Born at Midnight

Book: Born at Midnight
Author: C. C. Hunter
Pages: 398

Blurb: "One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…" - from goodreads.com

Rachael's Recap

Book Rating: 5 chocolate bars

Cover Rating: 5 chocolate bars

This book completely blew me away. It’s one of those rare books that is not just about vampires and werewolves, or witches and wizards. It’s about all of them! In the beginning of this book Kylie's life sucks, a lot. Her parents are getting a divorce, her grandmother died, and she has a stalker. Sounds like fun, not. Kylie's mother then decides to send her to Shadow Falls, a camp. Kylie thinks it’s just for troubled teens, but it’s actual a camp for supernatural. Only problem, Kylie doesn't know what she is. Through the book she discovers a lot about herself (including that she can see ghosts). In Born at Midnight you follow Kylie as she tries to discover what she is, and learns more about who she is. 

As I said before, this book completely blew me away. Kylie's character was nice, caring, and extremely loyal. But, I loved her two roommates even more. Don't get me wrong, I love Kylie, but Della (a vampire full of attitude) and Miranda (a dyslexics witch) together are, for me, even better. This book had me laughing through the whole thing, especially when Miranda and Della would fight. I loved how the girls came to care about each other so much and relied on each other. Another thing I loved was Holiday, the head camp counselor. She was always there to help Kylie with trying to figure out what she was, and helping her with the stalker (who they discover is not exactly a stalker) OK, enough gushing about the girls. 

Derek and Lucas. Usually in a book that has two guys going for the same girl (love triangle alert), I always pick the one I like the most and cheer them on. Not here, I kept switching sides, from Lucas then to Derek, then back to Lucas. This book kept making me feel like a traitor to the other guy every time I switched sides. Lucas is a werewolf, and knew Kylie from when they use too be neighbors as children. To me Lucas is the mysterious bad boy that you know you should stay away from, but can't. Derek, on the other hand, is a half fae who has a huge hart and is caring, but still lets nothing stand in his way and would do anything for Kylie. 

What I loved

• Had all kinds of supernaturals 
• Super funny (Della and Miranda)
• Lucas and Derek were so hard to choose between

What I wished were different 

• I did love Kylie, but I wished she was a little more care free

All these characters made an amazing story that I fell in love with. And if you are like me, and were skeptical about the whole camp thing, don't be. It’s an amazing story completely worth reading. 

The Binding

Book: The Binding
Author: L. Filloon
Pages: 279

Blurb: "Two nights after her eighteenth birthday, Lily is attacked while out jogging, but is saved by Tharin Lunar, a Sidhe prince. When she discovers that her attacker is her own brother, Lucas, who disappeared four years ago, Lily refuses to believe that her brother would truly hurt her and becomes determined to find Lucas and bring him home. Lily finds that Lucas’ disappearance is somehow tied to Tharin; so when he informs her that she is his betrothed and must return with him to Velesi, fulfill a treaty between their families and unite the two strongest clans through their marriage, Lily agrees. However, she’s not going to Velesi for a wedding, but to bring home her only family, Lucas.

On their journey to the borders of Velesi, the realm of the Thirteen Clans, they’re pursued by a Sidhe assassin group call the Ange, meet with an ogre crime lord that ends badly, deal with a sleazy troll motel manager, and when they discover that there’s a bounty on their heads, they must keep one step ahead of every assassin, bounty hunter and low-life criminal in Velesi.

Protecting Lily has become the biggest challenge of Tharin’s life. Lucky for him he has help in the form of his twin brother, Tolan, Lily’s best friend Julia and his three bodyguard cousins."  - from goodreads.com

Rachael's Recap

Book Rating: 5 chocolate bars

Cover Rating: 5 chocolate bars

I was hesitant to start this book at first, because the cover was so pretty and I did not want to be disappointed by another story of elves. I have to say though, from the moment I picked up this book I was swept up into  Lily's world that was amazingly crafted by L. Filloon. In this book, Lily's whole world is turned upside down, she finds out her missing brother is not actually missing, she is engaged, and she is a princess. Well, that escalated quickly. Luckily Lily is not alone, she has her best friend to join her in her adventure as she goes on to claim her rightful throne. I love this book, I really do. It was one of my guilty pleasure books I read when I really should be doing something else. This book created a world within a world for me and brought new twists I was not expecting. Lily is a very relatable character and fun, while Julia is strong and more serious at times. Now that I'm done talking about the girls let me get to the guys! Tharin and Tolan are brothers and along with them are their cousins Phoris, Mellis, and Alorn. All these guys are fun and amazing to read about. I will end by telling you once again this is an amazing book that you need to read! 

What I loved:

• Awesome characters
• Amazing writing
• It was written from Lily's perspective and in Tharin's 

What I wished were different:

• Cliff hanger ending. It made me want to cry ( but f.y.i was totally worth it)

If you are looking for a light fun book that transports you to a new world then The Binding is the book for you!

Mind Games

Book:  Mind Games

Author: Kiersten White 

Pages: 237

Blurb:      "Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future. 

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey." - from goodreads.com 

Rachael's Recap

Book Rating: 4 chocolate bars

Cover Rating: 5 chocolate bars (it is soooo pretty!! (Says while drooling over book))

I have read Kiersten White's earlier series Paranormalcy, and I was expecting a light fun book about "spies". But, was I wrong. This book blew me away! I will start by telling you about the characters. Fia has perfect instincts, they are never wrong, but even though she is very powerful she is broken. Her parents died in a car crash leaving her and her sister alone. Enter Annie. Annie is Fia's older sister and she is blind, but still strong. Like her sister, she has a unique ability - she is a Seer and can see glimpses of the future. Both of the girls are sent to a "school" for special girls. But, Fia quickly learns the truth.

Now, I know everyone is supposed to hate the bad guy. But I really can't in this book. James...sigh....... He is the new person in charge of the school, and he is also the son of the notorious Keane. All these characters put together make an amazing book.

What I loved:

• Strong female main character who kicks serious butt
• Swoon worthy bad guy
• Twists and turn I didn't see

What I wished were different

• At points in the book it kept switching times and that confused me.
• I wish the "good guy" had a stronger personality 

If you are looking for a book with a kick-butt heroine with lots of amazing things happening to her, then this is the book to read!!!