Dewey's #readathon Progress Hours 9-12

Hour 9 (7am - 8 am AEST)

Read: Reunion Pass (Eternity Springs #11) by Emily March
Pages read: 44 (up to page 202)
Time spent reading:24 minutes
Snacks eaten: Breakfast - Coco pops and coffee
Breaks/Activities: slept until 7.25 then made breakfast
Posted to instagram and twitter:

Comments : Awake and refreshed and ready to start again.  I was actually getting back on to the groove when my alarm sounded to check in.  next time maybe I will ignore it an keep reading :-P Now back to it :-)

Hour 10 (8 am - 9 am AEST)

Read: Reunion Pass (Eternity Springs #11) by Emily March
Pages read: 32 (page 234)
Time spent reading:21 minutes
Snacks eaten: none
Breaks/Activities: Spent 15 mins on Social media and 15 minutes setting up goodreads Hour 11 Discussion post
Posted on instagram:

Comments about the hour: not a huge amount of reading done this hour but the book is getting more interesting and I have even laughed out loud a couple of times. I have also become more invested in the characters now so I am looking forward to seeing how it all works out.  I am moderating the Goodreads group for Hours 11 and 12 so not sure how much reading will be done.

Hour 11 (9am - 10am AEST) 

Read: Reunion Pass (Eternity Springs #11) by Emily March
Pages read: 8 (page 242)
Time spent reading: 7 minutes
Snacks eaten: none
Breaks/Activities: 40 mins on social media 10 minutes setting up goodreads Hour 12 Discussion post
Comments about the hour: I fell down a social media rabbit hole during this hour and got a whole 7 minutes of reading done in the end.  I think I may be on too many social platforms LOL!  I am debating maybe checking only one or two of them each hour so I can spend more time reading.  Also think about going for a walk for an hour what my during hors 13 or 14 to listen to an audio book and enjoy the sunshine as its a beautiful day here :-)

Hour 12 (10am - 11am AEST)

Read: Reunion Pass (Eternity Springs #11) by Emily March
Pages read: 74 - Finished the Book
Time spent reading: 38 minutes
Snacks eaten: Nacho cheese shapes
Breaks/Activities: Posted Hour 12 Discussion post , read through a few threads and commented on some
Comments about the hour: Went about 5 minutes over the hour as I finished up book.  Now to decide whether start on Beautiful Burn or The Fill-in Boyfriend

Dewey's #Readathon Progress Hours 1 - 4

Hour 1 (11pm - 12 am AEST)

Started with: Reunion Pass (Eternity Springs #11) by Emily March

Pages read: 104
Time spent reading: 59 minutes
Snacks eaten:chocolate bullets and a handful of shapes
Comments about the hour: The books not the most exciting thing i have ever read.  I am not quite bored but i was kinda glad when the time saying the first hour was up and I could spend 5 or so minutes on social media.  100 in to a 300 page book and we are still in set up. At least I am reading through it fairly quickly and haven't fallen asleep though dead tired :-P

Hour 2 (12am - 1am AEST)

Read: Reunion Pass (Eternity Springs #11) by Emily March
Pages read:54
Time spent reading:32 minutes
Snacks eaten: none
Comments about the hour: called it a night about 12.42 as my eyes started to close by themselves.  Will finish this book in the morning.

Hour 3 (1 am - 2 am AEST) & Hour 4 (2am - 3 am AEST)

No reading and much sleeping like a log done :-)

Dewey's 24 Hour #Readathon Hour Zero: Opening meme

Less than an hour to go till the Readathon starts so I will just tell you a little about myself and my plans for today as I answer the opening meme: 

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I am reading from Sydney Australia so its actually quite late at night here.  For us the readathon starts at 11 pm so my main goal when i start is to try to finish at least one book before I need to grab some sleep. Then once I wake up its plan sailing :-)

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I think i am most looking forward to The Fill-In Boyfriend  It looks like it will be a fun read.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I am already salivating about the chocolate bullets.  I am pretty sure they will be my first snack and will probably be open the same time i opne to page one of my first book :-P

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am a book blogger who also works full time and is the mother of a gorgeous 4 year old girl.  I read a mixture of YA and adult paranormal romance/urban Fantasy/High fantasy type reads depending on my mood and what i am reviewing.  I am a member of goodreads and love participating in team book challenges and am currently participating in Wobble on Nothing but Reading Challenges and in the Goodreads Olympic Games

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

This is my third readathon and what I have done differently for this readathon is organised for my four year old to have a sleepover with Nana so I can just read. I am hoping in the next few years to get her involved but for now,its a lot more fun for her and more productive for me to send her to nana for a sleepover.  We also had a house inspection today which means all the housework for the weekend is already done so i don't have too much in the way to do tomorrow other than read.

Happy Reading everyone!

Dewey's 24 Hour #Readathon Oct 2016

In a few hours time, I will starting to participate in what I think is my third Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and this time, despite the really late I signed up post ;-P, I am prepared with a capital"P".

Due to a house inspection earlier today, all the housework for the weekend has been DONE!  My four year old is enjoying a sleepover at Nana's house so I will be child free.  This leaves the rest of my weekend wide open to do nothing but READ! :-)

Now one of the most important parts of the readathon comes before it even begins and that is putting together your Readathon TBR pile.  I started preparing mine about a week ago with a goodreads shelf

Nikk's Readathon TBR Shelf

Then I started pulling the physical books out.  I may have gotten a just a little enthusiastic :-P

Finally narrowed it down to starting with these below and then can pick from my above image depending on my mood.

Again this is always subject to change.


The next thing to consider is The reading space.  I love my reading space.  It gets great sunlight during the day and I have a nice light in the evenings.  Its comfy.  I can spread out, and its right next to the book shelf for when I am ready to move on to my next book :-)

Next is reading materials.  I visited the library earlier today for a last minute browse for anything worthy of adding to the TBR pile.  3 of those books made it to the very top!

Even more exciting was the new purchase I made just a couple of hours ago.  My previous kindle paperwhite was stolen a few months back so I finally purchased a new one this afternoon.  It's charging and i have already loaded it up in preparation :-)

The last important thing to organise is snacks.  The right snacks make you read faster!  It's true, I promise! :-P

These are my pre-readathon preparations, I am ready to go as soon as we hit the start. Are you reading this readathon? What books are on your TBR pile? As do you have any pre-readathon rituals or things you like to do in preparation?

Comment below and let me know.

I will be updating on this blog every few hours to update my progress as well as on instagram so keep popping back to see how I go.

Happy Readathon everyone!  May you have a great 24 hours of reading!

It's my birthday and I'll have a giveaway if I want to

So today is my birthday!  Happy Birthday to me!

And to celebrate I am giving you the chance to win $25AUD worth of books from Book Depository or Booktopia for the Aussies.

Just enter via the rafflecopter form below for your chance to win

Giveaway Rules:

·         Giveaway is open to anyone that Book Depository delivers to (if you are a resident of Australia you may choose from Booktopia instead)

·         You must be over 13 to enter

·         If you are under 18, you must have parent or guardian permission to supply a delivery address if you win

·         You must love books!

Go Forth and Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser Tuesday #4: Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Morning

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read is Dreamfever (Fever #4)  by Karen Marie Moning and my three lines are from page 5

"Ah, Mac," he says, and his laughter is as dark and cold as the place of which I dream, "one day you will wonder if it's possible to hate me more." 

Dreamfever (Fever#4) by Karen Marie Moning

They may have stolen my past, but I’ll never let them take my future. 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: the only sidhe-seer alive who can track the Sinsar Dubh, a book of arcane black magic that holds the key to controlling both worlds. 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. Who do you trust when you can’t even trust yourself? …

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon | Galaxy Bookshop

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Review: Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold #1) by Kim Wilkins

Title: Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold #1)

Author: Kim Wilkins

Published: 1st November 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Mira
Source: Harlequin Mira via Netgalley in return for an honest review
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: *****

 My Review:

I first discovered author Kim Wilkins books after listening to her speak in a panel at a local writing festival in 2004.  At the time I then systematically went through and read all of her books to that date loving all of them and knowing this was an author I would also want to read more of.

Whilst it has been taken me a long while to finally pick up this book, having now finished it I don't know why I waited so long because I think I enjoyed this one more than all the others combined.

This is the perfect start to what looks to be an enthralling and exciting new series up there Game of thrones or Throne of Glass. Bluebell is heir to the throne, warrior and soldier for her Kingdom and her family. Everything she does and every decision she makes is for her Kingdom, her father or her four sisters.  When her father is taken sick by magic, Bluebell is determined to do whatever it takes to save him, no matter the cost.

From the moment I started this book, I literally could not put it down, the writing flows and threads are weaved beautifully to give a seamless, compelling read.  Even when you could see where some of the threads might lead, you could not help but be glued to the pages following every word and line.

Ms Wilkins world building is incredible and her characters captivating.  The story is told from the point of view of the five sisters and Wylm their step brother.  Each sister ( and their step brother) has their own path to follow in the story and each of these path's both kept me riveted whilst moving the story along.

Ms Wilkins writing really helped me connect with all the characters and get into their head and see their points of view.  Whether I agreed with the view or not, it really added to my reading experience each character is so well created that you cannot help but invest yourself in each and every thread.

As the first book in the series, where series set up is so important, the story of this book by itself is also extremely strong and in itself sets the pieces in play for what is to come.

I very much enjoyed this read and am truly excited about picking up book 2 and continuing this series.

One of the best first book in a series I have read in a long time and I give this book 5 stars!

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book

Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold #1) by Kim Wilkins

Lying in a magic-induced coma, the King of Thyrsland is on the brink of death: if his enemies knew, chaos would reign. In fear for his life and his kingdom, his five daughters set out on a perilous journey to try to save him, their only hope an aunt they have yet to meet, a shadowy practitioner of undermagic who lives on the wild northern borders. No-one can stand before the fierce tattooed soldier and eldest daughter Bluebell, an army commander who is rumoured to be unkillable, but her sisters, the loyal and mystical Ash, beautiful but unhappily married Rose, pious Willow and uncertain Ivy all have their own secrets to keep from her — the kind of secrets that if revealed could bring disaster down upon not only them, but the entire kingdom. Waiting in the wings is stepbrother Wylm whose dealings with Bluebell's greatest enemy, Hakon the Raven King, would end Bluebell's dreams of revenge on his mother and propel his own desperate grasp for power.

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon | Harlequin Australia

Stacking The Shelves #3 #stackingtheshelves

Welcome to Stacking The Shelves! Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga Reviews and is a meme to share those books, both print and e-book, that have been added to your shelves in the last week/s.

Its been another good week for books with some quality titles arriving on my doorstep this week.  I haven't done as much reading as I would have hoped due to being back at work after having nearly 3 weeks off with a virus that just won't leave and literally no voice at all so I was cutting short my reading time due to falling asleep no matter how good the book.

Looking forward to getting back on track with my review reading this week.

Purchased - Print Books

Another good book mail week with a much awaited pre-order coming in along with the next two instalments of a series I am reading at the moment. I received book 3 at the beginning of the week, read it and immediately knew I needed to purchase and read book 4 as soon as humanly possibly.  All I can say is Holy Cliffhangers Batman!  Extremely excited about betrayals also as kelley Armstrong has always been one of my favourite authors and so I have been waiting for this release for a while :-)

Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning  Purchased Booktopia
Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning  Purchased Galaxy Bookshop

Betrayals (Cainsville #4( by Kelley Armstrong  Purchased Booktopia

 

 

Borrowed - Library

Just the one book from the library this week.  I have so many review reads coming up that I had to curb my wish to borrow more books ...at least for this week ;-P

Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

So what did you add to your shelves this week?

Tuesday Teaser #3 : Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read is Faefever (Fever#3)  by Karen Marie Moning and my three lines are from page 5

Don't settle in your chair and relax. It's not just my world that's in trouble; it's your world, too. It's happening, right now, while you're sitting there, munching a snack, getting ready to immerse yourself in a fictional escape.

Faefever (Fever#3) by Karen Marie Moning

The New York Times bestselling author of Darkfever and Bloodfever returns to Dublin’s Fae-infested shores in a bold, sensual new novel. Hurtling us into a realm of seduction and shadows, Karen Marie Moning tells the enthralling tale of a woman who explores the limits of her mysterious powers as she enters a world of ancient sorcery—and confronts an enemy more insidious than she could ever have imagined. He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too. When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it. Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul. As All Hallows’ Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds—with devastating consequences.…

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon | Galaxy Bookshop

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Title: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Published: 2nd August 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Source: Booktopia
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: *****

 My Review:

In the last couple of years Colleen Hoover has become something of an autobuy author for me as I I don't think there is anything she has written that i haven't loved or at least liked a whole lot.  So I had this book on pre-order a good month before its release date and when it finally I arrived on my doorstep on Thursday, I had no choice but to drop everything and read.

I could not put this book down.  From the first page I was immediately drawn to both Lily and Ryle and eager to see how the story would play out.  When ever i put the book down, these characters would still linger in my mind so that I was always eager to come back to their story and as hints of what was to come began to surface, I really didn't want it to be true because I was so emotionally invested in these characters and the story.

I loved Lily.She was such a strong character with so much drive and direction and ambition and throughout the story that really shone through.  I immediately connected with her and become invested in her story and her life and could have continued to happily read her story had this book gone on longer.

What I especially love about all of Colleen's characters is that they are all so human and have so much depth and substance.  This makes their story so much more genuine and real and really makes the reader fall in love with her characters.  Lily, Ryle, Atlas, even Alyssa and Marshall all become so real to me as I read this book.  I felt what they felt and anguished along with them as I waited t see how it would all turn out.

But what Ms Hoover does best is write stories that creep onto your soul and stay with you, leaving you contemplating the story and the characters long after you have finished the book.  This book is no different and already I am considering going back in for a re-read.

I adored this book and I have no hesitation in giving it five stars

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon | Galaxy Bookshop

Stacking the Shelves #2 #stackingtheshelves

Welcome to Stacking The Shelves! Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga Reviews and is a meme to share those books, both print and e-book, that have been added to your shelves in the last week/s.

Welcome to my first stacking the shelves on this blog : Sapphired Reads.  I started it to review more adult books than I usually feature on my more YA themed blog Realm of the Sapphired Dragon

In the last couple of weeks I have started a few new paranormal series so these are mostly what is featured in this week Stacking the shelves.  I also start a series reading and review challenge this week so these reviews will also appear here.

Have a great week!

Purchased - Print Books

It's been a good week for book mail this week with these two lovelies arriving this week.  I was especially excited for It Ends with Us because I had already heard good things and having finished reading it this afternoon, I believe they are all justified as I loved it.  See my review on the blog tomorrow!

Bloodfever (Fever #2) by Karen Marie Moning  Purchased Booktopia

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover  Purchased Booktopia

 

 

Borrowed - Library

I am getting a bit of an Aussie/ NZ vibe from my picks this week.  What do you think? :-P

The Blood in the beginning (Ava Sykes #1)

Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold #1)

The Lyre Thief (Hythrun Chronicles: War of the Gods #1)

Dark Serpent (Celestial Battle #1)

Angel of Storms (Millennium’s Rule #2)

So what did you add to your shelves this week?

Review: Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne

Title: Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles)

Author: Kevin Hearne

Published: 2011
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: Library
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: ****

 My Review:

I first got a copy of this book a couple of years ago.  I think I won it in a competition and at the time it didn't seem like my kind of read so I put it down.  Since then the people I know who have read the series have really enjoyed it so when i saw it at the library this week,  I figured now was a good time to give it a go.

 I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.  This was an extremely fun read and a lot lighter than I think i expected and it was this fact that I think really endeared the book to me.

With a strong storyline threaded with humour and lots happening through out, the pace worked well along with the quirky interesting characters. There were twists and turns which and you were never really sure who could be trusted and this kept me turning the pages till the end.

Filled with celtic mythology and as well as mentions of various other mythologies an cultures, this didn't get too bogged down in the information giving department. The information was given as needed without being too much of an info dump and perfectly placed to make to help make up the framework of the story.

I really liked main character Atticus as well as his dog Oberon and I loved the dialogue between them.  This author made all his characters seem interesting and there was not one that I wouldn't like to read more about.  The characters were an interesting mixture of a number of different mythologies but rather than being over the top, the laid back manner in which they were placed made it seem quite appropriate and made sense in the story.

This was a surprisingly good fun read and I am keen to keep reading in the series and see where it goes.  For this reason i am happy to give this book 4 stars

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book

Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona running an occult bookshop and shapeshifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbours and customers think this handsome, tattooed Irishman is about twenty-one years old when, actually, it's twenty-one centuries. Atticus draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants the sword, and he's been after Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down and Atticus will need all his powers - plus a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of lawyers, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good, old-fashioned Irish luck - to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon | Galaxy Bookshop

Teaser Tuesday #2 : Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by KevinHearne

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read is Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1)  by Kevin Hearne and my three lines are from page 16

The crow on the bust of Ganesha said nothing, but the eyes flashed red for a brief second, and that, I admit, made me a bit uncomfortable. She really wasn't my friend. One day--and it could be today--she would decide I'd lived far too long and grown far to cavalier, and that would be it for me.

Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona running an occult bookshop and shapeshifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbours and customers think this handsome, tattooed Irishman is about twenty-one years old when, actually, it's twenty-one centuries. Atticus draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants the sword, and he's been after Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down and Atticus will need all his powers - plus a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of lawyers, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good, old-fashioned Irish luck - to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon | Galaxy Bookshop

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Review: Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning #fever

Title: Darkfever (Fever #1)

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Published: 28 August 2007
Publisher: Dell
Source: Book Depository
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: ****

 My Review:

This book and indeed this series came highly recommended to me so I was excited to finally get a chance to sit down and read it.  Stories about the Fae are always either hit or miss with me, I either love it or I hate it. And this one I loved!

I liked the pace of the story and I flew through it pretty easily and I liked Ms Moning idea of the Fae being incredibly dangerous even the "light' ones and it had a very Buffy the vampire slayer feel at times "the one sidhe-seer in all the world" and all that with the main character being a young blonde who doesn't take life too seriously till everything changes with her sister's murder.

That being said, I did like the main character Mac, for all that she spent the book describing how shallow she had once been, she still has a lot of family loyalty and strength.  I am eager to find out more about the mysterious Jericho Barrons, and V'lane and the part the Seelie are playing in all this.

As far as first books in a series go, this was definitely the kind of book that makes you want to continue on with the series, want to find out more about Mac Sidhe-seer abilities, find out more about the fae and what they have planned for the human world and find out who killed Mac's sister.  Though given that in the prologue, Mac tells us she is a Sidhe-seer, I did then find it a little frustrating to have to spent the better part of the first half of the book having Mac slowly find out and then more slowly accept that Hey yeah she is sidhe-seer despite all the denial. That small foible and the distracting habit of the author to randomly have a future mac flash back on the scene ( ie I don't know what i was thinking that day or if i had known then the danger I faced...) were probably the only two real problems i had with the book and why i am not giving the story a 5 star rating.

That being said however  I am already planning to buy book two later this week as well as reserving at the library in case i don't get a chance to make it to the book shop :-)
I give this book a very solid 4 stars

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book

Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning

"My name is MacKayla, Mac for short. I'm a sidhe-seer, one who sees the Fae, a fact I accepted only recently and very reluctantly. My philosophy is pretty simple - any day nobody's trying to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven't had many good days lately. Not since the walls between Man and Fae came down. But then, there's not a sidhe-seer alive who's had a good day since then." When MacKayla's sister was murdered, she left a single clue to her death, a cryptic message on Mac's cel phone. Journeying to Ireland in search of answers, Mac is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to master a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae. As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho...while at the same time, the ruthless V'lane - an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women - closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: to find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book - because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control both worlds in their hands..

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Review: Goddess of Legend (Goddess Summoning #7) by P. C. Cast

Title: Goddess of Legend (Goddess Summoning #7)

Author: P. C. Cast

Published: 7 December 2010
Publisher: Hachette AU
Source: Dymocks
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: *** 1/2

 My Review:

I read the first 6 books of this series about 3 or 4 years ago and I remember really enjoying it. So I was really excited to read this, the seventh and last book in the series. I think though , I may have been remembering them better than they were because whilst I did still enjoy it, it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping.

The story flows well from beginning to end and I breezed through it pretty quickly and there is a lot of humour in this book, particularly in the dialogue and I found myself laughing out loud at times and there may have been a snort of laughter or 2 (though I am not admitting anything. I did find that some of jokes were a little bit on the repetitive side so while it was funny the first couple of times, it was used a little too much so instead just got annoying. Others were pretty much funny every time. Pickles anyone?

 I mostly liked the main character Isabel but at times I struggled with the way Arthur and Guinevere were depicted, especially Guinevere. At times, her actions, which I think were supposed to mark her as very young just made her character look somewhat inconsistent and at times confusing.

I think as well because there have been a lot of stories about the Arthur legend, including time traveller stories such as a Yankee in King Arthur's court by Mark Twain, the stick with which I was measuring the story was a little higher so the story was relatively fun and simple, I think certain elements of the story such as Mordred were over simplified to make the story work.

Overall, it mostly gave me the warm and fuzzy feelings I had been hoping for and expecting from it though I wasn't as satisfied with the ending as I wanted to be. So for these reasons I give this story 3 1/2 stars

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book

Goddess of Legend (Goddess Summoning #7) by P. C. Cast

The new Goddess Summoning novel from the author of the multimillion- selling House of Night phenomenon. 

After her car plummets off a bridge, Isabel, a world-weary photojournalist, struggles between life and death when she's saved by the Water Goddess-with one tiny caveat: Isabel must travel to another time to seduce the legendary Lancelot du Lac away from Queen Guinevere. 

The handsome knight is a dream for any woman in any century. But Isabel is the one who's seduced by King Arthur. For Isabel, a deal is a deal. Now, the King watches as fate takes from him the mysterious beauty he has come to worship, knowing all too well that any interference on his part could destroy the kingdom he loves.

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