsome writer just needs to be taken to several romance conventions and introduced to his fans…and stopped from acting so strange in public.) Dislikes “difficult, rude, obnoxious, pig-headed writers.” Currently unaware she’s met the man of her wildest dreams.
OH, DEAR.
Review:
Single White Vampire had the potential to be a favorite. But sadly, it wasn’t. It was actually my least liked book of the series so far. I blame that entirely on Lucern.
Lucern is basically an old grumpy man stuck in his ways. He ‘doesn’t like outgoing women’ and his mind is stuck in the 1800s. He’s constantly talking about how ‘women shouldn’t act this or that way’ which I really didn’t like. He is not as bad in the latter half of the book. But I just didn’t like his old-fashioned thinking. Though I could respect him keeping his word to go to the conference even though he’d sort of been lied to about what he was agreeing to do.
Kate, however, was the best. I adored her. She’s an editor at a publishing house and she makes sure to get what she wants. She’ll do anything for her authors and I loved her passion for her job. I loved this aspect of the story, as well as the romance conference. This was when Lucern and Kate’s relationship started. I really enjoyed the things he got her to do.
Overall, not my favorite Argeneau book, but I liked Kate enough to bump up my overall enjoyment.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Blogtober Book Review: Love Bites by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
Etienne Argeneau’s three hundred years of bachelorhood were at an end. Either that, or he’d be forever alone. He could only “turn” one human in his lifetime, and most of his kind reserved that power for creating a life mate. If he turned the wrong woman…But what choice did he have? He had to save Rachel Garrett. He didn’t know her very well but the beautiful coroner had saved his life. To save hers he would make her immortal.
Rachel Garrett awoke surprised. All she’d wanted was to get off the night shift at the morgue; now here she was, staggering to her feet naked and in a strange place. But everything would be all right. She’d just make like a bat out of– Then she saw the man of her dreams emerging from his…coffin? And the look in his bright silver eyes said they’d be spending a lot of time together. She just hoped he tasted as good as he looked.
Review:
Book two in the Argeneau series, Love Bites, was one I enjoyed about the same amount as the first one (reviewed here). This is one of my favorite vampire romance series, mostly because of the twist on the vampire lore. They’re vampires created via science rather than magic and I just think that’s such a fun twist.
Rachel and Etienne are a pair that met by chance. And when Rachel is almost killed Etienne makes the choice to turn her as the one person he is ever allowed. This turns out great because they turn out to be life mates (surprise! not, hah).
I liked Etienne. He’s a video game developer that uses the truth about his race to create a hugely popular game. He also enjoyed spending time in a coffin, because it’s where he gets his best ideas. That really cracked me up. It also created some assumptions that complicated the story.
Rachel works nights in the morgue. She’s just finally gotten a job on the day shift when she’s almost killed and then turned. Upon waking, she is upset because she believes she’s now cursed to only walk the night. It was a little funny, already knowing the facts behind vampires, to see her so upset about all the things she won’t be able to do. I liked that she stood up for her beliefs with a certain situation that she’s involved in.
Overall, the second book in this series was another that I enjoyed but didn’t adore. It was fun and funny. The drama and the antics and the sex were all pretty good. This series is well written and easy to read.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Blogtober Book Review: A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands

GoodReads Summary:
Lissianna has been spending her centuries pining for Mr. Right, not just a quick snack, and this sexy guy she finds in her bed looks like he might be a candidate. But there’s another, more pressing issue: her tendency to faint at the sight of blood…an especially annoying quirk for a vampire. Of course it doesn’t hurt that this man has a delicious-looking neck. What kind of cold-blooded vampire woman could resist a bite of that?
Dr. Gregory Hewitt recovers from the shock of waking up in a stranger’s bedroom pretty quickly – once he sees a gorgeous woman about to treat him to a wild night of passion. But is it possible for the good doctor to find true love with a vampire vixen, or will he be just a good meal? That’s a question Dr. Greg might be willing to sink his teeth into…if he can just get Lissianna to bite.
Review:
A Quick Bite is the first book in an extremely long and ongoing vampire romance series. So, as I will be attempting to review each of them, and romance books tend to follow a similar outline for the direction of the story, I will be keeping these reviews on the shorter side so I’m not repeating myself in each one.
I read parts of this series when I was in high school and adored it. I love the twist on the vampire origin story. It’s one that I’ve never heard before. Vampire are a creation of science instead of magic or myth. I thought it was a nice twist on the traditional vampire.
I loved Greg. He had me cracking up with his inner dialogue. Trying to explain his actions when he’d been mind-controlled and didn’t know it was hilarious. He was in the dark about essentially everything while in Margurite’s house and it was beyond funny seeing him trying to put the pieces together.
Lissianna was sweet. I liked her and her phobia was interesting. It certainly made for a complicated story. I would have liked to see her actually working on her phobia though.
I love the Argeneau family. They’re all so different with interesting dynamics. I love that they all come together for one another. The family aspect of this series is one of my favorite parts.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I remembered. It was an average romance. I liked it but didn’t love it. I’m noticing this is changing as I get into newer books (I’ve already read the first five or so.) There is definitely some sex in these books, so the romance readers that don’t like smut should not try these ones out. I rather enjoy the sex scenes, but some of the words used make me giggle. Give this one a try if you like smutty romance and vampires!

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

ABC Book Challenge |I|

Hello, Bookworms! This week we are talking about books with the letter I.

For those of you that are new here – each week we post about books beginning with a specific letter of the alphabet starting with A all the way through Z. We’re going to mention one or sometimes a few books that were memorable with the letter of the week and also books that are sadly still living on our TBR lists. So without further ado.

Read last week’s post here.

This week’s letter is – I

Most Memorable Books

Amanda

Identical by Ellen Hopkins – This is my second favorite book by Hopkins. The story was incredible and really shocked me with its creative plot twists. I didn’t see any of the craziness coming that happened in these pages.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher – I read this book (and its sequel) years and years ago when I got it from the library. The story has stuck with me so much so that when I saw them recently at my local bookstore I just had to buy them. They’re actually also on my TBR list for a reread sometime in the future.

Antonia

It’s in His Kiss by Julia Quinn – This was the first book I read by Quinn. I was probably only 16 or so and hadn’t read too much romance yet but couldn’t find anything at the library. The title was what made me pick it up first, then the summary sounded funny and within a day she was one of my favorite authors.

(The) Immortal Hunter by Lynsay Sands – This was also my first book by Sands. Yes, it’s technically the eleventh book in the series but they can all be read by themselves. These are not books with much depth in them but they’re amazing when you just want a quick, light read.

 

Books Still on Our TBR Lists

Amanda

Inferno by Julie Kagawa – The final book in the Talon series. I will eventually get around to rereading the whole series because I don’t remember anything that happened.

Ice like Fire by Sara Raasch – I loved this series the first time I read it. I read them when I was slacking on being a book blogger. So I’m planning to reread the whole series (this is the second of three) so that I can review them for all our wonderful readers.

Antonia

Inkspell by Cornelia Funk – I want to continue this series because the first book was really good.

(The) In Death series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) – This is another series that I’ve started and would like to continue because the first was super good!

 

 

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Reading Slump

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week there’s a new topic where we get to choose our top ten and write about it. This week’s topic is top ten books that pull me out of a reading slump. This may or may not just turn into a list of favorite books. So here’s my list in no particular order.
1. Any of Nora Roberts books – I would list some specifics but then this would just turn into a list of my favorite books by Nora.
2. Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich – These books are always funny and interesting. They’re books that I can read super fast and can always pull me out of a funk.
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green – I just adore this book. I adore these characters. I adore all the feels it gives me. Even though I know it’s going to make me cry this is one of my go-to books when I’m in a reading slump.
4. Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands – These books are fast paced, interesting and just trashy enough for me to read no matter what mood I’m in.
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – I love these series too much. Like, honestly I worry sometimes about how much I love these characters. Reading these books are like going to spend time with my best friends.
6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – I don’t know what it is about Maas and the characters that she writes, but I adore all the characters in this series. They impress me and make me laugh. There’s never a dull moment with this series.
7. Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson – I’m a sucker for a good mystery. A bit of mystery and suspense, throw in a handsome male character and you’ve got a book that I’ll read in almost any situation.
8. Crank by Ellen Hopkins – Hopkins’ books are fast-paced and thrilling. I used Crank for this list but really I could put any of them. Her books are almost always about heavy hard hitting topics, but the way they’re written make them quick, but intense reads.
9. A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest – This is a sixty plus book series. I can read three of them in a day. They will always get me out of a reading slump because they’re unique and funny and the action never stops.
10. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – This was a recent read for me. But if all of her books are as good as this one was, I have no doubt I will turn to her books in the future when I find myself in a funk. The characters were funny and ridiculous and made it so I couldn’t put the book down.

Here are my top ten books that get me out of a reading slump (so basically a list of my favorites.) What would you put on your list for this week’s topic? Do you think I missed any? Let me know in the comments.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Mash Ups

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week there’s a new topic where we get to choose our top ten and write about it. This week’s topic is top ten books I would mash together. I think this is a wicked interesting topic. I’m not sure how I’m going to go about it, so in no particular order, here goes!

1. Rose Gardner Investigations by Denise Grover Swank & Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich – These are books about an aspiring private investigator and books about a bond enforcement officer. I think Rose and Stephanie would make one hell of a hilarious pair.
2. Renegades by Marissa Meyer & Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti – Two different types of superhero books. Both with similar abilities, sort of. But the worlds they take place in are pretty different. I think it would be interesting to see these two worlds collide.
3. Meant to be Broken by Brandy Woods Snow & One Small Thing by Erin Watt – Both are novels involving girls who are struggling with their feelings about a guy. Both thinking that their feelings are wrong and should be stifled and ignored. I think the two female main characters would be great friends and would be able to help one another immensely by sharing their experiences.
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson & The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith – These are both murder mystery sort of books but with a ton of different subplots along the way. I think they would be interesting to see together. Seeing the characters with their hugely different personalities would be funny.
5. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson & Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson – This is a choice for similar reasons to above except these are young adult murder mysteries. Again, the personalities in these stories would make for an interesting read.
6. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas & Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch – If the Sara(h)’s wrote a book together I would be able to die happy as soon as I finished it. These specific books would be so cool to see together. In ACOTAR, there’s Fae with seasonal courts and magical abilities and in Snow Like Ashes there are different kingdoms for the seasons with different sorts of magical abilities. I think they would mesh well together with the similarities in the stories.
7. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare & A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest – Both of these series have a great variety of supernatural characters like vampires and werewolves and others unique to their books. Their also both full of headstrong characters that strive to do the ‘right’ thing at all costs. I would love to see these characters and worlds collide.
8. The Young Elites by Marie Lu & Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – These two came together in my head because of their magic systems. Both books have people with abilities that are not accepted in their worlds. Both have fantastic villains. Now that I’m typing this, I would LOVE to see the Darkling and Adelina join forces and run the world.
9. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins & Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow – I really think that Charlie could have been another character in Impulse. She for sure could have been a fourth perspective in that story. These characters could all relate for sure.
10. The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead & A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands – I obviously had to throw my two favorite vampire worlds together. I think these worlds would be awesome to see together because of the different ways that vampires are created and the similarities that are already there.

This week’s topic was a hard one for me! I had a ton of fun looking at my shelves and thinking about all the different worlds I love colliding. I tried to pick bookish worlds that already had a little bit in common. I wanted my mashups to mostly make sense. Which bookish worlds would you want to see collide?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Book Tag – Book Blogger Confessions

Yes bookworms, another book tag. We found this one posted by Sionna at Books in her Eyes, so go check out her answers to these fun questions.

The Rules – 

Answer the questions truthfully.

Tag five book bloggers to answer these questions next.

Which book did you most recently DNF?

Amanda- I make a point to not DNF books. So the closest I’ve come would be I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman which you can see my review here.

Antonia- Tequila and Tea Bags by Laura Barnard. I was really excited for this one but absolutely could not connect with the protagonist and couldn’t manage to get past about 30% because of it.

What book is your guilty pleasure?

Amanda- This has to be any of the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands. They’re creative but filthy and I love it when the new ones come out. Who doesn’t love a sexy vampire romance?

Antonia- I probably would have chosen the same as Amanda but in an effort to be different I’ll pick The Dark-Hunters series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Sexy immortals and greek mythology? Yes please.

Which book do you love to hate?

Amanda- This is a tough one because I don’t have one that comes immediately to mind. After looking at my GoodReads list of books that I’ve read, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (review here) is definitely a book that I dislike (I don’t really hate any books) but I liked the second one a bunch, so love to hate I guess?

Antonia- I always think this questions a little weird. Usually I just love it or hate it, there’s not much in between for me.

Which book would you throw into the sea? 

Amanda- What bookworm in their right mind would throw a perfectly good book (or even a perfectly terrible book) into the ocean?

Antonia- Yeah, I agree entirely with Amanda.

Which book have you read the most? 

Amanda- Looking for Alaska by John Green. My favorite book in the world. I’ve reread it so many times it’s ridiculous. Check out my review here.

Antonia- A lot. If I had to guess though, I’d say The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I read it at least once a year and it’s been over ten years since I first picked it up.

Which book would you hate to receive as a present?

Amanda- Well, I wouldn’t hate to receive any books for free. But I much prefer when gift givers ask me specifically what books I need or want.

Antonia- Nothing specifically. I mostly agree with Amanda; I’d rather be able to pick out my own books with the exception of a few people who know my tastes well enough.

Which book could you not live without?

Amanda- All of them? Seriously, I’m supposed to pick just one book?

Harry Potter (all of them) by J.K. Rowling

Looking for Alaska by John Green

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Antonia- The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Beastly by Alex Flinn

The Witness by Nora Roberts

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist

And like 5,000 others.

Which book made you the angriest?

Amanda- The Young Elites series by Marie Lu (reviewed here.) The main character of this series is absolutely infuriating, but like I also totally loved her. She just made me mad like 90% of the time.

Antonia- I’ve talked about this one before but I have to choose Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima. She killed off one of my favorite characters from the previous series and I couldn’t handle it. To the point where I refused to finish it for the longest time.

Which book made you cry the most?

Amanda- I feel like I’ve mentioned this a million times at this point but, The Air Awakens series by Elise Kova made me cry for like an hour. My husband just hugged me and asked me if I was okay like a hundred times. He definitely thought I was never going to stop crying.

Antonia- All of them. Not literally of course but there’s a lot and almost always, if a book made me cry once, it’ll make me cry every time. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman has always been one of the worst. Most recently is probably Year One by Nora Roberts. A character dies suddenly which would be tragic enough but he has the same name as my husband so I found it harder to read than I might otherwise.

Which book cover do you hate the most?

Amanda- I just talked about this with someone the other day. I don’t have any specific book covers that I hate, but I don’t particularly love book covers with faces on them. The faces that their making are always so awkward and I just think they could have done better with something other than a random face.

Antonia- I also hate the awkward face covers. Especially when half the face is cut off. It just doesn’t look appealing to me in any way.

Tags – 

Danielle at YAAllegience 

Sara at Bookish Traveling Wife

Jess & Teagan at Fiction No Chaser

Ashley at Thrifty Bibliophile

Alana at The Bookish Chick

Feel free to complete this tag even if we didn’t tag you specifically and link back to our page! Thanks for reading bookworms.

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Sensory Memories

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week we’re given a new prompt for a top ten list of all things bookish. This week is top ten books with sensory reading memories. I was going to skip this topic this week and choose my own, but Antonia helped me see that I have more books that fit this topic than I originally thought. Here’s my top ten for this week in no particular order.

1. The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen – My Nana showed me this book when I was a teenager. It’s one of the books that helped me become the bookworm I am today. I have such good memories of sitting in my Popa’s chair reading this book.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling – This book came out right before I went to summer camp and I brought it with me. I ended up reading it aloud to all the girls in my cabin throughout the three weeks that I was there and we ended up having like ten extra girls come to our cabin so that they could listen too.
3. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer – This book came out on my birthday. I had it preordered and didn’t think I would actually get it on my birthday. I was so excited when I saw it on my front step after coming home from my best friend’s house. I tried to read it as soon as I got home, but I hadn’t slept the night before and so I fell asleep reading.
4. Looking for Alaska by John Green – Will forever make me think of my husband. He showed me this book in high school. I remember seeing it on his bookshelf the first time I ever went to his house. It’s been my favorite book since he let me borrow his that day so long ago.
5. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer – Antonia and I sort of became friends because of this book. She was staying at my house because she was friends with my step sister. They fought about something dumb and so Antonia asked what I was reading and she climbed up into my bed (I had a bunk bed) and we read this book together and have been friends ever since.
6. The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – Antonia and I have read most of these books aloud to one another. We call it story time. Between the six books and our two bedrooms, I have so many memories of us reading to one another, passing the book back and forth between chapters to switch off whose reading.
7. House of Night by P.C. and Kristen Cast – I used to go on vacation with Antonia and her family every year for Memorial Day Weekend. One of the trips we spent pretty much the entire time in our beds in our cabin reading whatever the newest HON book had come out.
8. The Argeneau Series by Lynsay Sands – I don’t remember which book in this series it was but I went to high school with some typically immature boys. Said boys loved to steal my books (Antonia’s too when we had lunch together) and find the sex scenes and read them out loud. Sands books have some particularly descriptive sex scenes and the boys ate it up.
9. The Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne – I was absolutely obsessed with this series when I was growing up. I ate these books up. My dad couldn’t buy the next one fast enough for my liking. I have such good memories of sitting in my yard reading this series in the summertime or by the fireplace in the winter.
10. The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix – I remember spending way too many nights staying up too late with my closet light on, always keeping an ear out for my dad coming down the hallway. I also remember spending copious amounts of time in my middle school library reading these books.

I had more fun with this week’s post than I thought I was going to. I didn’t think I was even going to come up with ten books for this topic, but I actually have a few more that I could add but won’t. What books remind you of good bookish memories?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.