May & June Book Haul

I have a smallish book haul for the months of May and June. I honestly can't believe that this year is already half over, it feels like we just got into 2015. Next thing we know we will be ringing in the new year! So before I go on a complete rant about that here's the books I received.

For the month of May I got 3 books and 1 of them is an ebook.

The ebook I bought and was basically given to me is Trinity Defying Destiny by Kylie Price. This is the second book following Trinity The Prophecy which I do have a review up for. Eventually when I can actually sit down long enough to read the ebook there will be a review for it, I cannot wait to read it. *give Kylie a big huge hug*

I was actually expecting this book in April but it came to me in May and I did not mind because it came to me safe and sound. I did receive it through a Goodreads first reads giveaway* The book is Racheal Awakened by Robin A. Dilks. If you haven't already I did review this book as well and it is linked as usual. There is a second book set to be released called Morrigan Blade of Grace.

This next and last book I received in May was also won through a Goodreads first reads giveaway* and it is Camael's Battle by Michele E. Gwynn. It is book one and two put together, book one is Camael's Gift. I don't know how I will review this one, if I will make it into two different reviews or one review containing the two. When I do know you guys will know as well. These two books are part of the Angelic Hosts series. There looks to be some romance, maybe some mythology, and action.

For the month of June I got 4 books. I was expecting a few more to come, depending on if they come after this is posted and how many of them do I may edit this post or I might add them to the next book haul.

The first book I got in June is A Study in Death by Ann Lee Huber. It is the fourth book in the Lady Darby Mystery series, and with that being typed I don't know how quickly I will get to this book. If I find out that there are very little spoilers from the first three books I will go ahead and read it. I don't want to accidently spoil anything for anyone. This book is a murder mystery, historical fiction, and maybe some romance too. I also got this book through a Goodreads first reads giveaway*.

The next book I received is of the erotic and BDSM genera called Never Let You Down by Joely Sue Burkhart. It is the fourth book in the Connaghers series and once again if I find that there are spoilers to the first three books it may be a while before I review it. I really want to read it but I don't want to spoil anything. Again I got this book through a Goodreads first reads giveaway*.

I also got this book from a Goodreads first reads giveaway*. It is Devil's Daughter by Hope Schenk-de Michele, Paul Marquez, and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. It is the first book in Lucinda's Pawnshop possibly series, it is yet to be seen what this is going to turn into. This book is a fantasy, romance, and fiction read.

The last book I got in June I actually spent money on! Before I reveal the name of the book I want to make this clear. It's okay if you love the series. It's okay if you hate the series. It's okay if you are indifferent like me. But do not hate on someone else because of what their opinions are. If you cannot nicely state your opinion please don't. I haven't had this problem seeing as I don't have comments but still. The book I bought is Grey by E.L. James. It is the first book for the Fifty Shades of Grey series as told by Christian Grey's POV. James has already stated that there will the a Darker POV from Christian as well. I do own the FSoG trilogy and I have read them. Reviews are not up because I read them long before I started this review blog. I paid $8.76 at my Sam's Club (not including tax), it originally goes for $15.95.

That's it everyone! That's my book haul for the months of May and June. I hope you enjoyed!

Next book: Deadly Little Games by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Thanks for reading!
~Jade

*Note: I received these books through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway, but in no other way am I being sponsored to make a review on them or even talk about them. I may get to a review of them quickly, I may not. It all depends on what I feel like reading.

The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Sorry there was no post for last week but it was nothing but finals for me and lots of last minute online work so I didn't really get to read. BUT here is the review! As far as I can tell this is the first book for Martin, and I couldn't tell what it was about when I picked it up. So I went to fictiondb.com and as soon as I saw the word zombies I proceeded to keep it with me. I don't know if Martin has any other books planned, but if he does I think I will be checking them out.

Michael and his five-year old brother Patrick have stayed alive through following the instructions of the Game Master. The Bellows are nasty creatures that can tear someone apart if they are not careful to stay away from them. By night the brothers fight them, by day they salvage around to stay alive. Unfortunately that might not be for too long. The others in The Game don't follow the rules, and the Bellows are mutating even more.

The past couple of reviews I have done weren't that well liked by me, however The End Games earns a thumbs up from me. I'm not very hard to please (sometimes). Martin really got my attention with the differences of the "normal" zombies compared to his Bellow-zombies. I really enjoyed that they weren't the typical zombies that we see in movies, TV and read about. With a zombie book you expect there to be some sort of action, and there was in this. All throughout the book things were happening and I couldn't wait to read what was coming next. Along with that the descriptions of things like Cady, and what was happening really made me enjoy this book more. Things weren't too descriptive but descriptive enough for me to really get into what was happening. As for characters I really enjoyed, Patrick by far was my favorite. I don't know why other than I think little kids are awesome. I did enjoy that a main reoccurring theme was sibling love, even when it is hard to love the sibling. I think through growing up and being a tween and teenager siblings forget that they should be nice to their other brothers and sisters. Yes you won't always get along but don't forget that they might not always be there, so love them while you can.

The only dislike I have is character development. For Bonnie, and Hank I can understand why they didn't get the development, but for Holly I was disappointed. I felt that Holly was disconnected with the book. She was a character there for the plot and to get Michael and Patrick through. Martin tried to make her a bigger part of the book but for me it really didn't work.

Despite the lack of character development, I do recommend this book to everyone. Readers young and "old" could find something that they like about The End Games. I was drawn into the book and kept in and I really enjoyed that. For Martin's first book I will say he did a very good job. I can see myself rereading this book later on and possibly owning it. I do enjoy zombie books and I appreciate the twist with this one. It shakes up the normal stereotype and that is another reason why I recommend it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Page Count: 369 pages (hardcover)

Price: $17.99

Next: May and June Book Haul

Thanks for reading!
~Jade

Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Second book in the Touch series I do have the first book Deadly Little Secret, reviewed. The next book in the series is Deadly Little Games. Stolarz does have a number of other books out, so if this series isn't your cup of tea, she might have something else that is.

It was only last fall when Camila fell for Ben and found out that he has the gift of psychometry. Though as things began to get good, Bed up and leaves. Heartbroken Camila spends month researching psychometry and even experiences a few spells herself. Wondering if this is something that can be passed from one person to the next, she tries to tell Ben once he does come back but it's no use. She can't get him to listen long enough. Things start to happen though, almost like a repeat from last year. Warning and threats begin to pop up like last time. In the midst of all of this, deciding to move on Camila starts seeing a new guy in town named Adam. He seems to be less complicated then Ben, but a love triangle forms. Ben's past starts to reveal itself and Adam is tangled in it too. Someone is lying but no one will say who.

Yet another book where I don't have that many likes. I'm in a rut lately...but here we go. I liked that Camila tried to effectively cut things off with Ben seeing as they were no longer "together". She knew that it wasn't good to try and keep things at a "friend" level when they had such a heated connection. Sometimes it's better to cut things off completely because it means that both people will be able to heal. I'm interested to see how this next book plays out with Adam. This time around I really enjoyed Kimmie and Wes more, they had me laughing a number of times. I think I'm beginning to like them more than Camila. I loved the snippets from Alexia, it took me a while to figure out who she was. Mainly because I forgot, but once I did I really enjoyed those parts the most. *SPOILER-ALERT* I did see the psychometry being hereditary-thing coming but I was waiting to see who else has or had it in the family.*SPOILER-ENDED* For the last thing that I liked, Stolarz showed with Alexia that how a parent acts toward a child really does affect them. Be it good or bad it has an affect and after so long the child may turn their attitude around completely because of this.

Now for the dislikes...I completely saw Debbie coming. I mean she hates Ben. Granted, yes, the whole school pretty much does but she realllly hates him. So why not make his life hell? I did feel as though I was rereading the first book with some change ups and no kidnapping. I seriously hope that wasn't the point because it killed the mood of the book for me. Also the love triangle, saw that one coming too, and YA novels have enough of the love triangles going on. It's time for authors to switch things up with that. I probably would have guessed a good chunk of the book had I of read this book closer to the last book. The "action" that was being lead up to was a little over a page and then done. There was more talking than anything. I think I liked the tussle between Ben and Adam a lot more. Though this book wasn't dull, it wasn't really anything spectacular either.

I am not completely discouraged from reading the third book, but if things don't pick up I don't know about the rest of the series. I do recommend this book to others but be warned that I don't know if more advanced readers will enjoy it as much as the younger ones, but I could be wrong. I would like to own the first book, but not so much this one. Depending on how the next books in the series go, it will really make my mind up if this is one of those series I want to own just a few of the books or the whole series.

Rating: low 3 out of 5.

Page Count: 282 pages (hardcover)

Price: $16.99

Next Book: The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Thanks for reading!
~Jade