Love, In English by Karina Halle (Love, In English #1)

Original title: Love, In English

Year published: 2014

Published by: Metal Blonde Books

Number of pages: 439

First sentence: “My name is Vera Miles.”

Plot: To a restless dreamer like Vera Miles, it sounded like the experience of a lifetime. Instead of spending her summer interning for her astronomy major, she would fly to Spain where she’d spend a few weeks teaching conversational English to businessmen and women, all while enjoying free room and board at an isolated resort. But while Vera expected to get a tan, meet new people and stuff herself with wine and paella, she never expected to fall in love.

Mateo Casalles is unlike anyone Vera has ever known, let alone anyone she’s usually attracted to. While Vera is a pierced and tatted free spirit with a love for music and freedom, Mateo is a successful businessman from Madrid, all sharp suits and cocky Latino charm. Yet, as the weeks go on, the two grow increasingly close and their relationship changes from purely platonic to something…more.

Something that makes Vera feel alive for the first time.

Something that can never, ever be.

Or so she thinks.

(From Goodreads)

My thoughts: I could not put this down! I started reading it this morning and seven hours later I was done. And when I was I felt empty. You know a book has been really good if you feel empty when it’s over. God, where to begin?

I loved the book, and I mean the entire book, there wasn’t a thing I didn’t like about it. It was funny, sad, angering, passionate, sexy, romantic. It was all the things you’d want a book to be, at least what I want a book to be. I loved Vera’s story, getting to know her past, her fears and her dreams. I loved the characters, Vera is an amazing young woman and I loved that she had tats and piercings, she was real, someone you could relate to. Not that I have that many tattoos and piercings myself but still. I loved the friendships she made with the other characters and her relationship with her brother Josh. And oh my god, Mateo (maybe I should be saying “dios mio” instead?). Holy mother of god! No you know what “DIOS MIO” is the only thing that’s going to work here. I absolutely loved Mateo, his charm, his temper, his looks, his personality, his accent. I actually never thought I’d like a Spanish accent, but guess what? I do! I need a Mateo of my own. Where the hell can I buy one? (Okay that sounded much better in my head, I swear). I want a relationship like the one Vera and Mateo has, passionate, hot damn! And even though cheating hits home with me I can’t help loving this, because I truly felt like they belonged together. It was almost too much at times. Like, can two people really love each other that much? Apparently they can.

This book was one hell of a rollercoaster ride. A heart-breaking, gut wrenching kind. I seriously felt like I was going to die at times. The air wouldn’t properly fill my lungs and I wanted scream at Vera and Mateo and tell them to stop being so stupid! “You love each other! Be with each other!”. God, it was nerve wrecking. But I loved it nonetheless. Plus I got to put my poor school Spanish to the test.

I will definitely be reading a lot more of Karina Halle’s work. Starting with the sequel to this one, “Love, In Spanish”. I knew I’d love her books before I even started reading, sometimes you just do. It was the same with Christina Lee. And I swear if these women don’t stop writing about these super sexy men soon I’m going to implode.

 “You burn so brightly. I would like to burn with you”

Goodreads rating: 5/5

Do I recommend it? Si, claro! This book was bloody amazing!

Love, In Duology - special price

Hi guys! I just wanted to hop in and tell you that Karina Halle (author) has fixed a special price for a bundle of her two books "Love, In English" and "Love, In Spanish". It's only $0.99 over at Amazon and I just one clicked it! I've been wanting to read Karina's books for a while now and when this amazing offer came up I just couldn't refuse!

So head on over to Amazon and buy, I can with most certainty promise that you will not be disappointed! Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Duology-English-Spanish-Bundle-ebook/dp/B00VVNU10E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1428606336&sr=1-1&keywords=Love%2C+in+Duology


Happy reading! xx Kayla

Angelfall by Susan Ee (Penryn & the End of Days #1)

Original title: Angelfall

Year published: 2011/2012

Published by: Skyscape

Number of pages: 288

First sentence: “Ironically, since the attacks, the sunsets have been glorious.”

Plot: It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. 

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. 

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...

(From Goodreads)

My thoughts: First thought was, naaah. But as soon as Penryn and her family steps out onto the street and feathers start falling from the sky things get interesting. Although it was a bit obvious that Penryn was going to save Raffe’s life I still liked it. It also felt truly inevitable for her to fall in love with him and the other way around. But he sure doesn’t show it. Not until he thinks she’s dead. He’s a total douche but I can’t help but love him anyway. Gaah. What is it with me and angels?

So anyway, the story is really great and I love the mythology (can I call it mythology when it’s stuff from the bible?) and I found myself going: “Huh. I actually already knew that” and “Hold the phone. An angel called Raffe, could this be the archangel Raphael?”. While trying to figure out the bad guys names I drew on my previous experience of reading neph/angel books and I wasn’t all that surprised to find out that the bad guy was named Beliel. I’ve stumbled upon that name before. Yes, Wendy Higgins is responsible, isn’t she always?

This book is packed with action, there’s not one moment where something’s not happening, much to Penryn’s chagrin. But that’s what I loved about it. I was never bored and I just wanted to keep reading it. That’s what a book should be, don’t ya think?

The thing that drew me to this book was actually the name and the cover and once I’d read what it was about I was sold. This book has two of my favorite things in it. Okay maybe more than two if we count the hot guys. But what I’m talking about is dystopia and angels. It’s like Susan Ee has read my mind and written the exact thing I wanted and needed.

I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads, I would’ve given it 5 but despite how much I loved it there was something missing. Maybe the dystopia was too much of just that, dystopia. Too cold, not enough love and human emotions. Not sure. I’m looking forward to reading the next one nonetheless. It’s patiently waiting for me in my Kindle library.

Do I recommend it? Heck yes! If you like I have a thing for either dystopia or angels, or maybe both, then you should definitely read this!

The Zeuorian Awakening by Cindy Zablockis (The Zeuorian #1)

Original title: The Zeuorian Awakening

Year published: 2013

Published by: CZ Publishing, LLC

Number of pages: 254

First sentence: “Everything can change ina blink of an eye, Lexi Greene learned the hard way after her parents had died.”

Plot: Lexi’s no ordinary teenager. She was born with the ability to read minds and sense danger. But on her seventeenth birthday, she realized how different she was after transforming, literally that is. Now she’s developing powers stronger than a superhero. But she’s no superhero. 

Far from it. 

She has no control over her abilities and causes accidents every time she’s nervous or upset, which being a teenager is hard to avoid, especially when the most popular boys in school are fighting to be with her. 

If that isn’t bad enough, a stranger is following her. She doesn't know who he is or what he wants, yet he knows all about her abilities and that she’s developing more. And . . . he’s her only hope of understanding why she’s changing and others are after her. What she learns will send her life into overdrive.

My thoughts: Okay, so this was a very fast read, I think it took about three hours combined from start to finish. At the beginning I thought “no”, mostly because the language was lacking. But I continued with the book anyway because I thought that the story might be interesting. Which it was.

Lexi has had the power to read minds and feel danger since she was a child but on her 17^th birthday she’s “transformed” and suddenly she can move objects with her mind. As if that wasn’t weird enough all the boys suddenly want her. Speaking of those boys, can I just, wow, okay. So at first there’s Tyler, a jock with kind of a soft side. Lexi has liked him since she first move to Brookings two years prior and he’s kind of cute. So when he claims to have saved her from being kidnapped she believes him, ‘cause he always only wanted what was best for her, right? So all is good, until his crush on her turns into like full stalker mode. I was thoroughly creeped out and then when he basically tries to rape her (maybe it was worse in my head than it actually was?) I’d just had about enough of that guy. There’s also Everett, a surfer “ish” dude who’s really nice. He also shares some interests with Lexi, such as cars, horror movies and a dream of studying at MIT. And then there’s this mysterious guy inside Lexi’s head who tells her to stay out of danger, this also happens to be the guy Tyler saved her from and who’s been following her. Hmm. Plot thickens. So who is this Watcher guy? Is it Tyler, yeah could be, until Lexi telepathically tells him not to have sex with her and he sort of doesn’t listen.

There’s also the fact that Lexi has lost her memories of an entire summer, namely the summer before her parents died. Apparently she spent it in Colorado, falling hopelessly in love with a boy, who knew about her powers. So can this boyfriend she can’t remember be her Watcher, maybe who knows?

Okay, so basically what we’ve gathered is that this book is really cliché, or maybe cliché isn’t the right word for it? Hmm. Anyway, it was obvious, sort of anyway. But still I kind of liked it, although there are a lot of unanswered questions lying around. I definitely want to read the next book in the series.

So do I recommend it? Yeah, sure. If you want a fast read that has a somewhat interesting story.

Goodreads rating: 3/5

Answering my own Q's

So after writing the questions for Bella I realized that I wanted to answer them myself. And I did. So here are my own answers to my questions:

        Kiss, marry or kill? Kaidan Rowe (Sweet Evil), Edward Cullen (Twilight), Galen (Syrena Legacy).

Kiss Galen, marry Kaidan and kill Edward. Sorry Eddie boy but the time for crushing on you has passed.

      Favorite color?

Black, like my soul. No but seriously I like black. Also burgundy, and like a darker purple color.

      If you had a supernatural power what would it be?

Like I said in the previous post I’d be able to copy everyone else powers. Like if I touch them I get their powers.

      Your living room is flooded and your bookshelves are getting wet. Which book do you save first?

I don’t own bookshelves. But if I did I don’t know what I’d save. Probably if I had any signed books I’d save those.

        Was the movie better than the book? Have you ever seen a movie that was better than the book it was based on?

Not that I can recall. I haven’t read the Hobbit but I’ve heard people say the movies were better. I honestly don’t know.

      Favorite supernatural creature? Nephilim, vampire, werewolf, faerie etc.

Nephilim, hands down. There are a lot of different versions out there, but still. GO TEAM NEPH!

      Favorite fictional boyfriend? Or girlfriend.

Boyfriend = Kaidan Rowe. Girlfriend = Isabelle Lightwood (TMI) at least so far.

      Favorite book character of all time?

Ugh. Can’t complain I came up with the question myself. But it’s a tough one. Hmm. I’d like to say Sherlock Holmes but that’s hardly fair since I haven’t actually read any Sherlock. So I’m gonna have to go with Alice Cullen, ‘cause she’s bad ass.

        Who’d you rather be friends with? Bella Swan (Twilight) or Anna Whitt (Sweet Evil)?

Anna. ‘Cause Bella is such a whiny bitch. No but seriously. I relate to Anna way more than Bella and also Anna can take care of herself. But isn’t it ironic that my fictional boyfriend is Kai who’s Anna’s crush/boyfriend in the books? What a good friend I am!

       The evil bastard you couldn’t help falling in love with? (Mine’s the Darkling from Shadow and Bone)

Well yes mine’s still the Darkling from Leigh Bardugo’s “Shadow and Bone”. Maybe that’ll change after I read “Siege and Storm” but who knows?

        Lastly, which book do you crave most at the moment? Your #1 book wantie?

My number one book wantie is. Wait for it. “Sweet Temptation” by Wendy Higgins. Can you tell I love Wendy Higgins?

Well that was fun!

xx Kayla

LIEBSTER AWARD

My lovely wifey nominated me for this award, thank you so much.

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:

1. Link back to the person that nominated you
2. Answer the questions given by the nominator
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
4. Create 11 questions for the nominees
5. Notify all nominees via social media/blogs

Here are the questions she so creatively came up with for me ;)

1. If you could erase one book from your memory in order to read it again, which one would it be and why?

Oh this is a tough one. I don’t know really. Maybe “Sweet Evil”? Darn it I don’t know. I think I would’ve said “Twilight” but I’m afraid I’d read it anew and hate it. I mean like: “What the hell is this worthless piece of shit book?” and I really don’t want that ‘cause it’s been such a huge part of my life and for that I’m forever grateful.

2. Favourite subject in school?

Yeah okay, this was easy. ENGLISH. Always has been probably always will be. Hell I’m gonna be teaching it myself soon enough.

3. If you had three wishes what would they be? One cannot be “more wishes” :P

Should I do something really cheesy and Miss America contesty and say World Peace? Or should I be totally selfish? Yeah I’m gonna be totally selfish, haha.

Wish number one: Money, ‘cause who doesn’t want more money. I don’t need to be rich I just need to not have to worry about getting by every month.

Wish number two: A mom who actually gives a damn. Yeah I’m not gonna go into detail on that one. Yeah I’m an adult and should probably be over this by now but I’m not.

Third and last wish: More books. I always wish for more books. Even though I’m currently drowning in them.

I noticed that I really don’t want for much. Just a good life really. I surprised myself with this.

4. A TV-series that you used to love but cannot stand anymore

Ugh. Is there even such a thing? Nope, I don’t think there is.

5. Do you have a “smultronställe”? A place where you go to relax and that always manages to make you feel happy and gooey inside that is.

Yes, the Swedish west coast does this for me. The islands Tjörn and Orust walking down to the beach and just sit there on the cliffs and watch the sunset (summertime of course, it’s freezing otherwise). It’s so peaceful. To me it’s home. I was born around there and most of my family lives there and when I’m going there I say that I’m going home. God, I miss it.

6. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

Oh no. I’m not answering this. I could not just read one book for the rest of my life. I would die!

7. Which country apart from the one you currently live in would you like to move to?

There are a few. But the one I somehow always come back to is Ireland. I’m not really sure why. Could have something to do with the accents ;)

8. Dogs or cats?

Both. I have a dog and I would love a cat but my boyfriend’s allergic and honestly I’m starting to suspect that maybe I am too L But I cuddle the crap out of wifey’s cats when I’m over there so I’m happy enough.

9. If you could meet one person from either a book or film/TV-series, who would it be and what would you do?

Gaaaah! Why always one? I can’t just pick one! Okay I’m gonna be nasty about this and say I’d meet Kaidan Rowe from Wendy Higgins “Sweet Evil” series. Those of you who have read the books probably know what I’d do with that particular piece of English drummer yumminess.

10. If you could move to any other world which one would you move to?

Any other world? Like fictional world? Hmm. I’d love to be in a world like this one but with supernatural creatures. Especially fallen angels. I think I’d like Cassandra Clare’s TMI/TID world or maybe Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight world. I’d be a badass sparkling vampire who could steal other vampires’ powers. Yup.

11.  Dream job?

Hehehehehehe. Writer. And by writer I mean like a published, preferably world known author. I’d also keep this blog and review books on it.

So for the tagging part of this I have no idea. I follow a few bloggers but few of them have fewer than 200 followers. So I’m gonna tag one person, who I think have less than 200 followers and that’s the lovely Bella over at Bellas Bokblogg. I’d also tag my wifey but seeing as she tagged me I can’t really tag her now can I?

Here’re you’re questions Bells:

1.         Kiss, marry or kill? Kaidan Rowe (Sweet Evil), Edward Cullen (Twilight), Galen (Syrena Legacy).
2.     Favorite color?
3.     If you had a supernatural power what would it be?
4.     Your living room is flooded and your bookshelves are getting wet. Which book do you save first? 
5.     Was the movie better than the book? Have you ever seen a movie that was better than the book it was based on?
6.     Favorite supernatural creature? Nephilim, vampire, werewolf, faerie etc.
7.      . Favorite fictional boyfriend? Or girlfriend.
8.     Favorite book character of all time?
9.       Who’d you rather be friends with? Bella Swan (Twilight) or Anna Whitt (Sweet Evil)?
10.    The evil bastard you couldn’t help falling in love with? (Mine’s the Darkling from Shadow and Bone) 
11.    Lastly, which book do you crave most at the moment? Your #1 book wantie?

Yes, I suck at making questions too. These are questions I’d love to answer, haha. Anyway, this was fun.

Catch ya later, Kayla

Help?

Hi guys! I'm wondering if any of my lovely readers knows how to fix blogs? Designs, headers and stuff? Maybe you could give me some tips or something? This blog looks horrible. If you feel like helping out please leave a comment or send an e-mail to michaelagustafsson@live.se

Thanks beforehand!

xx Kayla