Review: Connected by Jolyn Palliata

Title: Connected
Series: Twists of Fate, Book 1
Author: Jolyn Palliata
Publisher: Jolyn Palliate
Publication Date: October 14, 2011
Reviewed Format: Free ePub
Source: Read for Free at Goodreads
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

Book Description:
Addison wakes from surgery to discover that the doctors have removed the mass that she had, unfortunately she had a reaction to the anesthetics and she died on the operation table, but only for a moment and they obviously succeeded in bringing her back. However, she didn’t come back alone.

Rhys Alexander had it all, money, fame, looks to die for, and more women he cared about. Such is the life a rock star, but Fate is one girl that likes to mess with people, will he be capable of handling the curve ball thrown his way?

I am a sucker for a good love story and that is exactly what one gets out if this short novella.

The book is short enough that it took me about 4, maybe 5 hours total to read. Yet it is exactly the type of story I was in the mood for. A sweet, good, well written tale that had me rooting for the characters and completely interested on their story.

I like how it feels like Rhys seems to be the main character even though the story is told from Addison’s POV. The story only shifts POV whenever Rhys himself is shifting, and it is his character the one that has the most growth within the pages.

But enough with the spoilers; the bottom line is that it’s very enjoyable story, easy and fast to read. It is a great beginning to a new series.

The story is currently free to read in Goodreads, how long that will last? I honestly don’t know. Still, I recommend you guys to check it out. In truth, no one loves every book and not every book is for everyone; try the prologue and the first chapter (since it’s free). I believe that they are strong enough to pull you in, and if they don’t, then maybe the story is not for you.

Quotes:
These are two quotes from the book that i really like, so I'm sharing them with you:

"...as Johnathan kissed her, his tongue dipping in and sweeping against hers. His contact was firm and she felt the purpose behind it; he was testing the waters, checking her receptiveness. She would have been a helluva lot more into it if it hadn't been for asshat rock star in her head." 

–Addison, Chapter 8

and:

"Her last thoughts before drifting to sleep were of their conversation. His last words whispered through her head: I always loved a good challenge in life. 

It seemed that inclination hadn’t changed in his death.” 

–Addison, Chapter 9 

PS: if you do choose to read the novella, stick to it until after it ends. The letter shown at the end is written by none other than Fate himself (yes, you read that correctly, Fate); I was smiling through the whole thing, which is not too long, but still.

UPDATE:

• The author read my review and clarified a minor detailed that I got wrong; Fate is a MAN! Yeap, he is. When I read the intro for book 2 it sounded to me like a girl was talking; however, this throws a new an interesting curve ball ^.^
• (June 21, 2012) - The book is no longer available for free at Goodreads.

Review: Reckoning by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Reckoning
Series: The Night Huntress (Novella 0.5) [Originally appeared in the anthology Unbound]
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: November 29th, 2011
Reviewed Format: Kindle Edition
My Rating: ★★★★☆

What can I say, is a story from Bones’ point of view (POV); that should be enough incentive to read this novella on either this book or on its original incarnation as part of the anthology “Unbound”. This is a prequel-short story of sorts; it takes place right before we meet Bones in Halfway to the Grave.

Bones has been summoned to a meeting by none other than Marie “Majestic” Laveau, (the famous voodoo priestess of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana) to find and take care of the infamous LaLaurie couple, notoriously known in human lore for their vicious tendencies. But, what should have been a straight forward missions, turns into a game of hide and seek when a third party becomes involve and the life of an innocent woman increases the stakes even higher. Bones must find a way to subdue the LaLauries while surviving the relentless attacks of a mystery guy, plus keeping his only lead on the case alive.

The Bite Before Christmas by Jeaniene Frost and Lynsay Sands

Title: The Bite Before Christmas
Series: Anthology
Author(s): Lynsay Sands, Jeaniene Frost
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 25, 2011
Reviewed Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Bought
My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

I love me some Bones!! Not to mention that i love the Ian time!!

Jeaniene Frost has a new short story from her acclaim series Night Huntress. The story is a part of an anthology along side Lynsay Sands called The Bite Before Christmas. Like the title suggests, the story takes place during the holiday festivities. The stories that compose this anthology are "The Gift" by Sands and "Home for the Holidays" by Frost.

I will try to keep the review as spoiler free as posible.

The Gift by Lynsay Sands

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

I haven't read this short story yet, so will update this part of the review once i have gone through it

Home for the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost

Rating: ★★★★☆

I love this story and the fact that we get more of Bones' past shown to us. Chronologically, this story comes almost immediately after the events on One Grave at a Time, which was released this past August.

In Home for the Holidays Cat is getting ready to do something completely out of the ordinary in her typical lifestyle; spend some time at home, battling no one, and celebrating the festivities, not to mention spending some serious time with her delicious husband Bones. The celebration kicks off with Bones' B~day Party. But what is suppose to be a joyful time among family and friends takes a turn for the worse when a dark secret gets revealed. Lives become threatened, friendships might be broken and with a marriage in danger the stakes could not be higher (for a short story that is).

If one thing is certain is that Jeaniene Frost knows how to torture us fans of her books. For those of you ladies that have been claiming more Ian time, he gets some in this story, however, the story's main focus remains Bones and his back-story. Unfortunately for those of you who are Vlad fans he doesn't make an appearance in this one, but we do get a glance at Fabian, Mencheres, Kira, Spade, Denise, Annette and a new Vampire that becomes the surprise of a century (or two) for Bones. The story also explores a bit more in depth the world of Demons and the how their inner workings.