Any bloggers/authors want to take part in my new feature???

Hi everybody!

I have decided to start off a new weekly feature on my blog called 'A Perfect Ten' from the beginning of November and I am looking for any authors/bloggers who would like to take part.

All you would need to do is make a list of your top ten favourite series of all time and write a sentence or two about why you love each series so much!

I think this will be a great way to get to know about each others favourite reads, as well as hopefully finding out about some new series that we can add to our ever-growing TBR piles.

If you are an author or blogger who would like to take part then please e-mail me at onceuponaseries@live.co.uk

UPDATE: Yesterday I received an email from a blogger who thought that she would have difficulty coming up with 10 series, so she asked if she could do a guest post/review about one favourite series instead. I am more than happy for people to do this if that is what they would prefer, so please don't be put off if you too think that 10 is too many. Please just send me a quick email and we can work out something else :)

Review: Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead (Georgina Kincaid #3)

Publisher - Bantam Books
Publication Date - 4th December 2008
Paperback - 448 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy

Source - Library

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it

Book Info - Some days, a girl just can’t catch a break… especially when the girl in question is Georgina Kincaid, a shape-shifting succubus who gets her energy from seducing men.

First there’s her relationship with gorgeous bestselling writer Seth Mortensen, which is unsatisfying on a number of levels. It’s not just that they can’t have sex in case Georgina inadvertently kills him (generally a turn-off for most guys). Lately, even spending time together is a challenge. Seth’s obsessed with finishing his latest novel, and Georgina’s under demonic orders to mentor the new (and surprisingly inept) succubus on the block.

Then there are the dreams. Someone, or something, is preying on Georgina at night, draining her energy, and supplying eerie visions of her future. Georgina seeks answers from Dante, a dream interpreter with ties to the underworld, but his flirtatious charm only leaves her more confused – especially as the situation with Seth reaches crisis point. Now Georgina faces a double challenge – rein in her out-of-control love life, and go toe-to-toe with an enemy capable of wreaking serious havoc among mankind. Otherwise, Georgina, and the entire mortal world, may never sleep easy again…

My Thoughts - There are lots of different things going on in the third installment of the Georgina Kincaid series. First of all there are the many complications that keep popping up between Seth and Georgina. It is obviously becoming harder for them to stay together as a couple, and although the no-sex rule between them is taking its toll, other more serious issues are coming to the forefront, such as the inability to communicate with or trust each other. Things become increasingly difficult for them when Seth has a near death experience and his outlook on life changes dramatically.

Also, there is a new succubus in town. Tawny is surprisingly inept at seducing men, and as her mentor it is Georgina’s job to try to help her. But things are made worse for Georgina as Niphon, the imp who bought Georgina’s soul, will be staying around until Tawny takes her first victim. Niphon seems to hate Georgina and he does anything he can to make her miserable.

And, last but not least, there are the dreams that she has been having every time that she gets an energy fix from a victim. Georgina experiences a very vivid dream and then wakes up the next morning to find that most of her energy has gone. With her boss, Jerome, away on business Georgina turns to her mortal friend Erik (who made an appearance in Succubus Blues) and an acquaintance of his called Dante to try to work out what is happening to her.

There is a melancholy overtone throughout Succubus Dreams that hasn’t been present in the other books in this series. What with the problems between her and Seth, her memories of past hurts and her longing for a child, we see a very different side to Georgina in this book. It makes the reader really feel for Georgina, as although everybody experiences pain at some point in their lives nobody else has to live with that pain and guilt for all of eternity the way she does. But I love Georgina and I really do hope that she finds some happiness in future books.

Summary - I really enjoyed reading Succubus Dreams and Richelle Mead is fast becoming my favourite author. She has raised many issues that will stay with me, whilst managing to write a brilliant mystery that kept me enthralled in the storyline. I have only just finished this book but I am starting Succubus Heat straight away as I can’t wait to find out what else is in store for Georgina.

Other books in the series:
1. Succubus Blues
2. Succubus Nights
3. Succubus Dreams
4. Succubus Heat
5. Succubus Shadows
6. Succubus Revealed

Other reviews of this book:
Belle Books / Feeling Fictional
(If you would like your review of Succubus Dreams included here, please leave a link to your review in the comments and I will be sure to add it)

Follow Friday #5

Hi all and welcome to Follow Friday!

This is a great feature hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read and I am very excited to be taking part today.

Every week participants have to answer a question so that we can all get to know each other a little better. This week's question is:

If you could have characters from a particular book meet and form an epic storyline with characters from a particular TV series, which would you choose and why?

I'm afraid that I'm going to have to say on this one that I really don't know. I don't really watch any tv series so this is a difficult one for me to answer! But I'm looking forward to hopping through some other blogs to see what you guys all think :)

Don't be shy. Let me know if you've found me through Follow Friday today and I'll come and return the favour :)

Review: Bad Moon by Todd Ritter (Kat Campbell #2)

Publisher - Minotaur Books
Publication Date - October 2011
Hardback - 368 pages
Genre - Mystery

Source - Received from Kaye Publicity for review

Rating - 2 out of 5: It was ok

Book Info - On the same night that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, nine-year-old Charlie Olmstead jumped on his bike to see if he could get a better look. It was the last anyone ever saw of him. After Perry Hollow Police Chief Jim Campbell found Charlie's bike caught up above a waterfall, he assumed the worse, and so did everyone else except Charlie's mother.

Years later, Eric Olmstead - and famous author and Charlie's brother - has come back to bury his mother and fulfill her last request: Find his brother. To do so he goes to the current police chief and his former sweetheart Kat Campbell, and it isn't long before they discover that finding Charlie was his mother's secret obsession, and while she never found him she uncovered clues suggesting that he wasn't the only victim.

"Bad Moon", Todd Ritter's excellent follow-up to his acclaimed debut, tells the haunting story of a small town that found lies easier to believe than the truth.

Review - I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Death Notice, so when I was offered a review copy of Bad Moon I jumped at the chance. However, I was slightly disappointed by my second trip into the world of police chief Kat Campbell.

In Bad Moon the author is able to give an amazing insight into how a small town community works and, once again, the characters are all well written. In Perry Hollow, everybody knows everybody else and I loved reading about this connection between all of the characters. Having grown up in a big town where I don't even know my neighbour's name it was refreshing to read about what it is like to live in a completely different type of community.

My main problem with Bad Moon was the pacing. Most of the novel moves along at a very slow pace that just did not make me feel compelled to carry on reading. In fact, at times it felt like quite hard work to carry on making my way through the pages. They are trying to solve a mystery that happened 40 years ago so I didn't feel the drive that was present in the previous book, where Kat and Nick had to find the murderer before he took another victim. It is mentioned a few times that they must try and solve the mystery before the Russians land on the moon otherwise another boy may be taken, but this still didn't bring any sense of urgency to the story.

However, the author really picks up the pace in the last one hundred pages and it became much more like the first book in the series. There are some great twists in the storyline that I didn't see coming and I couldn't put the book down until I had finished reading. I just wish that the whole of the novel could have been written in this same style.

Summary - A mystery that has some very promising elements, but that is let down by the slow pacing. If you have never read anything by this author before then I would recommend that you start with Death Notice, which I enjoyed a lot more than Bad Moon.

Other books in the series:
1. Death Notice
2. Bad Moon

Other reviews of this book: Whilst browsing the internet for other reviews it became immediately apparent that I am the only one who feels this way so please be sure to check out these other, more positive, reviews :)
Genre Go Round Reviews / Jenn's Bookshelves / Lesa's Book Critiques
(If you would like your review of Bad Moon included here, please leave a link in the comments and I will be sure to add it.)

Waiting on Wednesday: Clockwork Prince

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week my "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Still reeling from her terrifying confrontation with the Magister and her brother’s betrayal, Tessa Gray is drawn ever deeper into the Shadowhunter’s dark underworld of demons and danger. In a desperate attempt to help her friends, Tessa tries to uncover the truth about the Magister and learns that he blames the Shadowhunters for the murder of his parents nearly a half century ago. But who were his parents, and why did the Shadowhunters kill them? Determined to unravel the secrets of his past, Tessa, Will and Jem journey to mist-shrouded Yorkshire, only to encounter corrupt Shadowhunters more intent on burying the past than finding the Magister – a past that holds the key not only to the enemy's motivations and weakness, but to the secret of what Tessa really is and what she was born to do. Meanwhile, Tessa’s feelings for Jem and Will are growing more complicated, and soon she is forced to acknowledge that any choice she makes will either save the Shadowhunters of London – or end them for ever.