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Blindsight
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Two months have past since a myriad of alien objects clenched about the Earth, screaming as they...
Debbiereadsbook (1487 KP) rated To Touch You (Mates #4) in Books
Jan 21, 2018
a fitting end
I purchased both the ebook, AND audio copy of this book (November 2017)
This is book 4 in The Mates Series, and the last one. You don't need to have read the other three, but there is some overlap with books one, Wake Me Up Inside and book 3, In Your Eyes, so there may be spoilers, sorta, kinda.
Yoram Smith is 7 years old when he first meets Salvatore Rossi, and he knows nothing but the pull of his scent. Sal is, in Yoram's eyes, his friend. It takes a turning of Sal to vampire and over 20 years before Sal finally admits that Yoram is his mate.
I LOVED this final installment in the Mates series! I really did. But I can't split the narration from the book, so the lines might be a bit blurred on this one.
I read this book, in December 2017, and I was going through a rough patch, so didn't actually write a review for it, then the audio came through the blog for review, and I had credits available, so I grabbed it. SO glad I did!
I loved Charlie David's narration, his voices especially. Yoram is 7 when we first meet him, and I was curious how David would change his voice as he grew. Nailed that one, I tell ya! At7, at 14 and as a full groan Yoram, his voice is the same but different, if that makes any sense? I could tell it was Yoram at every step of the way.
And trust me, it's a very long way these two took to finally get together! Sal doesn't fully understand the workings of being a vampire, he finds no joy in feeding and certainly not socialising with them, but he HAS to feed. Until the blood turns up on his doorstep, and THAT blood is different. Takes him a while to figure out where it's coming from!
I loved that Zev and Jonah ( book 1) and Samuel and Korban (book 3) play a part here, but I especially loved that Ethan and Miguel are a HUGE part of this book. When I read this, I could hear the voices of these guys but they weren't right, not at all. So it was great to be able to catch up with them here.
I loved that, once Sal finally dug his head out the sand and returned to Yoram, he was all in, totally and utterly.
Like I said, I can't really split the narration from the book, so
5 stars all round!
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
This is book 4 in The Mates Series, and the last one. You don't need to have read the other three, but there is some overlap with books one, Wake Me Up Inside and book 3, In Your Eyes, so there may be spoilers, sorta, kinda.
Yoram Smith is 7 years old when he first meets Salvatore Rossi, and he knows nothing but the pull of his scent. Sal is, in Yoram's eyes, his friend. It takes a turning of Sal to vampire and over 20 years before Sal finally admits that Yoram is his mate.
I LOVED this final installment in the Mates series! I really did. But I can't split the narration from the book, so the lines might be a bit blurred on this one.
I read this book, in December 2017, and I was going through a rough patch, so didn't actually write a review for it, then the audio came through the blog for review, and I had credits available, so I grabbed it. SO glad I did!
I loved Charlie David's narration, his voices especially. Yoram is 7 when we first meet him, and I was curious how David would change his voice as he grew. Nailed that one, I tell ya! At7, at 14 and as a full groan Yoram, his voice is the same but different, if that makes any sense? I could tell it was Yoram at every step of the way.
And trust me, it's a very long way these two took to finally get together! Sal doesn't fully understand the workings of being a vampire, he finds no joy in feeding and certainly not socialising with them, but he HAS to feed. Until the blood turns up on his doorstep, and THAT blood is different. Takes him a while to figure out where it's coming from!
I loved that Zev and Jonah ( book 1) and Samuel and Korban (book 3) play a part here, but I especially loved that Ethan and Miguel are a HUGE part of this book. When I read this, I could hear the voices of these guys but they weren't right, not at all. So it was great to be able to catch up with them here.
I loved that, once Sal finally dug his head out the sand and returned to Yoram, he was all in, totally and utterly.
Like I said, I can't really split the narration from the book, so
5 stars all round!
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
How to Vex a Vampire
10.0
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Finn Getting into the vampire-only detective unit was the easy part; what’s going to be more...
Merissa (13169 KP) created a post
Jun 1, 2022
My Guardian Vampire (The Guardians #1)
5.3
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He knew her from the moment of her birth. He watches her every footstep and protects her from the...
Adult Erotica Paranormal Romance Inter_Racial
Merissa (13169 KP) rated Handsome Death in Books
Apr 15, 2020
Handsome Death is a standalone paranormal romance. In a world where vampires, werewolves, and witches (to name just three) are known about and regulated. Ethan is a vampire mercenary, happy to be alone and lurking in the shadows. Tris is a human, with many friends and, although not so happy in the limelight, still doesn't want to be in the dark.
Although there are some sexy times from the start, this book is a slow-burner. It takes time for Ethan to realise that his obsession with Tris is more than just lust. We see Ethan change as his heart opens to Tris, and we see Tris change as his self-confidence grows. The way Tris stood up to his ex is one of the best scenes in the book, in my opinion.
With snark and humour and no unnecessary dramatics, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are delightful and the world-building is just enough. I would love to return to this world and read some of the other characters' stories. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Although there are some sexy times from the start, this book is a slow-burner. It takes time for Ethan to realise that his obsession with Tris is more than just lust. We see Ethan change as his heart opens to Tris, and we see Tris change as his self-confidence grows. The way Tris stood up to his ex is one of the best scenes in the book, in my opinion.
With snark and humour and no unnecessary dramatics, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are delightful and the world-building is just enough. I would love to return to this world and read some of the other characters' stories. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
When I first heard about this movie, I was expecting the worst. I’ve been exposed to my fair share of B-type horror movies (I was raised on “Critters,” “Ghoulies,” “Killer Clowns from Outerspace,” and everything else one can imagine as a kid). I laughed at the SyFy channel’s monster movie line-up and was sick unto death of zombie movies. That said, I wasn’t entirely excited for this movie’s premier. My boyfriend, however, was chomping at the bit. He adores B-type
movies and this was no exception. And, to my honest surprise, it wasn’t as awful as I had wholly envisioned in my head.
The movie starts with a young Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) defending his slave friend, Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie), from abuse at the hands of a slave trader. A scuffle ensues and Abraham’s father is ultimately met face-to-face with “Adam” (Rufus Sewell), a well-known and well-feared trader in the lands. The two exchange heated words with Adam threatening to extract his revenge by some unknown means. What seems later that evening, Abraham’s mother is attacked by Adam as young Abraham watches from the shadows. Adam, as one can guess, is a vampire and leaves Abraham’s mother in such a state she cannot recover. Upon her death, Abraham vows revenge, devoting the next ten years of his life to killing Adam.
As the reader can surmise, Abraham is ill-equipped to face Adam and when the day finally arrives, he finds himself wholly unprepared for the task. Cue the entrance of Henry Sturgess, Vampire Hunter. Saving Abraham from an early demise, Henry (Dominic Cooper) takes the young man under his wing and teaches him the way of vampire hunting. He teaches young Abe that the vampires control the whole of the south, using the slave trade as their means for fresh and easily accessible blood. Having never tolerated slavery of any kind, Abraham is infuriated by this and his desire to eradicate the vampire colony grows.
From there he is bequeathed his infamous axe, its edge lined in silver, and we watch as young Abe grows and matures as a skilled warrior before our eyes. When the time comes, Abraham is sent away on a mission to kill select vampires in a quiet town, vampires who pose as noted professionals and townspersons during the day. As a rule, Henry cautions Abraham not to make any friends or form any kind of attachments. Of course, it’s at this point he meets Mary Todd and that whole theory goes out the window. In addition to his vampire hunting, he also begins his career in politics and as a renowned orator. Given one’s knowledge of history, we can see where this all leads.
I won’t divulge the whole of the story here – I’m sure you can imagine where it goes and what comes of it. That said, aside from the over-the-top fighting scenes and certain drawn out moments (the horse stampede and train fight immediately come to mind), it wasn’t as awful as I had originally envisioned. The movie is entertaining and still
retains a fair amount of the B-movie cheesiness one hopes for in watching it. Obviously, the storyline is wracked with historical inaccuracies and unlikely moments (really, Abe Lincoln survives a horse being thrown at him?), but it’s a B-movie and I wasn’t expecting perfection.
If you’re looking for something that offers sheer entertainment and nothing further, this is a movie for you then. You won’t be blown away by the acting skills, the special effects are decent enough (don’t pay extra for 3-D though – it was awful), and while the movie feels slow and drags at parts, over-all it’s rather entertaining for what it is.
movies and this was no exception. And, to my honest surprise, it wasn’t as awful as I had wholly envisioned in my head.
The movie starts with a young Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) defending his slave friend, Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie), from abuse at the hands of a slave trader. A scuffle ensues and Abraham’s father is ultimately met face-to-face with “Adam” (Rufus Sewell), a well-known and well-feared trader in the lands. The two exchange heated words with Adam threatening to extract his revenge by some unknown means. What seems later that evening, Abraham’s mother is attacked by Adam as young Abraham watches from the shadows. Adam, as one can guess, is a vampire and leaves Abraham’s mother in such a state she cannot recover. Upon her death, Abraham vows revenge, devoting the next ten years of his life to killing Adam.
As the reader can surmise, Abraham is ill-equipped to face Adam and when the day finally arrives, he finds himself wholly unprepared for the task. Cue the entrance of Henry Sturgess, Vampire Hunter. Saving Abraham from an early demise, Henry (Dominic Cooper) takes the young man under his wing and teaches him the way of vampire hunting. He teaches young Abe that the vampires control the whole of the south, using the slave trade as their means for fresh and easily accessible blood. Having never tolerated slavery of any kind, Abraham is infuriated by this and his desire to eradicate the vampire colony grows.
From there he is bequeathed his infamous axe, its edge lined in silver, and we watch as young Abe grows and matures as a skilled warrior before our eyes. When the time comes, Abraham is sent away on a mission to kill select vampires in a quiet town, vampires who pose as noted professionals and townspersons during the day. As a rule, Henry cautions Abraham not to make any friends or form any kind of attachments. Of course, it’s at this point he meets Mary Todd and that whole theory goes out the window. In addition to his vampire hunting, he also begins his career in politics and as a renowned orator. Given one’s knowledge of history, we can see where this all leads.
I won’t divulge the whole of the story here – I’m sure you can imagine where it goes and what comes of it. That said, aside from the over-the-top fighting scenes and certain drawn out moments (the horse stampede and train fight immediately come to mind), it wasn’t as awful as I had originally envisioned. The movie is entertaining and still
retains a fair amount of the B-movie cheesiness one hopes for in watching it. Obviously, the storyline is wracked with historical inaccuracies and unlikely moments (really, Abe Lincoln survives a horse being thrown at him?), but it’s a B-movie and I wasn’t expecting perfection.
If you’re looking for something that offers sheer entertainment and nothing further, this is a movie for you then. You won’t be blown away by the acting skills, the special effects are decent enough (don’t pay extra for 3-D though – it was awful), and while the movie feels slow and drags at parts, over-all it’s rather entertaining for what it is.
Diary of a Vampire in Pyjamas
Book
This is a memoir by French bestselling and award-winning author and musician Mathias Malzieu. It...
Darren (1599 KP) rated From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) in Movies
Sep 2, 2019
Thoughts on From Dusk till Dawn
Characters – Seth Gecko has just been sprung from prison by his brother, he wants to get across the border to complete a deal which would see them both have freedom, he is the one that remains in control wanting to keep everything calm, which would mean not leaving a pile of bodies behind them. He does deliver the threats which would see them as a danger, though he does just want things to be simple. Richard or Ritchie is must more of a loose cannon, he is paranoid and this makes him more dangerous, as he will kill people putting their safety at risk. He is protected by his brother, as he doesn’t seem like he is capable of putting a plan together himself. Jacob was a priest that has lost his faith after his wife’s death, he I taking his family on a vacation and gets forced into helping the brothers, he wants to keep them safe, willing to risk his own life to make this happen. Kate and Scott are his children, they are dealing with their own loss the best way they know how to and being supportive to their father. Santanico is the beautiful dancer that will stop a bar with her dance, she is one of the leaders of the vampires who has been waiting for the food in human form.
Performances – George Clooney is great to see in this role, after this we only usually see him in smooth talking roles, rather than a rough criminal, showing he could become any role offered to him. Tarantino in this film is creepy and putting himself in the supporting role does hide any restrictions he might have as an actor. Harvey Keitel is great showing a character that is meant to be hating his life choice, but remaining strong for his children. Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu are both solid enough in the supporting roles without getting too much more to work with, while Salma Hayek turns heads with her performance.
Story – The story here follows two criminals trying to get to Mexico, the family they force to help them across the border and the bar they find, filled with vampires that they must fight to survive the night. Where this story stands up on its own, is by making it a criminal tory to start with, having no hints of horror or vampires involved, as we just watch the two loose cannons trying to get to safety, by pulling the rug out from under us to thrown us into the horror idea is genius switch of pace for the story. we do have themes going on especially with the Jacob character needing to find his lost faith which finding it will become the big part in fight the vampires. The story also exists in a world where vampire stories do exist, which gives them ideas on how to fight back, which was the main attraction to the 90’s horror stories.
Action/Horror – The action in the film involves the fighting with the vampires, we get to take everything to a new level for this side of the genre, with the blood splatter in the action, which the horror gives us because we vampires which are a staple of horror, but we do focus on the action over the scares.
Settings – The film uses the getting to the location setting of the camper van which does show us the road trip feel to the film, but it is the bar that will be one that is always going to be hard to forget, being a run down biker and trucker bar.
Special Effects – The special effects are some of the best you will see in the vampire genre, it shows that you can get plenty done with practical effects, with the only weakness come from the human to vampire transformations, which look CGI and have dated.
Scene of the Movie – The battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The transformations have dated badly.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the most fun vampire movies you will ever see, it has plenty of blood flying around the screen and will keep you entertained from start to finish.
Overall: Purely entertaining vampire movie.
Characters – Seth Gecko has just been sprung from prison by his brother, he wants to get across the border to complete a deal which would see them both have freedom, he is the one that remains in control wanting to keep everything calm, which would mean not leaving a pile of bodies behind them. He does deliver the threats which would see them as a danger, though he does just want things to be simple. Richard or Ritchie is must more of a loose cannon, he is paranoid and this makes him more dangerous, as he will kill people putting their safety at risk. He is protected by his brother, as he doesn’t seem like he is capable of putting a plan together himself. Jacob was a priest that has lost his faith after his wife’s death, he I taking his family on a vacation and gets forced into helping the brothers, he wants to keep them safe, willing to risk his own life to make this happen. Kate and Scott are his children, they are dealing with their own loss the best way they know how to and being supportive to their father. Santanico is the beautiful dancer that will stop a bar with her dance, she is one of the leaders of the vampires who has been waiting for the food in human form.
Performances – George Clooney is great to see in this role, after this we only usually see him in smooth talking roles, rather than a rough criminal, showing he could become any role offered to him. Tarantino in this film is creepy and putting himself in the supporting role does hide any restrictions he might have as an actor. Harvey Keitel is great showing a character that is meant to be hating his life choice, but remaining strong for his children. Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu are both solid enough in the supporting roles without getting too much more to work with, while Salma Hayek turns heads with her performance.
Story – The story here follows two criminals trying to get to Mexico, the family they force to help them across the border and the bar they find, filled with vampires that they must fight to survive the night. Where this story stands up on its own, is by making it a criminal tory to start with, having no hints of horror or vampires involved, as we just watch the two loose cannons trying to get to safety, by pulling the rug out from under us to thrown us into the horror idea is genius switch of pace for the story. we do have themes going on especially with the Jacob character needing to find his lost faith which finding it will become the big part in fight the vampires. The story also exists in a world where vampire stories do exist, which gives them ideas on how to fight back, which was the main attraction to the 90’s horror stories.
Action/Horror – The action in the film involves the fighting with the vampires, we get to take everything to a new level for this side of the genre, with the blood splatter in the action, which the horror gives us because we vampires which are a staple of horror, but we do focus on the action over the scares.
Settings – The film uses the getting to the location setting of the camper van which does show us the road trip feel to the film, but it is the bar that will be one that is always going to be hard to forget, being a run down biker and trucker bar.
Special Effects – The special effects are some of the best you will see in the vampire genre, it shows that you can get plenty done with practical effects, with the only weakness come from the human to vampire transformations, which look CGI and have dated.
Scene of the Movie – The battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The transformations have dated badly.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the most fun vampire movies you will ever see, it has plenty of blood flying around the screen and will keep you entertained from start to finish.
Overall: Purely entertaining vampire movie.
Monster Inside (Shadow Pact #1) by River Starr
9.0
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Sometimes the most enchanting monsters are the ones you can’t see, only feel… I am a...
Adult Paranormal Romance