Review: Teardrop by Lauren Kate (Teardrop #1)

Publisher - Doubleday Children's
Publication Date - 24th October 2013
Paperback - 441 pages
Genre - Young Adult/Paranormal Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it.

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Seventeen-year-old Eureka won't let anyone close enough to feel her pain. After her mother was killed in a freak accident, the things she used to love hold no meaning. She wants to escape, but one thing holds her back: Ander, the boy who is everywhere she goes, whose turquoise eyes are like the ocean.

And then Eureka uncovers an ancient tale of romance and heartbreak, about a girl who cried an entire continent into the sea. Suddenly her mother's death and Ander's appearance seem connected, and her life takes on dark undercurrents that don't make sense.

Can everything you love be washed away?

My Thoughts - I am a fan of Lauren Kate's Fallen series so was very excited when I heard about the release of this book. Add to that the gorgeous covers that are a given with any book from this author, I knew I just had to read it. And for the most part it was an enjoyable read.

I loved how the legend of Atlantis was brought into this story, with all the mystery and intrigue that surrounded it, as it's not one I've really come across in novels before so it was a new twist on the paranormal romance genre for me. And as more was revealed about the war between the Atlanteans and the Seedbearers, I found myself getting pulled into the novel more and more as I wanted to know how Eureka was involved with it all.

I really liked the characters of Brooks and Ander. They were both good friends to Eureka and did everything they could to help her through all the difficulties in her life. If I had to pick between Team Brooks or Team Ander, I'm really not sure I could do that right now as they are both very much in love with her and want nothing but the best for her. And I'm sure that Eureka is just as divided between the two as I am.

The pacing of the novel however seemed a little off. It felt as if it took a long time for the story to get going so it took quite a while until I really started to enjoy it. At first it did feel like rather hard work. But then nearer the end, as the action picked up and a lot of the threads of the story started being pulled together, I was dragged into the novel and couldn't put it down. Also, even though I guess this is a minor complaint that may not bother others, I found it quite distracting to have a main character with such an unusual name as Eureka. I almost cringed every time another character called her by her name and I still wasn't really used to it by the end of the novel. But this is just a personal peeve. Others might enjoy reading about characters with unusual names.

Summary - Although it took a long time to get going, this was a good beginning to a new series with lots of groundwork being laid around a very interesting legend. After the ending of this book I am very much looking forward to seeing what happens next in the lives of Eureka, Brooks and Ander.

Review: The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (O'Hare and Fox #1)

Publisher - Headline Review
Publication Date - 18th June 2013
Hardback - 320 pages
Genre - Mystery

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare is known for her fierce dedication and discipline on the job, chasing down the world's most wanted criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn, and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name for herself for the past five years, the only name she's cared about is Nicolas Fox - an international crook she wants in more ways than one.

Audacious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Nicolas Fox is a natural con man, notorious for running elaborate scams on very high-profile people. At first he did it for the money. Now he does it for the thrill. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail - particularly Kate O'Hare, who has been watching his every move. For Nick, there's no greater rush than being pursued by a beautiful woman... even one who aims to lock him up. But just when it seems that Nicolas Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: he convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with Special Agent Kate O'Hare.

Problem is, teaming up to stop a corrupt investment banker who's hiding on a private island in Indonesia is going to test O'Hare's patience and Fox's skill. Not to mention the skills of their ragtag team made up of flamboyant actors, wanted wheelmen, and Kate's dad. High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day's work... if O'Hare and Fox don't kill each other first.

My Thoughts - When this book arrived through my door I was really excited. I'm a big fan of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series and was hoping this would be more of the same... full of laugh-out loud humour and quirky characters. However, I should have taken into account that this was the start of a new series, written with a new co-author no less, so I really shouldn't have picked up this book with those expectations. And it's not that I was disappointed as such, it was just different from what I was expecting so it took a little bit longer than normal to get into the book than I would have liked.

The quirky characters that are a classic hallmark of Evanovich's work are most definitely present in this novel. There's Kate O'Hare, an ex-Navy SEAL turned FBI agent who is more comfortable handling a rocket-propelled grenade launcher than she is going shopping for clothes. She is a tough cookie who doesn't stop kicking and punching until she gets what she wants... and in this case it's Nick Fox. He is a con artist who has managed to evade the FBI for years. Only once she catches him, she is then made to work alongside him to catch an even bigger criminal... what was once a game of cat and mouse has turned into a nightmare work situation for Kate. I have to say that I loved Nick. Although he is a criminal with some very questionable ethics, I just couldn't stop myself from loving him. He is funny, charming and incredibly intelligent... enough to have evaded the law enforcement for years in heist after heist. And what makes it even better is the chemistry between Kate and Nick. They try to fight it... if they were school kids then Nick would be pulling on her pigtails by now... but it is most definitely there and I can't wait to see what is going to happen between them in future instalments in this series.

However, the humour that I have come to love so much from Evanovich was sadly lacking. That's not to say that there weren't some amusing parts that made me chuckle a little. But it didn't make me do that embarrassing laughing out loud to the point of tears in public thing that her books normally bring out in me. But saying that, there is something in this book that is normally missing from her Stephanie Plum novels, and I can only guess that this must come from her new co-author Lee Goldberg, and that is an interesting plot line that will keep the reader hooked. I absolutely loved reading about the different cons in this book. The authors managed to work it perfectly so that as each con is played out, the reader doesn't know too many details and is in pretty much the same position as the victim watching the scene play out in front of them, and then the smaller details are revealed afterwards. It reminded me quite a lot of the movie Ocean's 11 and it's sequels in that respect. But it was these cons and the amount of detail that was put into them that kept the pages turning for me.

My one main complaint about this novel was that there is a cast of secondary characters that have the potential to be amazing, but I didn't really feel that the readers got to know them well enough. They each get a chapter to themselves as they are introduced to the reader... and to Kate... and then recruited onto the heist, but then after that they fade into the background a little too much for my liking. I know that they are background characters but I feel that the authors could have used them a little better to enhance the story line.

Summary - A very smart, sassy and promising start to a new series and I am very much looking forward to finding out exactly how much more trouble Nick and Kate can get themselves into in future books in the series.

Review: Leopard's Prey by Christine Feehan (Leopard People #6)

Publisher - Piatkus
Publication Date - 28th May 2013
Paperback - 384 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I really liked it

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - From a tough stint in the armed forces to stalking the unknown as a bayou cop, leopard shifter Remy Boudreux has been served well by his uncanny gifts. And right now, New Orleans could use a homicide detective like Remy.

A serial killer is loose, snatching victims from the French Quarter with pitiless rage and unnatural efficiency. But something else is drawing Remy into the twilight - a beautiful jazz singer bathed, night after night, in a flood of blood-red neon.

Sultry, mysterious and as seductive as her songs, she's luring Remy deeper into the shadows than he ever imagined possible. And as their passions swell, his keen instinct for survival will be challenged like never before. By a killer - and by a woman.

My Thoughts - I have read a few books by this author and found them to be pretty hit and miss if I'm honest... a couple that I've read have been really good, while a couple of others have been just okay. And one of them I couldn't even finish, which is very rare for me. So I picked up this book with some trepidation, but luckily, this was one that I did enjoy... very much so in fact. And even though this is the sixth book in the series, I was easily able to read this one without any confusion at all even though I haven't read any of the previous books.

I really liked both of the main characters, Remy and Bijou. They are both strong and loyal, and I really felt for Bijou as I learnt more about her backstory. Remy has a few faults, such as his stubborn nature and the fact that he didn't always manage to do the right thing for Bijou despite his best intentions, but nothing that really made me dislike him. They just made his character more realistic. What did irritate me slightly was the fact that he always blames all of his bad points on his leopard! Every single time! I almost wanted to tell him to step up and take responsibility for his actions rather than falling back on his leopard as an excuse. And I believe that Bijou and his sister told him exactly that at one point in the book, which did make me laugh.

The chemistry between these two is just off the charts and when they do finally come together there are serious fireworks. If you're not a fan of things getting a little bit rough between the sheets then this may not be the book for you... but fortunately, things like that don't bother me at all. I felt that the balance between the romance and mystery elements of the story worked very well, but there was just one major problem that I had with this book. To me, it was immediately apparent who was behind the murders as soon as the character was introduced to the reader. I kept on reading in the hopes that the author would throw in some kind of twist and that maybe I was wrong... but no, that didn't happen.

Summary - A great plotline, with characters that are easy to fall in love with as well as some unbelievably hot sexy times. It was just let down by the mystery being so easy to solve. But even so, I still really enjoyed this one and will be looking for more books from this series.

Other books in this series:
1. The Awakening
2. Wild Rain
3. Burning Wild
4. Wild Fire
5. Savage Nature
6. Leopard's Prey

Review: Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning (Fever #4)

Publisher - Gollancz
Publication Date - 8th December 2001
Genre - Urban Fantasy

Source - Purchased

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - When the walls between Man and Fae come crashing down, freeing the insatiable, immortal Unseelie from their icy prison, MacKayla Lane is caught in a deadly trap. Captured by the Fae Lord Master, she is left with no memory of who or what she is. Clawing her way back from oblivion is only the first step Mac must take down a perilous path, from the battle-filled streets of Dublin to the treacherous politics of an ancient, secret sect, through the tangled lies of men who claim to be her allies into the illusory world of the Fae themselves, where nothing is as it seems - and Mac is forced to face a soul-shattering truth.

My Thoughts - For those of you who've read my reviews of the previous books in this series, you'll know that I have had mixed feelings about it. I loved the first book and felt it was a very promising start to the series, whereas books two and three felt more like fillers. At the start of Dreamfever, I could feel my excitement for the series start to build again. Finally, Mac seemed to be back on her quest for the Sinsar Dubh, whilst battling against all kinds of fae and forming alliances with the people around her in the lead up to what promises to be an amazing showdown. However about three quarters of the way through, the author seemed to lose her way again and I had trouble understanding why the last quarter of the book was even there. Again, it felt purely like something to fill the pages, drawing out the inevitable into more books than this series really needed to be. But, at least most of the book did push the storyline along towards its conclusion, which is an improvement on books two and three.

Again, there are a huge array of supporting characters and I love how none of them seem to be purely good or purely bad. They all have their own agenda and Mac has to really work hard to find out who is on her side and who is working against her. Of course, my favourite out of all the characters is Barrons. The reader still doesn't know much at all about him and this just increases his appeal for me. The hope that I might find out just a little something about him is what has kept me reading this series despite my reservations about it. V'lane, another of my favourite characters, isn't in this book quite so much so I found that slightly disappointing, but I'm sure he'll be back in full force in the final installment in the series.

One of the issues I had with previous books in the series was the author using Mac to constantly make reference to things that happen in the future. I'm sure it was to provide a feeling of suspense, but to me it just made the narrative jerky and kept on distracting me from the things that were happening. But luckily, that doesn't seem to happen all that much in Dreamfever. I'm guessing that's because as we get nearer the end of the series there's not quite so much to talk about.

The one thing that I am liking more and more as the series progresses is Mac, the main character. She starts off in book one as being shallow and selfish and I am enjoying watching her grow as a character. Now she is strong, feisty, always putting the safety of others before her own, and is about to embark on a major showdown between good and evil and, although she's not exactly overjoyed at her role in it all, she knows it is her destiny to fight this battle and she's not going to back down. I love the new edgy and kick-ass Mac.

Summary - Although I do have some reservations about this fourth installment in the Fever series, I did enjoy it a lot more than the previous two books. And I know that after the cliffhanger at the end of Dreamfever I will most definitely be picking up Shadowfever very soon. I am very much looking forward to finding out how this series will end.

Other books in this series:
1. Darkfever
2. Bloodfever
3. Faefever
4. Dreamfever
5. Shadowfever

Review: Just One Night by Eve Gaddy (Rebels With A Cause #1)

Publisher - Bell Bridge Books
Publication Date - 29th August 2012
Genre - Romantic Suspense

Source - Received from publisher for review via NetGalley

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - They spent one passionate night together, a night neither could forget . . .

But it isn’t until Bomb Unit Detective Alexandra “Alex” Sheridan is assigned to investigate architect Luke Morgan about the bombing of his new building that Alex is forced to face the man–and feelings–she’d run from earlier. Drawn to the charismatic man who'd soothed her grief with their shared passion, she finds herself wanting more from him.

As the case progresses, however, she questions his innocence and his feelings for her. Can she trust him, ignoring his past and the evidence pointing to his guilt? Or will she have to be satisfied with just one night?

My Thoughts - I really liked the sound of Just One Night when I found it on NetGalley, so I was thrilled when my request to review it was accepted. But, although it was an enjoyable romantic suspense, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I thought I was going to.

First of all, the good points. I enjoyed the mystery elements of the plot and found that there were some good twists in the storyline that I wasn't expecting. And the pacing of the book was good, with a good balance between romance and action that really helped to hold my interest.

I liked Alex a lot as a character. She is good at her job,strong, loyal and willing to put her neck (and her job) on the line for the man she has fallen in love with. But there is also a more vulnerable side to her that comes through when she talks about a partner of hers who died on the job, and she still feels a lot of guilt over her death.

However, where this book fell a little short for me was with the hero, Luke. He held so much potential - a strong, sexy ex-military man, the kind of man every woman swoons over. But he just seemed so inconsistent in his feelings towards both Alex and the investigation into the bombing of his building, that I had trouble liking him as much as I wanted to. Don't get me wrong, he's very charming and sexy at times. But at others I found him to be incredibly frustrating. He admits to himself that he is falling in love with Alex, and then in the next sentence admits he would seduce her to clear his name in the bombing, which I don't see as a very attractive trait in a man. Plus, he withholds a lot of information from Alex about his past - information that is very important to the investigation - and this made it obvious he really had trouble trusting Alex, even though she is doing everything she can to clear his name. Luckily, he does pull through in the end and do the right thing, so he's not all bad. I just wish I had been able to connect with him as a character much sooner in the story.

Summary - A strong romantic suspense plot, with a likeable heroine. The book was just let down in some places by an inconsistent hero. But this is definitely worth a read if you are a fan of the genre.

Review: Heat of the Moment by Elle Kennedy (Out of Uniform #1)

Publisher - Samhain Publishing
Publication Date - 17th June 2008
Genre - Erotic Romance

Source - Purchased

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - Shelby Harper has lusted over Navy SEAL John Garrett for over a year, but no matter how many sexy signals she sends out, the man shows a complete lack of interest in getting naked. Then she overhears Garrett talking to his SEAL teammate - a discussion in which they conclude she's vanilla. Stung, Shelby sets out to show them exactly how un-vanilla she is.

Garrett can't believe it when sweet, sexy Shelby suggests a wild and sweaty menage. He's been trying to figure out how to ask her out without coming off as a guy who only wants to get in her pants - her friendship is too valuable to him to risk it. But if a crazy, heat-wave three-way is what Shelby wants, then he's ready and willing to give it to her.

Once she gets it out of her system, however...well, then he'll let her know he wants her all to himself.

Warning: This title contains two dangerously hot Navy SEALS and a heroine determined to get it on with both of them. Be prepared to take a cold shower (or maybe two) after reading this heat-wave menage.

My Thoughts - So I've been hearing a lot of very good things about Elle Kennedy's Out of Uniform series recently, due to the recent release of book seven, Feeling Hot.  I decided that after seeing so many good reviews for Feeling Hot I just had to give the series a try for myself.

I enjoyed this short story a lot, although it was very short and was therefore lacking some background for the hero and heroine. I loved the fact that Garrett and Shelby have been lusting after each other for a year, each without realising the other person felt the same. However, I would have liked to have seen this in play a little bit more to really get a better picture of the dynamics between the two main characters. But I can understand why that is so difficult to achieve in so few pages.

The action between Shelby, Garrett and his best friend Carson kicks off pretty quickly and it was hot. I have to admit to accidentally reading book two in the series first, which is Carson's book, so I was already a little bit in love with him when I started reading Heat of the Moment. But, although the threesome makes for some steamy reading, I couldn't help but feel it was added just for that reason and had no real purpose in furthering the relationship between Shelby and Garrett. I think I would have liked the story to be a bit longer so that more focus could have been placed on them as a couple once Carson had left.

Summary - Overall, Heat of the Moment is a quick fun read that will leave you feeling hot under the collar. However, due to the short length of the story, it does feel a little bit light on the details. But I enjoyed it and will most definitely be continuing with the series.

Other books in the series:
1. Heat of the Moment
2. Heat of Passion
3. Heat of the Storm
4. Heat it Up
5. Heat of the Night
6. The Heat is On
7. Feeling Hot
8. Getting Hotter (released November)

Review: Messenger's Angel by Heather Killough-Walden (Lost Angels #2)

Publisher - Headline
Publication Date - 21st June 2012
Paperback - 416 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - Juliette Anderson has recently begun to fear for her sanity as inexplicable, and apparently supernatural, powers take hold of her life. Offered the opportunity to work in a beautiful country which has always fascinated her, she accepts, desperate for escape.

Gabriel, the Messenger Archangel, has always called Scotland his true home. Nevertheless, he is stunned when his archess suddenly appears, after centuries of searching, in the land closest to his heart.

Juliette's encounter with the gorgeous silver-eyed stranger changes their worlds forever. But even as they find each other, enemies - old and new - surround them. With danger closing in, they will have one chance to fulfil a destiny written for them in the stars...

My Thoughts - After reading the first book in the series, Avenger's Angel, and absolutely loving it I was very excited to start reading this book. However, although I did enjoy it a lot, it didn't really meet my expectations after such an amazing start to the series.

I loved the main characters, Juliette and Gabriel, and the chemistry between the two of them was off the charts whenever they were together. The interactions between the two of them went from sizzling hot to tender and loving and I just couldn't get enough of this couple. However, they seem to spend quite a bit of time apart as they fight their enemies and I would definitely have liked to have seen more of this couple working together.

Of course, Gabriel's sexy Archangel 'brothers' are around to lend a hand, as well as the archess, Eleanore, from Avenger's Angel. They create a great background cast to support Gabriel and Juliette. Plus the Adarians, a group of bad Archangels who are after Juliette, play a big role too and provide a lot of suspense in the book.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the way that the setting plays such a major role in the story. Scotland is the place that Gabriel has considered his home all his life and is obviously very important to him. The descriptions of Scotland were written beautifully and because of this book alone it is now on my list of places I want to see before I die.

There is a lot of action in Messenger's Angel, making it fast-paced and pretty impossible to put down. However, I would say that for a paranormal romance, the balance between the romance and the action felt just a bit too heavy on the action side. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the development of the romance, even if it meant making the book longer than it already was.

And at the end of the book the reader discovers that the next story to be told is Azrael's, the Angel of Death. He is a character that has intrigued me from the start so I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the release of Death's Angel at the end of the year!

Summary - A hot and sexy paranormal romance, that will leave you wanting more of Gabriel and Juliette.

Other books in the series:
1. Avenger's Angel
2. Messenger's Angel
3. Death's Angel (released December 2012)

Review: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk (Allie Beckstrom #1)

Publisher - Berkley UK
Publication Date - 13th October 2011
Paperback - 384 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy

Source - Purchased

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it.

Reviewed by - Ally

Book Info - "Using magic, meant it used you back. Forget the fairytale hocus pocus, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex, and drugs, gave as good as it got"

Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user, maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allie Beckstrom is the best there is.

Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic...

My Thoughts - I’m torn, this book on the one hand was awesome it had industrial espionage! Not quite assassins but close enough…right? New to me Devon Monk builds a gritty world where everything has a cost, more specifically magic. With lost memories, magical sex, murder, a damn hot mysterious hunk of a man and a cute little kitty this book is bursting at the seams with action.

I really liked the characters in the book, Nola is awesome. The story itself was well paced and kept me on my toes. There were some points where there was a lump in my throat I couldn’t swallow, the story has some pretty intense child abuse …. I don’t know how to explain it really but it made me tear up the way ….*swallows* Every few chapters there would be alternate point of view from Cody a little kid who was once an adult but no longer remembers and when he’s manipulated and abused he refers to the “older smarter part of himself” telling him he was doing it wrong it all seemed very NSPCC to me, protect a child, save a life *30 second ad in black and white, kid curled in a corner*. Very sad. BE WARNED.

This book had a lot going on and it seemed that Monk has a very bright future ahead for Allie (almost like my name Ally, she even reminded me of me!).

What I really disliked about this book was the memory losing thing as a magical side effect of using magic. The HEA (Happily ever after) part of me wanted her to be able to use her power as much as she wanted and the only side effect would be raining marshmallows, it really pained me to see her have to sacrifice so much and see her handle it so well (I must admit I’ve developed a little attachment to our head strong heroine).

*SPOILER ALERT* I also did not like the ending, at all. How can she not remember any of it, however I am very intrigued to see how Devon Monk works it out in the next book (though a can see myself being frustrated knowing something she doesn’t) The awesome hunk I might also add is forgotten, EVERYTHING you know that crazy intense magical sex part I mentioned earlier? YUP forgotten, which annoyed and frustrated me to no end, if you’ve ever watched the Vow and saw how it ended welcome to Magic to the Bone. I don’t care how cute it was!

For me the end made the book lose a lot of marks, as well as Allie’s stubbornness at the end, *grits teeth* I. Wanted. To.Kill.Her! Whether she was doing it by herself or not.

Summary - This book really, really was good I loved the characters, the plot was well written and paced and well it was funny and witty and not in that over the top (at times) trying too hard kind of way. I really liked it though the realness of it all was at times difficult to handle (can’t a girl have a happy ending?) The ending also lost a lot of points for me.

Other books in the series:
1. Magic to the Bone
2. Magic in the Blood
3. Magic in the Shadows
4. Magic on the Storm
5. Magic at the Gate
6. Magic on the Hunt

Other reviews of this book:
Book Addicts / Book Chick City / Dear Author / SFF World

Review: Seizure by Kathy Reichs (Virals #2)

Publisher - Arrow (Young)
Publication Date - 5th January 2012
Paperback - 496 pages
Genre - Young Adult/Paranormal

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - Since their dangerous transformation, the Virals have been lying low. But now Loggerhead Island is at risk, and with it, their parents' jobs. The pack suddenly faces seperation, and the only thing that can save them from dealing with the fall-out from their new powers alone is money, and lots of it.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Tory Brennan, great-niece of famous forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan, thinks she's devised the perfect plan, so she rounds up her fellow Virals and persuades them that the only way they're going to get the money they need is if they find famous she-pirate Anne Bonney's legendary treasure. Rumour has it that she hid it in Charleston, but in over 200 years no one has been able to find it.

With the help of their new-found powers, and a nudge from modern technology, the Virals are on the right track. The problem is they're not the only ones looking and, as well as being followed, they discover that Anne Bonney booby-trapped the trail every step of the way, with dead bodies to prove it... One way or another, the path ahead is fraught with danger. And this time, their special powers may not be enough to save them.

Review - Now, those of you who read my review for Virals, the first book in the series, will know that I wasn't all that impressed. But I'm glad to say that I enjoyed Seizure a lot more! I didn't go into reading this book with the wrong impression, as I did with Virals, so I could focus more on the story instead of waiting for something that is never going to happen. As a result I instantly got pulled into the story and found it difficult to put down. With the mixture of action and suspense, I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen next. And Ms. Reich's style of writing is so easy to read, with great depictions of characters and places.

My favourite aspect of the story though is the interaction between Tory and her friends, who now call themselves the Virals. The banter between the four of them provides some light relief between all the action, which was great fun to read. I love how the book doesn't focus on romance - and with Tory being surrounded by three boys all the time it would be easy to fall into this trap. Although there have been hints that one of the friends has a slight thing for Tory the author is obviously taking this aspect of the storyline very slowly. I am actually pretty happy about this though as I think if Tory did start taking a romantic interest in one of her friends it would completely change the group dynamics - which would not be good at all.

The one thing that did spoil it for me a bit though was that they were searching for pirate treasure to save Loggerhead Island. It just seemed like quite an immature thing for such mature teenagers to do and reminded me of things I used to read in stories as a child. Although this is obviously a large part of the storyline I didn't find that it ruined by enjoyment of the book by much though. More like I would get swept up in the action and mystery and then every now and then I would remember what it was they were looking for and think - Pirate treasure? Really? And even with this I still enjoyed the book.

Summary - A great mystery, full of action and intrigue, with a group of incredibly likeable main characters. After not liking the start of the series, I now find myself looking forward to finding out what else is in store for the Virals.

Other books in this series:
1. Virals
2. Seizure

Other reviews of this book:
Ella Bella Reviews / Much Loved Books / Nayu's Reading Corner

This book counts towards the following challenges:
Book #7 for 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge