Blog Tour & Review: Vlad by Stacey Rourke

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History believes me to be a merciless savage. A terror upon the Earth known as The Impaler. Archaic lore whispers I am the first of the vampire lineage.

These claims … are all painted in bloody truth.

Now, while the world watches in fear, a war is brewing. Humans are targeting vampires in merciless attacks to force us back into the shadows.

They woke me to be their weapon.

They know not my loathing for my own kind.

Even I cannot say for certain whose side I’m on.

I have bowed before the alter of darkness rooted in the Nosferatu bloodline. Been forced to drink of its bitter sacrament. They refer to me as The Son of The Dragon, and I laugh. For I, alone, know that malevolent essence is one no man could ever tame.

★★★★

Amazon - Amazon UK

ebook

Full length novel

First Person

Yes! You have to have read book one, veiled, otherwise this one just wouldn't work. 

Omg, YES!

Yep.

I should have posted my review of Veiled before reviewing Vlad but, alas, due to illness I'm behind on everything so I'm jumping straight in!
However, trying to write about this book without spoiling it is really difficult so I'm keeping it simple!

This series is a kick ass Urban Fantasy series set in a world where vampires are out of the closet and originate from Vlad Tepes, aka Dracula.
And Vlad in this book is wonderful. He's sexy, likable and utterly compelling.
I mean, you cant truly be a vampire fan and not have a soft spot for good ol' Drac, right?!

The book weaves the history of Vlad with the present goings on in the world (a world where vampires are out of the closet and fighting for rights, a world full of hatred, bigotry and fear) and it made for a fast paced, suspenseful, dark and oh so addictive read that left me frustrated that I was too ill to read it faster!

If you follow the blog, you'll know that I am an epic romance junkie and I have to say that Vlad and Vinx are awesome but I wouldn't exactly say this is a romance... There's too much blood and gore for it to be considered a romance and it's a bit too, well, political. It's very much hardcore UF with a side dish of romance rather than an UF with romance running through it's core and for me that ,makes a difference: I like the core of romance. However, with this series I don't much care for I'm now hooked.
If you like suspense, vampires and - dare I say it? - some horror then there is a very good chance you'll love this series.
It's not fluffy, it can be hard reading, but it is very good and worth it.

Word of caution though! It ends in a cliffhanger that had me flickering between stunned disbelief and rage. RAGE people.

Oh, I like this cover. I like it a lot. It's... alluring.

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RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel

Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012

Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Crane 2015

Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, and the romantic comedy Reel Romance Series. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.

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Weekly Update #38

Welcome!

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. 

It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Now that's explained, it's on to my weekly recap!

I've been awol from the interwebs!
It's been a strange two weeks...
I got promoted at work - yeay! - but it meant that my workload pretty much doubled within days so with that and finishing off sorting the old house for handover, and planning a wedding, I was kept crazy busy with not a lot of time for fun things. Then, I fell ill with a vile lurgy of absolute evilness. It was miserable.
I was miserable. Everything hurt, even my freakin' eyeballs hurt!
I could afford a couple of days to wallow in my misery but then I had to get back out the door and back to sorting the house and back to work and a couple of days just wasn't enough to get over whatever virus has invaded me. It's been over a week and I still feel like I'm dying.
😭
Something had to give in order for me to semi-function the last couple of weeks and, sadly, it meant I barely got any reading done, I abandoned the blog and my NaNoWriMo project is dead. Seriously, the only time I spent on my laptop was when I ordered the weekly food shop online and that was so I didn't have to deal with people in the supermarket!

The keys to the old house get given back this week and - with luck! - the lurgy will pass so hopefully I'll get back to normal now...

This week I read nothing! 

I'm working my way through Veiled by Stacey Rourke, Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones, and One New York Christmas by Mandy Bagot but I've finished none of them.

Last week, I read:

Nothing.

The one thing about being ill, and not having the mental energy to read, is having the capacity to watch random movies in between trying to sleep off the lurgy!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've watched A Christmas Prince and The Princess Switch, Bad Moms and Outlaw King. 

Netflix rocks.

I've also identified about a dozen other Christmas/holiday themed movies on the 'flix to get watching as well as Forever My Girl which I believe is based on the Heidi McLaughlin book...?

Over the past two weeks...

Giveaway: The Black Friday Book Bonanza 

Book Blogger Hop: Do You Take Notes About The Book You're Reading?

Review: It's a Wonderful Night by Jaimie Admans

Blog tour for Vlad by Stacey Rourke.

Have a great week all!

Book Blogger Hop: Do you take notes about the book you are reading as you read?

About The Meme

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer's permission, it was relaunched by The Coffee Addicted Writer on February 15, 2013.

Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end on Thursday. 

There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop's purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog. 

Do you take notes about the book you are reading as you read?

Nope!
I used to but it just got in the way of actually reading the book so I stopped.
I found it jarring and it was causing a disconnect between me and the book.
I know that I blog about books, and post reviews, but I'm not a professional reader.
I'm a recreational one who shares her thoughts.
I care more about the impression a book left on me and whether I was entertained than critically analyzing a text page by page...
I limit myself to just highlighting quotes as I read now and then writing a rough review once I'm finished which I'll spiff up a bit later before posting.

🌻

To view the linky list of this weeks Hop participants, please visit The Coffee Addicted Writer.

Review: It's a Wonderful Night by Jaimie Admans

One night will change their lives forever…

Georgia Bailey is closing up her little charity shop in Oakbarrow when she gets a mysterious late night call from a stranger, threatening to jump off the town’s bridge.

Something about the man’s voice is faintly familiar but all she can do is stay on the line and after talking for hours, losing sense of time passing, coax him back from the edge.

The next morning, Georgia walks to work, buys a festive latte from Leo (who she’s had a crush on for months!) at the local coffee shop, and is shocked when she suddenly recognizes the voice from last night…

A heartwarming festive love story that reminds us that even in the darkest of times, hope is always just around the corner!

*ebook received via Netgalley*

ebook

Full-length novel

First Person

Nope, it's a standalone.

Nope.

Yes.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

It's a Wonderful Night is a modern take on the movie It's a Wonderful Life... Or, I think it is. I haven't actually seen the movie (don't throw things at me!).
Georgia Bailey is named after the main character in the movie as her mother was obsessed with it.
Leo, Georgia's love interest, owns a coffee shop titled It's a Wonderful Latte thanks to his father's love of the movie.
See where this is going?

Like in the movie, one night, Georgia (who would be kinda in the role of movie Clarence) stops Leo (who would kinda be in the role of movie George) from jumping off a bridge in his lowest moment.
I don't know if that's where the similarities between the book and the movie end as, as I said, I've never seen the movie but it's constantly referred to throughout the novel and for fans of the movie I guess that would be a plus but for me, it was a bit, well, irrelevant. And slightly annoying... Like I was constantly missing the point or something.

The book is a little bit different from your usual fluffy Christmas fare as literally having to talk someone down off a bridge is not exactly light reading material. However, despite the heavier circumstances, the book still manages to be delightfully festive as Georgia sets out on her mission to save both Leo and the local high street with the help of Leo, whether he wants to help or not.
There's festive coffee flavours, talks of holiday shopping, window decorating, town decorations, Christmas light switch on ceremonies, hot chocolate, and Christmas tunes.
It was delightfully British with all the chatter about Woolworths and various Christmas traditions, and quirks, that anyone born and raised in old Blighty would relate to and it made me smile as did the collection of wonderful secondary characters.

It would have been an easy 4 star but... I had an issue with Georgia and Leo which made me flip back and forth between 3 stars and 4 like a yo-yo.

The relationship between Georgia and Leo was sweet, it was intense and it felt like they were made for each other. All good things, right? I was rooting for them, I was but... Georgia was lying to him. This sweet, vulnerable guy had no clue that Georgia was the guardian angel who talked him off that bridge and he didn't know because she lied. I understood why she initially concealed who she was and I understood why as time went on she felt like she couldn't come clean but the charade - no matter how well-meaning - grew tiresome quickly as did the escapades required to maintain it.
I hated the deception and wished that it was resolved much much earlier in the story and because it wasn't, my enjoyment was tainted with annoyance that I couldn't squash no matter how much I wanted to.

All in all, I ultimately enjoyed the book.
The festive elements worked for me and - ignoring the deception thing - Leo and Georgia were a wonderful couple.
It won't become a festive favourite but I'm glad I took a chance and read this and if there are any more books set in this fictional town with this motley assortment of characters you can count me in!

Oh, I love the cover. It's sweet, romantic and beautifully festive.