Fluffy Review - The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

The Lying Game is the first novel in a new series by Pretty Little Liars author Sara Shepard. After reading most of the Pretty Little Liars series and hearing about The Lying Game it was put to the top of my want to read list, with a big hurry up and be published note next to it.

The Lying Game is the story of Emma who finds out she has a twin sister she has never met. After tracking her down and agreeing to meet her sister Sutton, Emma ends up being mistaken for Sutton, and when Sutton doesn't turn up she is stuck living Sutton's life in her place.

Things go from confused to bad for Emma when she receives a note saying that Sutton is dead and she must continue to play along and continue living the life of Sutton.

Will Emma be able to track down her sisters murderer when it turns out she had so many enemies that it could be anyone?

The Lying Game lives up to expectations and doesn't disappoint and it very definitely leaves you wanting more and I am desperate to read the sequel.

I enjoyed the pace of the novel but I have to admit I did get a little confused when reading and it was switching from Emma's to Sutton's point of view and I did have to re read a couple of lines occasionally. saying this I still thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I was hooked from start to finish.

I highly recommend The Lying Game to any Pretty Little Liars fan or any Young adult fan even.

I give The Lying Game 4.5 stars out of 5

I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book for them.

In My Mailbox 4

In My Mailbox its hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. Check out her site, its great!

Also sorry for the slow pace of the blog. I have been so busy but I am starting to play catch up now so this is a 2 week mailbox as I missed last weeks.

Anyway on to the mailbox

So I  went a little crazy at the works and we have lots of bargain books

I Heart Paris by Lindsay Kelk - I have the first 2 and while I still have to finish Hollywood I am excited to read Paris
Wicked Lovely and Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr - I have been meaning to read these for a while so I have 3 of them now
The First 3 Blue Bloods books by Melissa De La Cruz - Again a series I have been meaning to read for a while
Spells by April Lynne Pike - I have Wings and really liked it so I was excited to get spells

 I got my shiny new James Patterson book Cross Fire. I love these books.

Finally look at my pretty ARC's of Infinite Days and Halo thanks to the wonderful Leanna over at Daisy Chain Book Reviews

What did everyone get in their mailboxes?

Fluffy Review - Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey

Goodreads Summary

The action and romance continue as the Drakes face a new vampire with a 200-year-old grudge.

It’s been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she’s made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That’s if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks.

The clans are gathering for Helena’s royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha’s reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte—a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself—the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy.

This second adventure in the Drake Chronicles—told from both Logan’s and Isabeau’s perspectives—has all the same butt-kicking action, heart-pounding romances and snarky humor that readers loved in Hearts at Stake, as well as exciting new revelations about the vampire dynasties to keep readers coming back for more.

Blood Feud is the second novel in the Drake Chronicles series and I was very excited to read this book after reading and loving My Love Lies Bleeding.

Blood Feud starts right where My Love Lies Bleeding ended but now we are following the lives of Logan Drake and Isabeau St. Croix. At first I was disappointed as I was enjoying learning about Lucy and Solange and I was looking froward to finding out more about the, but after starting the book I was very happy to be learning about Logan and Isabeau.

Isabeau is part of the Hound vampires and is sent for talks between the Hounds and the Drakes after Helena's defeat of Lady Natasha and she gets more than she bargained for after meeting Logan Drake. With the appearance of Greyhaven and the return of Montmarte there are lots of troubles ahead for the Drake's and Isabeau.

I really enjoyed the flashbacks to Isabeau's past and we really go to know her the best out of all the characters. Isabeau is easy to like and I was really hoping all the way through for her relationship with Logan to develop. This is not a long book but I felt it was a little slow and it did take me a little longer to read than My Love Lies Bleeding but it was still well written and a great read. We still heard from the other characters and they were around in the background. I would of liked to hear more from them as Lucy is still my favourite character and I did want to know how her relationship with Nicholas was progressing but I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a vampire novel.

I am very excited to read the next novel in this series Out For Blood.

I give Blood Feud 4 out of 5 stars

Amazing Sparkling Reviews Competition

Wow what a wonderful competition Mary at Sparkling Reviews is hosting. you could win a Kindle. Yes you have heard that right, a Kindle. Go check it out now as the competition ends tomorrow. Good luck to everyone who has entered. Congratulations to Mary for getting 500 followers and thank you for hosting such a wonderful competition.

Fluffy Review - My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey

Goodreads Summary

The Blake's are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire? Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father's killer.

 My Love Lies Bleeding is a book I have been looking at for a while and with the third book being released, I wanted to get caught up on the series. My Love Lies Bleeding is not your typical vampire story with vampires being born as well as made and there being many kinds of vampires.

This book is a nice quick easy read and is told from two points of view which varies from chapter to chapter. From the point of view of Solange the vampire to Lucy her human best friend. I enjoyed that we got to see the story as it progressed from both points of view and therefore found out more than if it had just followed Solange. I have to admit that I did find Lucy's chapters more interesting and the change of her relationship with Nicholas as the book progressed rather than Solange's but that's not to day I disliked them. I enjoyed both but I was left feeling that Lucy was the stronger character even though she was supposed to be the weaker human.

I was left wanting more while reading the book and even when I finished I still wasn't satisfied. I want to know more and I will definitely be picking up Blood Feud, but I know that Blood Feud is concentrating on 2 different characters, while I wasn't finished learning about Lucy and Solange. I hope that I get to learn more in future books and that their storyline continues to grow and doesn't just become background. That being said I am eager to read Blood Feud and will be picking up Out For Blood after that.

I do recommend this book for someone who does enjoy Vampire novels. Its not your ordinary vampire romance it has more of a thought out back story and storyline that it is following. I just felt that there could of been a little more detail but this is a book I highly recommend.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

In My Mailbox 3

In My Mailbox its hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. Check out her site, its great!

This week has been a quiet week due to being sick but it has been a great week as I won, yes won a copy of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer thanks to Misty over at Book Rat Thanks again so much. I can't wait to read the book.

What did everyone else get this week?

Mini break but I will be back

Its been a quiet week here at The Fluffy Unicorn Bookshelf but I will be back with more reviews and more features soon. Please don't think I have forgotten about my little blog but I got hit with a cold and have been resting up. I have have realised that I need to have posts ready and waiting but just please don't give up on my blog I will be back.

In My Mailbox 2

In My Mailbox its hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. Check out her site, its great!

So this week I was lucky enough to win a copy of Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard from Atom Books. Thank you very much to them.

The rest of my books were bought by me and they were bargains from The Works bookshop. £9 for the 3, you can't complain at that can you. They are
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell - I have been wanting to read this since it was released so I am very happy to have a copy now.
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr - I have been wanting to read the series and this was too much of a bargain to leave.
Twilight The Graphic Novel by Stephanie Meyer - I enjoyed the Twilight books and I have been looking at this for a while so thought why not.

I can't wait to see what everyone else got in their mailboxes this week.

Fluffy Review - Fallen by Lauren Kate

I picked up Fallen after reading great things about it on the Internet and I have to say I was not disappointed. Fallen is the story of Lucinda 'Luce' Price and what happens to her when she arrives at Sword and Cross reform school. I don't want to write any more about the story as I don't want to spoil it in anyway for you. I knew some things about the book before I picked it up because it seems to be that all descriptions are telling you too much. My one regret is not picking the book up when I first noticed it in store and reading it straight away with no prior knowledge.

Lauren Kate has done a wonderful job with this novel, it has just the right amount of everything. The descriptions are wonderful and you can easily visualise the locations and the characters. Luce isn't perfect and that's what makes her so easy to like. I have seen where people have said that she was stupid to feel the way she does for Daniel after their first encounter but you have to remember Luce is in high school and at that age a lot of girls will gloss over that first meeting and create a new image in their mind. I feel that as the series continues Luce's character will only get stronger.

When I was reading there was lots of things I was wondering about and questions I wanted answering and while for some of them I found the answers as I continued to read I still have lots waiting on answers and I'm sure I will be waiting till the end of the last book but that by far is not a bad thing. I am hooked and I can't wait to read Torment to find out more, I think this is going to be a favourite series from me and I definitely recommend it.

I give Fallen 5 out of 5 stars.

Fluffy Review - The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund

I love James Patterson's novels and I was thrilled to be able to read and review The Postcard Killers. I had been waiting for this book for months and it did not disappoint.

The Postcard Killers is about a couple of serial killers preying on young, just married couples all over Europe. The killers taunt the police and media by sending postcards of where they are prior to committing the murders, then following this up by sending morbid photos of the murder scene.

The novel follows Jacob Kanon, a NYPD Homicide detective who's daughter Kimmy was  one of the murdered, on his search across Europe to find the killers. When the killers find themselves in Stockholm, a postcard lands on the desk of Dessie Larsson and she now finds herself caught up in the murder investigation . Will Dessie be able to team up and trust Jacob find the killers and will they be caught at all.

I am always excited to read a James Patterson novel and this is true to James Patterson's style. I loved the descriptions and how the point of view changes from the killers to Dessie to Jacob. I continually had questions to how things had happened. It has all the twists and turns you expect and they keep you on the edge of your seat till the end.

The character of Dessie is easy to like and while Jacob can come across as arrogant, I feel you have to understand where he is coming from with the death of his daughter, you would want people listening to you too. The killers are well thought out and I like that we get to see their back story and why they are who they are today and I feel that the end of the novel fit the story well.

For any James Patterson fan this is a must read and I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to read and review this novel for them.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox its hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. Check out her site, its great!

So I thought I would take part in my first meme this week. The new books in my possession this week are mostly from the library but a couple are new purchases that I couldn't resist. I think this In My Mailbox may cover a little over 1 week as my trip to the library was just over a week a go but I though you would all forgive me for adding my library trip on.

Bought

Torment by Lauren Kate - I have been reading Fallen and really enjoyed it and when I saw a hardback cover I knew I had to get it. Also it was a complete bargain at half price in asda, I know not the usual book shop, but this was the only place up to now I have seen hardback covers.

Elixir by Hilary Duff - I have been seduced by the cover but the book actually sounds pretty good and I am looking forward to reading it. It was also another bargain.

Won

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett - This I won. I was so excited and surprised. It is the audio book which is very different for me. I actually collect Terry Pratchett's books and I am just waiting to be able to sit and get through them all as I have read too few in the past. I'm so excited that I won this though.

Library


I may have gone a little crazy at the library and have a lot to read.

Fallen - Lauren Kate - I am loving this
Knife - R J Anderson
Rebel - R J Anderson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Sweet Scent Of Blood - Suzanne McLeod
Blood Feud - Alyxandra Harvey
Single White Vampire - Lynsay Sands
Love Bites - Lynsay Sands


Lastly thanks to the lovely publishers over at NetGalley I have a few wonderful books I am itching to review for them. I am so excited.

Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist : The Wyvern's Treasure - R L LaFevers - I have already read and reviewed this book and I loved it. Thank you so much for letting me read and review this book. My review is here.

Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist : The Unicorns Tale - R L LaFevers - After reading The Wyvern's Treasure I am really looking forward to reading this one.

The Postcard Killers - James Patterson and Liza Marklund - I love James Patterson books and I was really excited to read this one. I just finished it and I was not disappointed, it was great. Check back for my review soon.

The Lying Game - Sara Shepard - I am really excited to read this book. I have been enjoying the Pretty Little Liars series and am looking forward to reading the first novel in this new series.

The Trouble With Chickens - Doreen Cronin - This book just looked too cute to resist.

Angelfire - Courtney Allison Moulton - I am really excited to read this book it sounds great.

The Lipstick Laws - Amy Holder - I really liked the sound of this book and I'm really happy I have it to read.

I can't wait to see what everyone else got this week.

Fluffy Review - Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist : The Wyverns Treasure by R. L. LaFevers

Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist : The Wyvern's Treasure is the third book in the series of Nathaniel's adventures of him learning to be a Beastologist. In this book we see Nate and his Aunt Phil returning home after their adventures with a Basalisk to find their house has been ransacked.

After a disappointing trip to London to see if they can find any more information about who would do such a thing, Nate and Aunt Phil hear about trouble with the Wyvern's (giant dragons) and head to Wales to find out what has happened. Could this have anything to do with the searching of Aunt Phil's house? and can Nate and Aunt Phil smooth things over with the Wyvern's or will the Human/Wyvern covenant be destroyed forever?

This is an wonderful children's book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is well written and I thoroughly enjoyed the story that was being told. I may be a little biased as I do love children's stories about dragons and this one did not disappoint.

Nate is a wonderful character and he is a great little hero and I loved that he has a pet Gremlin called Greasle. I am really hoping for the next book that Aunt Phil lets him keep Greasle, I don't think the Gremlin is a pest at all.

I definitely liked Nate's guide at the end of the book to fully describe some of the creatures, places and events that were mentioned during the book. It was a great addition to enhance the story.

Lastly I cannot forget the wonderful illustrations by Kelly Murphy. They fit the book perfectly and I loved that while there were the illustrations to enhance the story, and show key scenes, there was also illustrations of the sketches that Nate did during his adventure.

I highly recommend this book and I am rating it 5 out of 5

Many thanks to the publishers who allowed me to read and review this book for them.

Fluffy Review - Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

Kenny and the Dragon is a sweet little illustrated novel about a small rabbit called Kenny and the dragon Grahame that is found to be living on the hill belonging to their farm. Kenny is a young rabbit who has a great love of reading but not too many friends. When his father returns to their farm in a panic one evening, Kenny finds out it was due to a fact that he has found a large dangerous dragon up on Shepard's Hill.

After reading about dragons, Kenny is eager to go investigate further after reading about dragons in the Kings Royal Bestiary and sets off with makeshift armour of a pot, pan and broom. Upon finding the dragon Kenny soon realises that Grahame is definitely not what he expected and they become best friends. Trouble is brewing though when the rest of the small town realises that there is a dragon about and plan to rid their town of what they believe to be a terrible beast.

I loved the character of Kenny who was adorable and his love for reading is perfect, especially in a children's book which I hope will promote reading to children. Grahame is a wonderful dragon and I loved that he was different from the stereotypical dragon and he is good at promoting that you should never judge a book by its cover, you have to get to know someone first as Kenny got to know Grahame.

I really enjoyed this novel even though it is aimed at children much younger than myself. It was a great read which was the perfect length with just the right amount of description to tell you all you need to know and keep you interested. It was a sweet little story and perfect for children and those of us who are older but still like to be children sometimes.

I loved the illustrations, they were perfect and I loved how they added to the key scenes in the book so we could see the characters just as Tony DiTerlizzi imagined and I am looking forward to reading more of Tony's work in the future.

I give Kenny and the Dragon 4 out of 5 stars

Fluffy Review - Elvis and the Grateful Dead by Peggy Webb

After reading Elvis and the Dearly Departed I was eager to read the next book in the series and I got it for my kindle straight away.

Elvis and the Grateful Dead continues just after where Elvis and Dearly Departed left off and Callie and Lovie look set to end up in the middle of another murder investigation when during the Tupelo Elvis Impersonator competition an impersonator dies. Well one could of been natural causes but 2, that would be murder right?

I enjoyed this book but not as much as Elvis and the Dearly Departed. I loved the development of Callie's character, especially the developments with her and Jack but my love for the characters of Lovie and Ruby Nell decreased. I felt that they were just a little too annoying as they didn't get their own way. I also was left wondering about where their characters were at the end of the novel.

One of my favourite parts of the novel is the mini chapters which are told from the perspective of Elvis, Callie's basset hound, they are humorous and a great insight into the other characters, but unfortunately did not tell me enough about what was going on with Ruby Nell and the secrets she was keeping.

If you enjoyed the previous novel I am sure you will enjoy this one and I am still looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

All in all I am going to give this book a 3.5 out of 5.

Fluffy Review - Elvis and the Dearly Departed by Peggy Webb

Elvis and the Dearly Departed is a wonderful first novel to a series I am going to continue reading, I enjoyed this one that much I have the second one waiting to be read now. I love mysteries and crime novels and this one sounded to good to resist. I have to admit I do have a soft spot for Basset Hounds.

In this novel we meet the Valentine's who all have their own part to play in the running of Eternal Rest funeral home, and you come to realise that it just wouldn't work if one of them wasn't there each has an important role to the development of the story. I loved the character of Callie, she isn't perfect and she has her problems, mostly her soon to be ex Jack Jones who she is drawn to like a magnet and her Basset Hound Elvis who does as he pleases, whenever he wants, including running off for a few days with a French Poodle and catching flees. Callie is such a likeable character and I feel she is one who will appeal to a lot of people. Lovie, Callie's cousin and partner in crime, lives up to her name with having a lot of love to share around. Lovie is a good character and I enjoyed reading about her and I hope that we find out more in the following two books in the series.

The novel centers on Dr Leonard Laton's funeral and the disappearance of his body from the Eternal Rest funeral home. I know how does a corpse manage to disappear? Who would do such a thing and yes for the entire book I was guessing as to who could of done this. After the controversy of Dr Laton's will who would steal his body? There are many with motives. With Callie and Lovie heading to Vegas to see if they can find the body at Bubbles Malone's house chaos ensues when trying to recover Dr Laton they find a different surprise. With Callie and Lovie mixed up in a murder investigation they are going to have to find out who the real killer is before they get framed.

I enjoyed the breaks between some of the chapters with Elvis' thoughts and comments, that is Callie's basset hound Elvis. I loved how I could learn more about the other characters this way, as the novel is written from Callie's perspective, and learning things we would not find out otherwise.

I would recommend this book, it was one that I wanted to read till the end and I am now in possession of book 2 which will be read next and I am sure will be closely followed by book 3. I can maybe obsess over book series sometimes. I do understand that it won't be everybody's cup of tea being centred round a funeral home and and dealing with a disappearing corpse but for people who love mysteries I'm sure that will be a novel you  will enjoy.

My rating for Elvis and the Dearly Departed is 4 out of 5

A Fluffy First Post

Welcome to the Fluffy Unicorn Bookshelf, my little slice of the net where I can share my love of books and reading. I read a few different kinds of books but mostly paranormal fiction, young adult and some crime novels, mostly in the form of James Patterson novels. My bookshelf if overflowing and I have piles of books on the floor, not to mention the 8 I checked out of the library today, possibly a mistake but they looked too good to resist.

Anyway my name is Nicky and my friend Emma over at Books, Coffee & Anything Crafty challenged me to join her in her challenge of 365 books in 365 days. I laughed. I read at a decent speed but for me sadly this is impossible unless I choose small children's books for the entire 365 days. Looking at the bookshelf and the majority of what I have to work worth this was not going to work out. So I decided to join her challenge for half the amount so I will average 1 book per 2 days, 182/3 books in the 365 days. This challenge started on Monday (October 11th) and I am 1 day behind already, oops. Anyway I am having faith that I can complete this challenge but I just want to keep up with my reading and what better way than to blog about it and improve my writing by reviewing them all for anyone who stumbles upon my little blog.

So enjoy your time here and please visit again. I am off to read and maybe watch Vampire Diaries :)