Captured

Captured by Erica Stevens

ASIN: 0087G3U92 (E-book)

Pages: 186

Appearance:

Summary:

Blood Slave.
Captured, taken from her beloved family and woods, Aria’s biggest fear is not the imminent death facing her, but that she will be chosen as a blood slave for a member of the ruling vampire race. No matter what becomes of her though, Aria knows that she must keep her identity hidden from the monsters imprisoning her. She has already been branded a member of the rebellion, but the vampires do not know the true depth of her involvement with it, and they must never know.
Though hoping for death, Aria’s world is turned upside down when a vampire named Braith steps forward to claim her. He delays her execution, but Aria knows it’s only a matter of time before he drains her, and destroys her. Especially once she learns his true identity as a prince within the royal family; the same royal family that started the war that ultimately brought down humankind, reducing them to nothing more than servants and slaves.
Aria is determined to hate the prince, determined not to give into him in anyway, but his strange kindness, and surprising gentleness astonish her. Torn between her loyalties to the rebellion, and her growing love for her greatest enemy, Aria struggles to decide between everything she has ever known, and a love she never dreamed of finding.

Holy SHEETS guys, I don’t even know what to think right now. This book completely blew me away. Even the cover is gorgeous. I honestly don’t even know where to start so that’s going to be a bit of a problem. Okay, let’s start with some background info of the story.

Arianna, nicknamed Aria by her friends and family lives as a daughter of the rebellion, against the tyranny of the vampires. She is kidnapped one day during a raid and sold to be a blood slave. By chance or not, she is bought by Prince Braith, heir to the vampire throne. Aria fully expects to be brutally beaten and ravaged, but finds that Braith seems to almost have a humane side to him. Unfortunately, he seems to be the only one as his father and brother Caleb are still ruthless and bloodthirsty.

The relationship between Arianna and Braith. Oh, my heart. I don’t think it can get any better than what is already is. Arianna is wary of him, of course she is! He’s the epitome of what her father warned her against. Yet, he’s not like the rest of the vampires. He’s actually nice. Fortunately for her, she’s not the only one who’s freaked. Braith has no idea why he even auctioned for her in the first place. She’s pretty darn stubborn and not all too pretty, but there’s something about her that just opens his eyes (spoiler kinda). He’s just so gentle and caring it breaks my heart into a thousand little pieces.

Braith teaches Arianna how to read and shows her the world which she had been lost to by living in the woods serving the rebellion. As their relationship grows, so does Braith’s worry about someone finding out their relationship and Arianna’s impatience to be free. When the youngest vampire prince “returns” for his undercover mission, Arianna is stunned to find he’s a close friend of hers. He begs her to leave with him or her father will attack to save her. Okay, at this point in the story, I was dying with feels. Braith should DEFINITELY leave with her and they can be happy and free and perfect! Of course, things don’t end that way. Jericho/Jack/youngest vamp prince manages to convince Arianna to leave saying that Braith was engaged and could never be with her.

NOW WHY THE WORLD WOULD YOU SAY THAT? UGH, yes I’m spoiling it for you, guys, but WHYYYYYY? Arianna’s heartbroken, Braith after finding her gone goes beserk. The ending ended me and kept me up all night crying. I just can’t. I REALLY recommend it but please be prepared for heartbreak at the end. But it’s all good! Why? I read the blurbs for the rest of the books in the series (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself) and it’s going to be okay. *takes deep breath*

Hope I didn’t spoil things too bad for you because this is definitely an amazing read and it’s FREE for the Kindle so go check it out and we can freak about it together!!

His eyes were gleaming with amusement as he wagged the stake before her, "The nightstand leg?"

"Yeah."

"Destructive little human."

Her splendid inner glow had always resided within her, and it was one of the most exquisite things he had ever encountered.

For the first time he understood the fountain statues and the yearning on their faces. He was starting to realize that to always look but never truly be able to touch, was a special kind of torment.

Sorta? I couldn't find an actual book trailer, but this showcases the series. 

If you can't see the video click here.

4 out of 5 stars

Last post of 2013!! OMGAWD! I know it's only the 26th, but the total # of posts is at 145. Call me crazy, but it's like the perfect number. If I go past, there will be this insane urge to reach 150 which I know I can't do. Haha, strange me. Anyway, the next post will be in the NEW YEAR! Yay! 

So hope you guys have an amazing New Years Eve with friends and family! I can't wait for the Big Apple drop!! 

Foreverly Obsessed,

Riv

Enthralled (Part 2)

Enthralled by Combined Authors

ISBN: 978-0-06-201579-2

Pages: 443

Appearance:

Summary:

A journey may take hundreds of miles, or it may cover the distance between duty and desire.
Sixteen of today’s hottest writers of paranormal tales weave stories on a common theme of journeying. Authors such as Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, and Melissa Marr return to the beloved worlds of their bestselling series, while others, like Claudia Gray, Kami Garcia, and Margaret Stohl, create new land-scapes and characters. But whether they’re writing about vampires, faeries, angels, or other magical beings, each author explores the strength and resilience of the human heart.

Hey guys! Like I said, this is part II of the Enthralled Review. If you haven’t seen the first review, just click here. The first review contains the first 8 stories of the book which has a total of 16 stories. Now that the intro’s out of the way, let’s get into the review!

Bridge by Jeri Smith-Ready

This was definitely an interesting story. It’s the only story in the book written in verse which I thought was unique and different from the others. My one problem, I can’t follow a verse book, everything seems so chopped up and my brain just has a hard time following it. Bridge was a really cute story though. The main character died, I’m assuming from suicide or overdose of some sort and has come back in form of a ghost to warn his brother not to make the same mistake he did. He finally finds a ghost whisperer person who is willing to carry his message, but she’s not all that forceful with the message. You guess what happens next.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Skin Contact by Kimberly Derting

To sum up this story in one word: Eerie. Unbelievably eerie. Rafe is I guess you’d call him a psychic.  His girlfriend left him because she has to protect her younger sibling from her abusive father and absent mother. The only thing Rafe has is a really ugly doll, a favorite of his girlfriend. He gets a vision and goes out to find her but he’s too late. Skin Contact was beautifully written, but I just could not get myself to really enjoy the book. Rafe spent too much time worrying and thinking back and the ending was just...cold.

Rating: 2.6 out of 5 stars

Leaving by Ally Condie

Leaving takes place in a sort of dystopian sci fi world. Sora is somewhat of an outcast after her father left the safety of the Globe to look for her mother. After he left, she considered for years to leave and go find him, and now she’s coming face to face with her decision. To leave or not to leave. That is the question. In the end, she chooses to step Outside and everything makes sense, it’s like she has an epiphany moment. Oh, let’s not forget Elio, I would call him the “Charming” of the story. Part of the “in” crowd, but unbelievably nice towards Sora and guess what? He’s been outside too. The ending is a definite cliffhanger, but concludes the story really nicely with the revelation and Sora’s acceptance of her past.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show by Jessica Verday

I did not understand this at all. So Girl Scouts are now cannibals, the main character is a supernatural hunter, and she (the M.C) is in a car with a bunch of fangirling/guying vampires. It’s a pretty bizarre story, but I like it. XD Wasn’t expecting that huh? Yeah, this story is way out of wack, but it has a ton of creativity thrown in which I think is really cool.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

IV League by Margaret Stohl

Another vampire story this time focusing on Wren who is trying to apply into an Ivy League school so she can prey on the unsuspecting students. At first, it just seems pretty normal, I mean, there are thousands of “unsuspecting” people just walking around. Vampire fast food. Unfortunatly things don’t always go according to plan, and it ends somewhat dark and brooding. Creative twist, especially with the title, but didn’t make a great impression on me.

Rating: 2.6 out of 5 stars

Gargouille by Mary E. Pearson

A definite favorite in the story. Gargouille follows the story of Giselle who has been captured by a hunter named Frans who is traveling and showcasing his new capture to all who are willing to listen. At one village, they encounter Giselle’s beloved, Etienne who attempts to save her but Giselle refuses, According to the legends, she’ll soon forget who she is and become a normal “landwalker.” The story is truly heartbreaking in all the right ways. Etienne swears that Giselle will always remember him even though they both know that cutting off a Gargouille’s wings results in them becoming human. The ending, oh my lords the ending is just pure beauty. Not going to say anything other than: Soul mates always find each other~

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Third Kind by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Very mystical and again eerie. Kissy gets these visions and when she gets them, you better go where she tell you to go. That’s what Jess has learned. So one night, Kissy tells her that they have to go to San Antonio. Of course, what’s a good story without some action, several people try to kill them along the way, but they eventually get to Ariel who explains that Jess is the “third kind” who “By their sword, darkness bleeds. They are the arm and the fire. They are the beginning of the End.” Not exactly what you want to here. While I think this is really well written, it is very frustrating because you never find out why Jess is the third kind and why people are trying to kill her. Is this part of a series anyone?

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Automatic by Rachel Caine

Another favorite author! And a short that I actually knew and understood because I knew the series: Morganville Vampires. So there’s been a new invention, a vending machine for the vampires. Go swipe your card and enter your favorite type and it comes out automatically. Cool huh? Except, things don’t go as planned. Michael goes a little bit insane with all the blood and ends up going on a crazed bloodlust. Not good if you’re girlfriend’s human. Things get smoothed out and hey, some things in life just can’t be accessed the easy way.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3 out of 5 stars

Final thought:

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't recommend this, but if you do see an author whom you love and know well, then maybe it'll make more sense for you. It is well written, I just didn't connect with many of the stories. That's it! Hope you guys enjoyed my brief reviews, if you do please let me know because I have another book that has a bunch of shorts in them and I'm probably going to review it the same way! Until next time! 

Foreverly Obsessed,

Riv

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hey guys! Merry Christmas!!! Hope you all have an amazing day full of smiles, hugs, laughter, and joy! Just wanted to say that I'm super grateful for all of you who have been supporting Forever Obsession this entire year! I hope that this blog can only grow more in 2014!! Love you all!!!

Foreverly Obsessed,

Riv

Anna Dressed In Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

ISBN: 978-0-7653-2865-6

Pages: 316
Appearance:

Summary:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story…

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: he kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill.  Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together, they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead – keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian house she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I finished the book like legit 5 minutes ago and I’m currently internally freaking out and screaming and crying and tearing my hair out in despair. WHY ANNA WHY? Okay, I’m calm...NO I AM NOT. (1 week later…) Okay, I think I’m calm… (no I’m not) but I’m going to do my best and try  to compose a somewhat rational review. Let’s get into it shall we?

I got hooked into this story by the summary. It was just so alluring sounding that I just had to read it. My favorite line: Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. It makes the situation sound so normal when it’s actually a huge twist from an average boy-meets-girl story. For that alone, I was hooked.

I’ve wanted to read this for the longest time, but when I actually got the book, it was hard to get into it. I mean, I love love love the story, but the beginning, I guess I was reading too many books at the same time with more hooking beginnings. The beginning has Cas killing a ghost and then him moving to a new town to hunt the local ghost, Anna Dressed in Blood. Their first encounter of each other, let’s just say wasn’t pleasant. She spares his life for some random reason, but he witnesses the force of her power and she rips the guy who brought him to her in half. (Later on, she says she spared him because she felt bad for him. The guy that she killed hit his head with a piece of wood and pushed him into the house.) Anyway, you don’t kill the school jock and get away with it. Cas spins up a random tale with the other teenagers who were present about the jock running away from home and sets to find a way to kill Anna. Unbeknownst to him, he’s gathered a couple of friends along the way. Carmel is the school queen bee and Thomas is the geek who is secretly a witch. They make an unlikely trio, but things work out.

I’m going to spoil things just a bit for you. The monster that Cas’ dad died killing isn’t dead at all, in fact he, let just call it a he, has been hitching a ride on the athame (knife that Cas uses to kill ghosts) all this time feeding off the spirits that Cas believed he was sending to a better place. Not really Cas, you're actually sending them into his belly. This monster was an Obeahman. After doing some research, I found that Obeahmen are men of African origins who practice voodoo by becoming a power source. To easily put it, Obeah is the version of dark African voodoo. The monster used to be one of these power source guys before something happened and now his power comes from devouring anything he can get his teeth into. Ghosts and humans are welcome! Essentially, he screws everything up.

Now let’s move on to a brighter note. Cas and Anna. Yup they’re a boy-meets-girl story and we all know where that ends up. Love. Love. LOVE! Yes my friends, they fall in love. What is exceptionally cool about this little relationship is that for one she happens to be dead. For another, she kills people. For a third (?), Obeah kinda wants to eat her. So this is a very very interesting relationship. Anna isn’t like most ghosts Cas has hunted. She actually has a somewhat “humane” side to her. Around him, she manages to keep the “killing” side of her at bay, but when others enter her house, she goes berserk. When Cas, Carmel, and Thomas, along with the help of dead jock’s best friend Will execute this magic circle ritual, they get a glimpse of what Anna actually went through. For now, let’s say that it wasn’t pretty. Overall, their relationship seems so fragile, but unbelievably adorable. I have a new ship.

The ending. Why. WHY MUST THINGS END THIS WAY? I seriously NEED the second book in my hands ASAP. I need to know what happens!! The trailer of the second book doesn’t help. I’ll link both of them down for you guys to see. Highly highly recommend this book, it’s addicting, thrilling, and full of heartbreaking moments, and cool as heck! But one warning, the ending will have you tearing your heart and/or hair out.

“Land of the Dead? Is that what you dream about?” she asks. “Boy who kills ghosts for a living?”
“No. I dream about penguins doing bridge construction. Don’t ask why.” 

“I’ve been Obeahed by an Obeahman? Is this like how the Smurfs say they smurfing smurfed all the time?”

“I’m not a superhero,” I say. It’s an awful tag. It’s egotistical, and it doesn’t fit. I don’t parade around in spandex.” 

"God, living people are irritating."

“I come in all big and bad, and you use me for a game of handball.” I grin. “Makes a guy feel damn manly. She grins back. “It made me feel pretty manly.”  (Cas and Anna)

“I don’t have my knife,” I mumble. 
“Don’t start that,” Anna says. She walks away from me sharply. “Arthur without Excalibur was still Arthur.” 

“They shouldn't be allowed to teach math so early in the morning.” 

“What is it about the sight of your mother that makes everything fireside-warm and full of dancing Muppets?” 

“If your mom's a witch, what does that make you? Harry Potter?” 

“What are you going to fill it with?" she asks. "Holy water or something?" 
"Probably Dasani," Thomas replies.” 

“Imagination has a poor memory, it slinks away and gets blurry. Eyes remember much longer.” 

“The things that your eyes see plainly and cant forget are worse than huddled black figures left to the imagination.” 

"Death is my world."

(Sorry, I got a bit carried away with all the quotes in this book...)

Click here if you can't see the video

Here's Book 2's trailer: Girl of Nightmares

Check if out and see why my heart breaks further!!

Click here if you can't see the video

4 out of 5 stars

Oh! Before I forget! Those who have read Anna Dressed in Blood and loved it, it's one of the candidates for the Garden State Teen Book Award for 2014! So check out this link and go vote!!

Foreverly Obsessed,

Riv

Sneak Peak: Christmas Story 2013

Hey guys! This is a new type of post and probably not going to appear quite that often since we don't usually advertise on here. BUT it is Christmas and we thought, why don't we write Christmas stories on Wattpad? 

In case you guys didn't know, Wattpad is an online writing community for authors all around the world. If you're interested, just click here. It's a pretty amazing site with really cool people. Anyway, Claudz and I have been writing on Wattpad for, I would say a year and a half now and it's been pretty awesome.

So about the advertising, we don't usually advertise our stories on here, but we thought we'd give you guys a little sneaky peak view on what we're planning since it's hard to do that on Wattpad. (You can't publish like the Summary and Cover without an actual published post which we don't want to do till Christmas. With that said, here's my sneaky peak on my Christmas Story of 2013: Only You.

 

Image from Tumblr

Edited on LunaPic and Pixlr Express

Summary:

Sabelle is an angel who has been guiding travelers from her post as the North Star for over a millenium. For decades she has waited for the call of a new mission, to go out and see the world again. She never expected her call to come from a mortal man living in the bustling city of New York.

Ryker spends his life making sure everything’s in order. One night at a holiday party, he finds himself out on the balcony staring into the sky. It might have been his luck when he saw a star shoot across the sky, but he never expected his wish to come true. In the form of an angel no less.

After a couple of unwanted and thank god, unnoticed collisions with towering tour buses, she made her way to the restaurant. There was a man dressed simply in a light blue button down and jeans staring at the sky. Quietly, she landed behind him and lifted her glamour. “Excuse me?”

The man jumped, when he saw her his eyes widened. “You….what are you?”

Sabelle stared at him in confusion, pretty sure that she had shrunk her wings before revealing herself. “Um, a person?”

He shook his head, “You have wings!”

Shoooooooot. “Shhhh, don’t say it out loud! Why did you call me?”

The man frowned in confusion, “Call you?”

Sabelle groaned, “Yes, you called me. Probably wished upon the comet or something. So, what do you want?”

“The comet brought you here?”

I’m going to bash his head into the wall! Humans are so frustrating. “Did you see a comet?”

“yes.”

“Did you say anything while watching the comet?”

“Yes.”

“So what did you wish for?”

“Um...not so sure?”

Okay, it’s certain, I’m bashing his head. “What did you say?”

“I...um….asked for a second chance? For revenge.” He saw her shocked expression, “Revenge for love.”

“Right.” And how in the Heavens did Eros think she could help him?

~*~

And now onto Claudz's sneaky peak of ONE of her many stories since she's writing a collection of stories instead of one:

Summary:

It's Christmas. Eight different people, four different stories:

Diara and Caiden, high school sweethearts who are miles apart, meet again in the crowded terminals of Heathrow Airport.

Sammi and Ethan, two complete strangers who fall in love over spilled coffee and mistletoe

Kenzie and Harry, old friends who finally admit their love for each other in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland

Kaylie and Luke, a fangirl and a rock star trying to find love 

“Sh*t,” Sammi cussed as she knocked into someone, causing her to spill coffee all of him. She looked up and stared into a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. “I—I,” she stuttered, “I’m so sorry,” she finally got out. She looked down and saw his white sweater was splattered with coffee. It stuck to his body and Sammi could make out well defined abs.  God this man is gorgeous, like Apollo himself, she thought.

                “It’s fine, really,” the man said, dabbing at his sweater with some napkins, “I was planning on throwing this sweater out anyway.” He smiled at her and stuck his hand out, “I’m Ethan.”

                “Sammi,” she shook his hand. “And you were not planning on throwing that sweater out,” she informed him.

                “Why not?”

                “Because,” she reached behind him and pulled off the tag, “it’s new.” She stared at the price tag and then looked up in horror. Ethan snatched the tag out of her hand and threw it away. “Holy shit,” she whispered, “Eight hundred pounds? Who the hell do you think you are?”

                “I think my name is Ethan,” he remarked.

                “You have to let me make it up to you somehow,” Sammi said, “I can’t pay back eight hundred pounds, but…” she trailed off.

                “How about lunch?” he offered.

                “I can do lunch.” She nodded in agreement.

                “I’ll pay,” he said.

                “What?” Sammie cried, “Hell no. After I ruined your million dollar sweater, there’s no way I’m letting you pay for lunch.”

                “It was only eight hundred,” he retorted.

                Sammi scoffed, “Only eight hundred,” she muttered.

                “And I always pay for the first date,” he continued.

                “Oh, so now it’s a date?’

                “Of course it is. I can’t take a pretty lady, like you, out for lunch and not have it be a date.” He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

                She took his arm and grunted, “Fine.”

~*~

So that's the little Sneak Peak! If you're interested, check out our profiles: PricelessInsanity98 on Christmas Day and everyday after for a week of uploads and thesamelovestory starting the 20th (THIS FRIDAY) for uploads till Christmas! So definitely save the date and check them out!

Foreverly Obsessed,
Riv