The Vampire Diaries Season 3 Finale!! – Steph *SPOILERS*

*please note that the following post contains spoilers. Do not read this post if you are yet to watch the season finale, I’d hate to be the person to ruin it for you!*

OH.MY.GOD.

I have just finished watching the season finale of The Vampire Diaries season 3 and ‘my oh my!’ what an ending it was!

I was left gobsmacked! Not just by the recent Rick/Originals fiasco but the capabilities of Matt! – That power to make a decision and go for it, no matter what Elena thought of it. Also, i am so happy that Elena has finally made her choice! *happy dance* – I am team Stelena (no hate please!). However i am doubtful that this decision will be permenant due to the fact that something that will stick with Elena forever happened at the end of the ep!

I am still slightly confused with the whole Tyler/Bonnie/Klaus plot. Did Bonnie know that Tyler was going to die anyway and just kept everyone else alive by making them switch bodies? Does that mean (in a way) that Klaus and Caroline are together now?

AND FINALLY THE BIG CLIFFHANGER…………………Elena!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Elena is reborn!!!! (for those who haven’t watched yet) as a vampire

I think this was AN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC ending…Congratulations on such an amazing series Julie Plec and the TVD cast! Can’t wait for Season 4!

The Pack By Jason Starr – Review By Dayna

“Let the hunt begin . . .

When Simon Burns is fired from his job without warning, he takes on the role of stay-at-home dad for his three-year-old son. But his reluctance pushes his already strained marriage to the limit. In the nestled playgrounds of the Upper West Side, Simon harbors a simmering rage at his boss’s betrayal.

Things take a turn when he meets a tight-knit trio of dads at the playground. They are different from other men Simon has met, stronger and more confident, more at ease with the darker side of life- and soon Simon is lured into their mix. But after a guys’ night out gets frighteningly out of hand, Simon feels himself sliding into a new nightmarish reality.

As he experiences disturbing changes in his body and his perceptions, he starts to suspect that when the guys welcomed him to their “pack”, they were talking about much more than male bonding . . .”

What struck me about this novel is that although it’s an urban fantasy about werewolves, it doesn’t read like one for the most part. More like a psychological thriller. For those wanting to ease their way into the urban fantasy/paranormal world, this would be a great introduction. I love how Simon’s character develops throughout the book. How he copes with losing his job, becoming a stay-at-home-dad, trying to work through marital problems and then on top of all that, meets Michael and the gang and goes through some other major changes.

I like how the story was written from multiple points of view and how well eat character’s personality was written too. I’m always a bit iffy about reading a male author’s take on women but was quite impressed by Starr’s portrayal of Olivia and Alison.

I have to admit, I have a soft spot for Ramon with his smooth and charming ways but can’t say I warmed to Michael at all though the reader wasn’t really supposed to. He was on a power trip. I found him intimidating, brash, cold and incredibly forward. From a female’s point of view, I can’t really see why Olivia was so attracted to him. Then again Olivia did turn out to have a crazy side and I also found her needy and desperate.

It was a great read though a little slow paced to begin with. The morning after the big show down on the roof of the brewery, I was really hoping for more of an explanation as to what happened in the aftermath but maybe we’ll find out more in the sequel, The Craving. I would like to have had more emphasis on the paranormal but that’s down to pure preference on my part. I’m hoping that in book 2 we’ll get even more background on the werewolves. Can’t wait to find out what happens next!

I rate this book 4/5 stars!

Email problems!

If you have emailed us regarding a review or BETA read request and we haven’t replied. I am sorry. I have just found some stored on our email account that we haven’t even seen. We are currently working through a long list!

Thank you for your patience!

From The Girls at Secret Lives

Haunted by Heather Beck Review

Heather Beck contacted us and asked us to review her book ‘ Haunted’ It is anthology of ghostly encounters and paranormal events. Here is the blurb

Ghost Park

After discovering a mysterious playground in the woods, Chase is stalked by angry ghost children.

A Haunting Past

Truce’s class trip to an old native reserve turns deadly when Bear, an infamous chief who died two hundred years ago, blames him for the tribe’s extinction.

The Manor On The Rocks

Grey, damp and surrounded by jagged rocks, Calla Lily’s new home isn’t only unpleasant, it’s also haunted by the world’s most evil boy.

A Medieval Nightmare

When Ellie and Brandon get trapped in a medieval museum that’s a bit too real, they fall under a spell and become pivotal players in a ghostly regime.

A Watery Grave

A camping trip becomes a heart-pounding race for survival when Justine meets a ghost who’s determined to change her fate by trading bodies with a living entity.

Straight away I knew this was written for the younger teens that interested in horror’s – maybe horror is a strong word but for a middle grader this would be classed scary enough to be called a horror. These stories are brilliant for easily introducing children to such stories. I remember when I was young I was subjected to Fright Friday every week and my love for all things scary started. Then my mother bought me the first Goosebumps book and I was hooked. To me this is a similar type of book.

They are easy to read, quite simply worded. Sometimes I felt as though the story didn’t flow much and the endings were rushed. Overall I quite enjoyed reading them. My favorite story was The Manor On The Rocks. It was a quite scary and I am 24! However I did feel it could have been developed a lot more however giving the nature of the book it wouldn’t have been appropriate to extend it. I do think I had a disadvantage as my mind is not a teen mind, I have ready so many fantastic books so trying to turn my mind back to a young readers mind was quite difficult so I don’t think I can review each story one by one.

So if you’re in your early teens or looking for some fun easy reading this book is for you!

You can purchase your copy here

MTV Movie Award Nominations! GET VOTING

It’s that time of the year where the battle of the fan bases commences! This year’s MTV Movie awards is proving to be a tough battle with Harry Potter, Breaking Dawn AND The Hunger Games battling it out for Best Movie AND Best Kiss! Voting is unfortunately only open to the US… so US fans? DO YOUR BEST!

Here are some of the nominations:

Movie of the Year:

Bridesmaids

The Hunger Games

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2

The Help

 

Best Cast:

Bridesmaids

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2

The Hunger Games

21 Jump Street

The Help

 

Best Kiss:

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone ”Crazy, Stupid Love”

Rupert Grint and Emma Watson ”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2”

Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence ”The Hunger Games”

Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum ”The Vow”

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart ”The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 1”

 

So they are only a few of the many different catagories…will Robsten be able to win best kiss yet AGAIN?

As voting is only open to the US… here is a worldwide poll to see who would win best movie if EVERYBODY COULD VOTE.

Happy Voting y’all!

Shift Review By Dayna.

Shift – M.R. Merrick.

“Devastated by the loss of his mother, Chase is trying to balance the life he’s been left with, a family he’s still getting to know, and power he never thought he’d have. He doesn’t understand why the Goddess has named him the Protector and granted him two gifts: the Mark, a tattoo that now covers his back, and the ring. But between getting interrogated by the Circle and psychic attacks from Riley, the Mark is the least of his concern. There’s a demon inside Rayna that’s fighting to be released, and it’s not her inner witch. It’s something else—a monster threatening to tear her apart.
As Chase struggles to control his magic, his enemies are closing in. Everyone has staked a claim on his ring, and destroying it may be his only chance to stop Riley. But Chase must decide if stopping him is worth risking the lives of everyone he cares about, or if protecting the ring will be enough to save his world.”

As was the case with Merrick’s debut Exiled, the sequel, Shift is just as darkly exciting and magical with just a drop of romance (which *cough* I’m hoping for more of in book 3 by the way Matthew *cough*. Yes, yes I like me a side of romance with my paranormal). Unlike with a few other books that I’ve read, this certainly wasn’t snail paced. There’s a lot going on to constantly keep your eyes glued and your attention permanently focused on the story. As you turn the first page you’re thrown right in to the middle of a scene ****spoiler alert**** where Rayna is trying to fight against turning in to a werecat so from that moment on you’re immediately gripped, sucked in to the story, not wanting to stop reading until you’ve gotten to the very end (which, if you’re a human, becomes tricky when you have to stop to eat, pee and sleep. Damn not being a modern day sparkly vampire! :p ).

Merrick’s writing just gets better and better and even more un-put-downable as the story unfolds and we learn more and more about each character. I love books that have witty and sarcastic retorts and Shift has plenty of that, of which I think mostly take place between Chase and Rayna or Chase and Vincent and I have to admit, a couple of times, I kinda found myself wanting to bash Chase and Vincent’s heads together ha ha ha. Chase, Rayna and Willy’s characters progress even more in Shift as does Chase and Rayna’s relationship. Chase is battling with his new found powers, Rayna’s battling with her shifter self and poor old Willy…well let’s just say he goes through some major changes too which totally had me in shock and had my jaw dropping about 3 feet to the floor which brings me back around full circle to say there’s a lot of surprises in store for you when you read Shift, trust me. It’s demon-hunters, shapeshifters, witches, vamps and fairytales all covered in awesome sauce and wrapped in a little red bow. This is a series that all lovers of the paranormal genre should definitely have on their bookshelves/ e-readers.

I rate this book 5/5!

Review Requests: Now Open

 

As it is now May and we have just about cleared our back log of blogging duties we have now opened requests! If you’re an author and would like us to review your book please email us at secretlivesoffictionlovers@gmail.com with Review Request as the heading so it doesn’t get lost!

This request period is only open until May 31st 2012

Thank you!

NB Pease remember request periods are open all year around for authors we have reviewed or BETA read for before!

Physical Books vs E-Books

Just a quick post!

I converted to Kindle a while ago, not because I wanted to but because its easier for reviewing for the blog. I also have an iPhone and iPad so I kind of just got into the routine of reading on a device. I never found myself missing a real book as I got so used to ebooks. It’s just a lot easier than sitting in front of the mac reading on a screen as most of our review requests come in via email so it makes sense!

Anyways, on Saturday I bought a real book and oh my gosh its sooooo weird. I don’t dislike it yet I don’t like it! I have found out that I read faster on an e-reader, It’s a lot easier to make bookmarks or notes and its a lot easier to read in bed! I have been struggling to read this real book in bed and I can’t get comfortable, my bookmark keeps falling out and it makes my handbag rather heavy! The only down side is I can’t read in the bath as I am terrified I will drop my device in it like I always do with books!

So there it is – I am officially a fully converted e-book reader!!

Which do you prefer?

Fifty Shades of Awesome!

I have written a little post about the awesomeness of Fifty Shades of Grey. However as some of you will know this is an adult book and I didn’t want to post about it on this blog, because I don’t want to promote it to younger people because I know their parents wouldn’t feel comfortable for them to be reading such a book, so I have posted it to my own blog Laus Life

Nuncio & The Gypsy Girl in the Gilded Age – Review by Dayna.

“Nuncio is a romantic thriller based on the intense and passionate relationship between Ezra, a composer and the insightful and lustful gypsy girl Neci. This graphic novel series is narrated by the magical African Grey Parrot, Nuncio and takes place at the turn of the Century.

Neci, the young and willful gypsy, is willing to risk everything to fulfill her need to be with Ezra, the object of her affection. She feels a calling to protect Ezra from his love, Marlene, a beautiful pianist. We hear her mental wanderings and feel her pain as she struggles to make a place for herself in Ezra’s world. She feels no connection to girls her own age and Ezra struggles to resist her allure. This drama and romantic thriller is based on real people and real events that take place between 1912-1960. Ezra interacts with Orville Wright, Charles Kettering and Elbert Hubbard, celebrities from the day.”

Having been quite some years since I’ve read a graphic novel (I used to read Buffy The Vampire Slayer graphic novels) therefore rusty, I was surprised at how fast paced it was but then had to remind myself that it IS a graphic novel, usually considerably shorter than your average novel, so it’s bound to be fast paced. As the story unfolds, the characters personalities really shine through and the amazing artwork does the rest of the talking. I found Neci (the gypsy girl) to be quite an intense and passionate character who is very insightful and you really feel for her as she worries about Ezra, a composer who comes to stay amongst the gypsies to learn more about their lifestyle, throughout the novel. She has fallen for him hook, line and sinker. Ezra, however, is concerned about the age difference between he and Neci though and I get the impression his feelings for Neci aren’t as strong as hers. She has her sights set on him though and, throughout the story, is determined to win him over. Ezra decides to leave the gypsies and return back to the new world to pursue his music career and, on doing so, he meets Marlene, a talented pianist. Marlene is quite devious and conniving though she is also driven and wants to help Ezra further his music career. I came to really dislike her especially as it becomes clear that she chose to keep something incredibly important from Ezra which leads on to an explosive ending. I love that Nuncio – the parrot – narrated the story and occasionally the snake, Coil, too. I thought it was a great touch!

The artwork is quite simple yet could also show great detail at times. Quite unusual artwork for a graphic novel I thought. It is something that I would normally see in paintings. There is a close up of Nuncio at the end of the story that just says it all! That picture really does speak a thousand words. It made me feel so emotional when I saw it.

The only bad point I have to say about the graphic novel is that although I love the artwork, I wish it had been a little more detailed at times. There were just a few occasions when it’d take me a moment to figure out what was going on in the scene. That aside, it was a fantastic read. I can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel.

 

I rate this 4/5.