"Her Vampire Husband” by Michelle Hauf

I cannot say that I am the fastest reader of book reviewers, but I do love to sit and enjoy a good paranormal romance book. Michelle Hauf’s book, “Her Vampire Husband” was exactly that.

In this story, Vampires have tribes and Werewolves, packs. Each is bloodthirsty and has had centuries to wage war against the other. Both nations have laid claim to numerous losses between them. In an attempt to bring peace between the rival nations, a Council comprised of both Vampires and Werewolves agree to an arranged marriage between Blu Masterson, Princess of the Werewolf nation and Creed Saint-Pierre, elder of the Vampire nation.

Peace is the overtone to this marriage but as you read through you find that nobody believes this marriage will bring peace at all. Blu insists that she will never allow her new husband the opportunity to mark her with his bite. Creed insists he could never love a werewolf, but would keep up appearance for the sake of peace. As the story unfolds, both Creed and Blu fall in love with each other and find they do not understand why there was so much hatred between them. With their new found love for each other, they work together to bring peace to their nations. This was not an easy task.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating story. I must admit that at first I had my doubts about the storyline. However, it completely maintained its “page-turner” status with me. I looked forward to returning to it each night to find out what would or could happen next.

Michele Hauf develops her characters very well, which makes them easy to fall in love with. I found myself completely enamored with both Blu and Creed as they fell head over heels in love with each other. I love books that grab your emotions and pull you in. This story is has its dark undertones and is deliciously sexy!

Check out the link on my sidebar for Ms. Hauf’s web address where you can find more information of all her books. Also, you can follow her for on Twitter; @michelehauf.

Ms. Hauf, I so look forward to reading more of your books in the future.

“The Host” by Stephenie Meyer

I had just finished reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga when I came across her adult novel, “The Host.” I really like Stephenie Meyer’s approach to writing so I picked up a copy and began reading.

In “The Host”, the author paints another beautiful story where aliens invade our world and humans become hosts for these alien "souls". These “souls”, as they like to be called, are inserted in human minds where they completely erase any past memories the human once had and begin a new life. Melanie Stryder is one of the few remaining humans captured by the aliens. Believed to have vital information about other rogue humans, a "soul" named Wanderer is inserted into Melanie to retrieve all memories that would lead them to the various clusters of human hosts. What Wanderer finds out is that Melanie doesn't want to succumb to all of this... Melanie never gives up. Therefore, Wanderer ends up sharing Melanie's body with... well eh, Melanie.

Melanie and Wanderer journey away from civilization in an attempt to locate Melanie’s little brother and the love of her life. In order to do this, Melanie must allow Wanderer to see memories that would reveal the location of other humans. This is now easy task.

Now, I could go on telling you more, but I will not. This story turns into a love triangle with Melanie completely intact and in love with Jared, but Wanderer is also intact in Melanie's conscientiousness and she is in love with Ian. With Melanie and Wanderer both in Melanie's head, Melanie is faced with a difficult task of holding onto her life. Wanderer’s experiences on other planets never prepared her for humans and their emotional makeup. She learns very quickly how dear humans hold their individuality.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to it becoming a movie.

Go get the book... it is a good read!

“Burned” by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast

P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast pull it off again with the next installment to the House of Night series. “Burned”, appeared on bookstands May 6, 2010 and sadly I was not one of the first to get my copy. However, excited as usual to get my copy, I quickly read to find out what happened to our heroine, Zoey Redbird.

As you recall from my book review of “Tempted”, I was all too eager to find out how our vampyres and fledglings faired in this series. We left Stevie Rae holding secrets from everyone about the imprint she had with Raven Mocker, Rephaim. Zoey witnessed the death of her childhood sweetheart by the hand of fallen warrior, Kalona. She used all that she had within her, and threw the full power of the element spirit at Kalona, attempting to kill him. The combination of all this caused Zoey’s spirit to leave this realm and move on to the Otherworld, shattering her soul in hundreds of pieces. Her body still lives but her spirit is not in her. With her soul now shattered and in the Otherworld, her circle of friends must find a way to bring her back.

“Burned” is a continuation of this specific adventure. Zoey’s friends pulled themselves together with the help of the vampyre council and found only one way to rescue her. Doing what they all do best, they each take on the responsibility of learning the history of vampyres and their warriors. Our hero warrior, Stark takes his vow as warrior to a completely new level as he learns what he must do to protect his priestess in the Otherworld.

I can continue from here and describe to you all the various adventures found in this book, or in this series, but I will not. This series is one I would definitely put on your “To Read” list. Although this is a Young Adult series, I feel it still holds enough intrigue and excitement for any adult. It is packed full of angst, friendships, honor, and love… not to mention vampyres and magic.

Each book in this series, in my opinion, cannot really stand up all on its own. You must read the whole series to follow the storyline accurately. I like the Casts’ vampyres very much. They are not your typical bloodsuckers that you read about in other novels. You find yourself hoping that this band of misfits actually lives on and succeeds. The writers do a good job of introducing you into the lives of teens you normally would hate to know, only to find you need and love them. Many are the emotions tapped as you read into the lives of these teens.

“Tempted” left me full of suspense, anger, and sadness whereas “Burned” quashed all that and brought relief. However, as is usually for this writing team, you are left with not so much a cliffhanger, but the apprehension of what is to happen next.

The next installment for The House of Night series is, “Awakened”. Although I have not heard of a release date yet, I will keep checking their website, http://houseofnightseries.com for any new updates.