SCHOOL TIME

    So, I have started my second year of University (WOOT WOOT), which also mean I have less time to read good books and blog about them. So, I'll probably only post once a week or so... probably on tuesdays or thursdays because I only have one class those days this term. ANYWAYS, wish me luck on this next chapter of my life!

Book Butterfly

Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin # 9) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Hear of Venom
Series: Elemental Assassin (Book 9)
Author: Jennifer Estep
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Assassin
Source: Kindle edition
Rating: 3 stars

                 Available at:
Goodreads • Amazon • Chapters

Blurb (via Goodreads):

When a terror from the past threatens Gin’s friend and body-disposer, Sophia, Gin will stop at nothing to protect her, even if it means walking straight into a killer’s trap. Meanwhile, the rocky romance between Gin and Owen reaches a turning point—can they reunite and rekindle their love? Or will the things Gin has been forced to do in her line of work as the deadly assassin the Spider keep them apart forever? Assuming, that is, she survives long enough to find out…

   
Review:
I previously wrote a review of the last book of this series which you can read HERE. I said this in my last review and I will say it again, if you have been reading the series you basically know  how the plot is going to go: badass bad guy threatens someone Gin cares about, Gin goes to kill bad guy, intense battle ensues, Gin barely survives but wins, Gin gets all healed up and back to normal via air magic. There you go, that is the plot right there. If are continuing to read this series it is for one reason and one reason only: you want to know what happens between Gin and Owen!

Don't lie, that's the only reason you've continued to read the series. After the third or fourth book, the plots become almost boring and repetitive. Don't get me wrong, I genuinely love Jennifer Estep and all of her books. She is a fantastic writer and she really knows her way around writing a battle scene, but this series could have been wrapped up two books ago.

For those who want to know what happens between Owen and Gin, well, I'm not going to ruin it, but there is a decision that is made between the two as to what happens next. Do they start seeing other people? Do they get back together? Is there a wedding in the near future? Has Owen told Gin that he just can't trust her, or maybe vise versa? Yeah, so not telling! You have to read the book to figure it out guys! ENJOY!

Immortal (Runes #2) by Ednah Walters

Title: Immortals
Series: Runes (Book 2)
Author: Ednah Walters
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal/Romance
Pages: 342 pages
Source: Kindle edition
Rating: 5 stars!

                      Available at:
Goodreads • Amazon • Chapters

Blub (via Goodreads):

Nothing can stop Raine Cooper when she wants something...
Raine finally knows that her gorgeous neighbor, Torin St. James, is a legend straight out of Norse mythology, and that her feelings for him are strong. Torin is crazy about Raine too, breaking the one rule he lives by: Never fall for a mortal. The problem is he no longer remembers her, his memories erased by Norns—Norse destiny deities—to punish her for defying them.

So Raine comes up with a plan...
She will make Torin forget his one rule a second time and fall in love with her all over again.
But she quickly learns that well-laid plans do not work when dealing with deities and supernatural beings. Desperate, Raine makes choices that could not only tear her and Torin further apart, but lead to the destruction of everything and everyone she loves

Book Review:
The sequel starts a bit after where Runes left off. Raine finally has her dad back and it couldn't have happened at a better time because Torin has no idea who Raine is, but she is determined to remind him.

I have to say, I thought the last book of this series was intricate? Well, book 2 blew me out of the water. Ednah puts so much thought and detail into the plots of her books that the reader has no idea what is coming! Of course, this also causes the disadvantage of frustrating the reader. Its no fun when you can't try and figure out the clues before the characters do. And if you are totally wrong and the author was misdirecting you the whole time, that's even better! It shows the sign that the author is a master at their art. Ednah Walters is ALMOST there with her writing. SOOOO close. She just needs to hint the readers in a LITTLE more.

But like I said, on a plot level, the story was amazing. Raine is busy with trying to get Torin to remember he loves her since the Norns erased his memories; she gets a vague message from said Norns telling her that she is the only person who can save her best friend Eirik from his 'dark side' and Raine needs to figure out who is Eirik really is and who is trying to turn him evil; she is being trained to become the Valkyrie she is supposedly destined to become while trying to figure out this new power inside of her that is able to change peoples fate; and to top it all off, the whole school thinks shes a witch. As you can see, a lot is happening in this book, and I applaud Ednah Walters ability to balance all the sub plots out while dealing with the main plot of who is trying to turn Eirik evil.

We also get to see the some major character development from the supposed 'bad Valkyries" in the first book, something I absolutely loved. You get to see the importance of a lot of supporting characters in this book and it brought out more depth in the book over all. Especially the importance of who Eirik really is (boy was THAT a shocker) and who the antagonist is (even MORE shocking!). I'll give it to you Ednah, you sure know how to spin a story, bravo! I eagerly a wait the next installment of the series!

Runes by Ednah Walters

Title: Runes
Series: The Runes series #1
Author: Ednah Walters
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Pages: 245
Source: Kindle Edition
Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)

               Buy this book:
Goodreads • Amazon • Chapters

Book Blurb (via Goodreads):
Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behaviour and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbour with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life

Review:

So I bought this book on Amazon mostly because of the cover. It was beautiful and interesting, and the blurb sounded pretty good so I thought, 'why not?'. Well, lets just say I am glad I got it!

At the beginning of the book I got a little worried that the plot would follow something like the Mortal Instruments series. The first hints we see of a Paranormal world are in the forms of Runes and the wand like things that are used to draw the runes. I am happy to report that while there are some similarities in the rune aspect, the rest of the book is not like the Mortal Instruments at all. In fact, about a quarter of the way through the book, we find that the Paranormal aspect belongs somewhere in the realm of Norse Mythology. DING DING DING, I was hooked. While the mythological aspect was completely unexpected, it was completely welcomed with open arms in my eyes. I'm a huge mythology enthusiast. 

There is a love aspect in the story, and even a bit of a love triangle. Raine is dating her long time crush and best friend, Eirik, and yet has this unexplainable attraction to Torin that she tries her hardest to ignore without much success. The only thing I didn't like about the romantic side is how unfairly Eirik was treated, I felt so bad for him, yet I was rooting for Torin the entire time. Saying that, Ednah Walters did a great job of making the love triangle very realistic for a high school girl, and even gave her some morals. Raine may have 'had stars in her eyes' (as her mother would say) for Torin, but she felt guilty has Hel for it (you will totally get that pun if you read the book :p).

The only part of the story I had a problem with was the progression of the paranormal side of the plot line. While the romantic angle was consistent and progressed normally, the mythological/ fantasy side of the story took forever to unveil. I spent the entire first half of the novel very confused and the hints given to the reader weren't entirely helpful. However, saying that, while the fantasy side of the story took a while to get to and form properly, it was very well thought out. Not the most original, in fact I can probably name 5 books of the top of my head that deal with the same.. beings (I don't want to give anything away by saying what Torin and the 'bad guys' are), but the way Ednah Walters incorporated it into the story and the other aspects she threw in were more unique. She did a great job of shaping an old topic into her own little web of mystery.

Blog Updates!

    Hey guys!
    As you can see, there are some major updates on my blog. I changed the template, cleaned up some pointless posts, and I changed my web address from yabookbutterfly.blogspot.ca to bookbutterflyreviews.blogspot.ca . Sorry for any confusion this may cause, it just seemed to fit the purpose of my blog better. I am also looking into buying a domain name so you can come directly to my blog without bouncing to other sites!
    Some other updates include a new Twitter account dedicated to this blog! I am super excited about this people! Please feel free to FOLLOW ME and support me as I try an expand my blog: https://twitter.com/BookButterflyy. I also have tumblr, which you can view HERE. I don't always go on tumblr but I am trying to rectify that.
    As you can imagine, updating my blog and creating a twitter account and all that jazz has taken up most of my afternoon, so I won't be doing a review today. Look forward to my review tomorrow (I haven't decided which book is going to be reviewed yet), and maybe some more updates this weekend!

Book Butterfly

Quick Fix (In a Fix #2) by Linda Grimes

Title: Quick Fix

Author: Linda Grimes

Series: In a Fix #2

Genre: Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery

Source: Kindle

Pages: 345 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

Available at:

Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

The second installment of the original urban fantasy series starring human chameleon Ciel Halligan

Ciel Halligan, an aura adaptor with a chameleon-like ability to step into the lives of her clients and fix their problems for them — as them — is working a job at the National Zoo with her boyfriend, Billy, and his ten-year-old sister, Molly. It's supposed to be a quick fix, giving her time to decide if it's wise to pursue the romantic relationship her charming scoundrel of a best friend wants, or if she should give Mark, the CIA spook she's crushed on since hormones first rattled her pubescent brain, a chance to step up to the plate.

Molly has already begun to show signs of being an adaptor herself. She's young for it, but she's always been precocious, so it's not impossible. What is impossible is her taking on the form of the baby orangutan she touches — adaptors can only project human auras. Until now, apparently. Worse, Molly is stuck in ape form. She can't change herself back.

Escaping from the zoo with their new baby orang, Ciel and Billy head for NYC and the only person they know can help: Ciel's brother James, a non-adaptor scientist who's determined to crack the aura adaptor genetic code. But when Billy winds up in jail, accused of attempted murder, Ciel begins to suspect Molly's unusual adapting ability is more than just a fluke. Who's been experimenting on Molly, and what do they hope to gain? And will Ciel survive to find out?

My Review:
SO! You guys know me! When this book came out at midnight today I stayed up until 4am so I could read through the entire thing! If you haven't caught on by now, I am a firm believer in reading books in one sitting, but maybe thats just because I can read books expertly fast... Anyways, I did not write a review for the first book in this series when it came out, however, there IS another reviewer out there who has! So, if you would like to read her review of In a Fix, book one of the In a Fix series, click HERE.

Linda Grimes has taken the cliched version of animal shape shifters and made something a little more unique. In her book's universe, adapters are basically shape shifters that change into other people, rather than animals, by using someones aura, or energy. Changing into another animal if impossible for these adapters... or at least that was true in book 1 of the series...

Quick Fix starts off with Ceil doing a job for a friend of a friend at the zoo. She is playing the part of a middle aged woman trying to get on the board of directors for the zoo and she has her psuedo-cousin, Billy, and his little sister, Molly, there for back up. After wrapping up the job and enjoying the orangutan exhibit, the impossible happens: Molly, who should be too young to shift, turns completely into an orangutan herself and can't change back. Quick Fix leads us through Billy and Ceil trying to get Molly back to her human self (with a little help from their family) while in the midst of all the confusion, someone is trying to kill off people they know... and Billy is getting blamed. And of course, don't forget about that love triangle between Ceil, Billy, and Mark (Ceils major crush for 13 years) that In a Fix left dangling in front of our eyes! Ceil finally makes her choice in this instalment of the series.

Plot wise, I actually enjoyed this book. In the first instalment, the plot was a little stereotypical when it came to the vikings and while it wasn't a huge deal, it made the book more comical than mysterious and action packed. I'm glad to report that between meeting more of the adapter community, trying to get Molly back to her human self, someone trying to kill her friends off and blame Billy, and some decision making on the love triangle front... this book was anything BUT boring. Lots of action, lots of fantastic witty lines from Ceil and good writing to go along with it! The only problem I had with the plot was that there weren't many clues to help the reader solve the mystery along with the characters in the book. Information came in clumps, here or there, but a majority was just thrown together and given to us at the end. There was a lot of misdirection, but not exactly in a good way. While the author made us look one way, nothing was really happening the other way.

Character Development was amazing, as it was in the first book. Every character is so unique and have very distinct personalities that combine to make a great combination. We got to see more of Ceil's family and see how she grew up and what her brothers are like, as well as learning a few of their secrets. She gets to bond with each of them in a new way and that made it really interesting for the reader. I can't stress enough how amazing this book was for character development, which is probably why I loved the book so much; I am a huge stickler for good development in my favourite characters!

So, overall, I am going to give this book a 4.5/5. It could have been a bit better plot wise, but for its minor plot faults, the development of the story and the characters were phenomenal. If you are a fan of shape shifters, paranormal romance, or urban fantasy... I say take a chance and read this series. I doubt you'll regret it! I DO wonder if there will be a next book in the series though. The author did seem to wrap things up... I will keep you guys posted!

No Love for the Wicked by Megan Powell

Title: No Love for the Wicked

Author: Megan Powell

Series: Magnolia Kelch #2

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Adventure

Source: Kindle

Pages: 268

Rating: 3.5 stars

Available at:

Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

It’s taken six months, but supernaturally gifted Magnolia Kelch finally seems to have her surging powers under control. Then she arrives home to find a group of strangers in her beloved farmhouse, and that control is immediately put to the test. Magnolia quickly learns that her “guests” are actually part of the Network—not from the task force headed by her mentor, Thirteen, but a second group, led by British agent Colin St. Pierre.

Unfortunately, Theo, a Network agent who shares an intimate connection with Magnolia, doesn’t trust Colin as a new commander. When team missions collide, Magnolia finds herself in the middle of Network infighting, asking herself who among those closest to her truly has her best interests at heart.

But an even greater threat lies on the horizon. Intent on tracking down the source of Magnolia’s powers, a familiar enemy resurfaces with a plan—one that is far more sinister than the Network has ever seen.

My Review:
You know how in a lot of series, so much great stuff happens in the first book that the second is a little bit of a disappointment? Well, that definitely was NOT the case For No Love for the Wicked! I think Megan Powell was smart in this one, she was focused on laying the foundation in the first so that she could expand the story more in the second... or I hope thats what she had in mind because thats what I got out of it!

If you haven't read the first book in the series, No Peace for the Damned I did a review on it back in November (which you can read HERE). It WAS another super cliched book. THe main character is basically invincible and gains new powers by the second. So, it was a little unrealistic, but if you can accept the unrealistic factors, it was actually a pretty decent book. The second definitely past my expectations.

Plot wise, the sequel of this series was definitely an upgrade. More players joined the team (well, kind of) and a lot of what seemed really cliche in the first book (*cough* magical golden connection to the love interest) was explained a little further and gained more depth. You also see why Magnolia is gaining more and more powers. There was a pretty surprising twist at the end, one I definitely didn't see coming, that I had mixed feelings about. Plot wise, it was a good play, but the execution needed a little work. It kind of contradicted what you know of Magnolia's powers. However, the identity of Magnolia's dream man (and I mean this in no romanticized way people) and what Megan Powell does with that information will definitely be something to look forward to in her next book.

Character development took an upgrade as well, especially in the case of Magnolia. Before she was this victim trying to do good and help bring down her family; now she was so much less of a victim and more of the empowered bad ass she so badly needed to embrace. Other characters we saw from the last book also got more depth and we get to see into their minds a little bit which was a definite bonus. I mentioned before that new characters were introduced... the sad thing was that they almost seemed unnecessary. The information we got from them probably could have been obtained easily through different means and the author didn't really give them any REAL importance in this book. I am hoping that she rectifies this in the next.

Overall, I was pleased with this instalment of the series. For the last book I gave one star in originality but 3 stars overall. Since I feel that it should be consistent with the book, my rating is a it of an upgrade as well. I will give it 3 stars for originality but a 3.5 for the overall rating of the book. I look forward to the next book of the Damed series!