Coffee Pot Reviews: Sins & Needles by Karina Halle and Pretty When They Collide by Rhiannon Frater

 
Welcome to Coffee Pot Reviews! These are short and sweet reviews done in the length of time it takes my coffee pot to brew! I have two adult books to share with you today. Adult books contain mature content and are not intended for readers under 18 years of age. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy! 

Sins & Needles
by Karina Halle
Series: Artists Trilogy
Publisher: Metal Blond Books
Publication date: January 18, 2013
Genre: Adult Dark Contemporary Romance
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon/Book Depository
Source: purchase 
*purchase through buy links supports this blog

Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents' latest scam. Now she's much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for - Camden McQueen. Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie's counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she's not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie's plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn't dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it's one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road

I am in love with this author! For me it was love at first read, first character, first emotion, first realization that this was brilliant  From her totally fleshed out and beautifully flawed characters Sins and Needles made me deliriously happy as a reader. I adored the character growth we witness and Halle sets the standard so high I am actually afraid to read and review anything at the moment. I completely immersed myself into the world she created, and loved everything from the quirky characters to the flash-backs. I was one hundred percent emotionally invested in the characters and ya all know that high I chase as a reader *nods head* Major buzz here!! 

Five cups of Ethiopian coffee out of five

Pretty When They Collide
by Rhiannon Frater
Series: Pretty When She Dies # 0.5
Publication date: March 13, 2013
Genre: Paranormal
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon
Read my Review of Pretty When She Dies and Pretty When She Kills 
Source: purchase 
*purchase through buy links supports this blog

An exciting new novella set in the world of Pretty When She Dies... Cassandra is a dhamphir-the offspring of a vampire and mortal woman-and a thief of occult relics. Aimee is a full-blood witch that is bound to a powerful vampire who traffics in the slavery of supernatural beings. Both are powerful, lonely, and trapped in the dangerous world of the vampires. When Cassandra steals a relic from Aimee’s vampire master, he targets her as his next acquisition. What he doesn’t realize is that a chance encounter between Cassandra and Aimee ignited a spark between them that they cannot deny. To survive, the women must find a way to band together and fight against the ruthless evil that conspires to enslave them forever.

We met Aimee and Cass at the end of Pretty When She Kills and they immediately captured my interest, so I was delighted when Frater gave them their own tale. Cassandra is a dhamphir which means she has a vampire father and human mother. She is a thief and steals important relics using her gifts. Aimee is a full-blooded witch, who is enslaved by the blood bond with Frank the vampire master. This tale shares how they met and it is a must read for fans of the Pretty When She Dies series. The characters are fleshed out and I enjoyed everything from their interaction to their darker sides. In typical Frater nail-biting suspense the tale immediately drew me in and wouldn't release me until the final page. I am so glad she gave us this novella and cannot wait for the final book Pretty When She Destroys due out August 27, 2013.

Four and half cups of iced cappuccino out of five 

Cover Reveal: Pretty When She Destroys by Rhiannon Frater

Pretty When She Destroys by Rhiannon Frater
Series: Pretty When She Dies #3 
Publication date: July 23, 2013 
Genre: NA Horror/Urban Fantasy

Synopsis:

Amaliya Vezorak always believed she was destined to live a failed life in obscurity until she was brutally murdered by an ancient vampire named The Summoner and reborn as a powerful vampire necromancer. Now it is up to her to save the world…

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency. You may contact her by sending an email to rhiannonfrater@gmail.com.

Author Links:Website/ Goodreads/ Facebook/Twitter

So what do you think ?
Awesome right! 

The Sunday Post #48 ~sharing blog news and book haul

The Sunday Post ~ 48th Edition

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. 

The Take Control read-a-thon was a blast, and we still have another week for the monthly challenge so get er done peeps! I had quite the book haul this week, between books I won arriving, blog tours and publisher shipments..eep. It is still freezing here, but I got a pedi and have been wearing flip-flops in my home pretending its Spring. Did you sign up for the Clean Sweep ARC challenge in May? Let's get those arcs cleaned up so we can enjoy the nice weather when it arrives.

Last week on the blog we brought you

• TBR Pile Challenge "Oldest Book" for RAT participants
• Take Control Read-a-Thon Participant Raffle
• Let the Dead Sleep by Heather Graham (review)
• Big Bad Bite by Jessie Lane (review)
• Waiting on Wednesday (includes giveaway)
• Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire (review)
• Fathom by Merrie Destefano (review)
• Hopeless by Colleen Hoover (review)
• Caffeinated Confession- Are you loyal to only one genre? Ever get burned out? 

This week on the blog look for

• Ten Tiny Breathes from K.A. Tucker (review)
• The Wanderer by Robyn Carr (review)
• Cover Reveal
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Spellbinding by Maya Gold (review)
• A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (review)
• How The Heck Did You Do That?!? Blogger Tips and Tricks #8

Around the Blogosphere 

• The Bookish Brunette professed Zombie Queen is stomping across the USA..it's hilarious go check it out :) 

New arrivals to the Caffeinated Cafe

For Review

Against the Edge by Kat Martin
thanks to Harlequin 

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
thanks to Simon & Schuster 

 

Rhiannon Frater the Queen

 of All Things that go Bump in the Night

has a new serial; In Darkness We Must Abide 

she sent me the first two episodes and 

I will be sharing Coffee Pot reviews of them shortly 

   For Review Consideration

From Random House finished copies of:

Heart of Glass by Sasha Gould

Strands of Gold and Bronze by Jane Nickerson 

Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

Promises to Keep by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Starstruck by Rachel Shukert

Scowler by Daniel Kraus 

Thanks to Penguin:

Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsey

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

Thanks to Penguin Razorbill

Natural Born Angel by Scott Speer

Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards

Gifted or Won

Slammed by Colleen Hoover 

won from A Need So Insatiable by Cecilia Roberts Cover Reveal Giveaway

The Reluctant Countess by Wendy Vella

won from Bea @Bea's Book Nook and Random

The Midnight Spell by Rhiannon Frater and Kody Boye

won during tour from Barbara @ Basia's BookShelf 

Purchased or Downloaded

Peace, Love and Books

link-up peeps! 

Pretty When She Kills by Rhiannon Frater {review-giveaway}

Pretty When She Kills
by Rhiannon Frater
Series: Pretty When She Kills #2
Publication date: September 7, 2012
Genre: Adult Paranormal
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/ Amazon


*contains sexual content, violence and foul language
Not suitable for readers under 17

Amaliya Vezorak never believed in happy endings…
When Amaliya harnessed her necromancer powers to defeat her greatest enemy, she believed she had finally found a happy ending with Cian, her lover and the master of Austin. That happiness is short-lived when the vampire ruling over San Antonio attempts a takeover of Austin in order to capture Amaliya and use her power for his own devices. To make matters worse, Samantha, Cian’s ex-fiancée, is seeing ghosts, the untested vampire hunters of Austin are running scared as a supernatural war looms, a mysterious man is hunting Amaliya with the help of her one time lover, Pete, and Rachoń, the Summoner’s favorite progeny, appears to be out for revenge. When Amaliya’s grandmother, a powerful medium, experiences terrible visions that reveal there is another necromancer vampire and she is crying out for help, Amaliya realizes happy endings do not come easily…

Pretty When She Kills is the second book in Rhiannon Frater’s dark, gritty vampire trilogy. I was delighted to step back into this dark world and it was quite the adventure. Vampires do not sparkle in Frater’s world and instead have uncanny abilities and territorial rivalries. I quickly became enthralled in this action packed tale and consumed this in a single afternoon.

The tale picks up a few months after book one ended. Cian and Amaliya are wrapped up in their romance and she is dreaming of happily ever after. We soon learn those thoughts will have to be put on hold when  multiple forces work to overthrow Cian to gain control of Austin, Texas and harness Amaliya and her power.  With an attack eminent, Cian and Amaliya enlist the help of the Vampire Hunter and his motley crew. The tale that unfolds offered awesome battle scenes, humor, and danger. I found myself completely immersed and cannot wait for the final chapter of this beautifully written tale.

I adore the characters Frater has created in this series. Even the villains have to be admired for their cunning and unique personalities. We see growth in Amaliya and new abilities emerge. She is still kick-ass and totally  snarky. While she still likes to jump into the thick of things, she is trying to think things through. I loved that when she is mad she jams out on her drum set. Cian is beginning to realize he should have secured Austin better and worries about those he cares for. The romance while not quite as steamy as book one certainly made my heart race. While Amaliya still doubts Cian s unbridled feelings, he certainly convinced me. It amazes me how she can take on monsters but still has so much self-doubt.  Amaliya’s grandmother, cousin and others are back and in jump in the mix.  Jeff the vampire hunter and his crew help out. I adore Jeff and totally dig his life. Samantha Cian's ex is back and if you remember I hated this little minx. Well guess what, she totally rocked this book and was even kick-ass. Yep, miss preppy and annoying was cool. New characters added to the tales page-turner suspense. I loved and loathed the villains and wanted them shown no mercy.

Frater took me on one heck of ride and had my emotions all over the place. I was angry, sad, fearful and cheering the next. Quite frankly I didn't want the journey to end. I am completely in love with this urban fantasy and the way the author portrays this world. Her unique twists to vampires, supernatural powers and epic battle scenes had me deliriously happy one minute and screaming at her the next. (yep, that's right I yelled aloud to Frater and the air turned blue)  When an author gets me that wrapped up in the tale, that I shout publically while reading…you know it’s a winner. I cared, I wanted more and most of all I believed. The characters are so fleshed out that the lines of reality blurred. The transformation of Samantha’s character and the supernatural elements woven into this tale gave me goosebumps. From the creepy-tasitc prologue to the last sentence I was held captive. If you haven't entered Frater’s vampire world you are completely missing out on some stellar reading.

I highly recommend Pretty When She Kills to urban fantasy fans and paranormal vampire fans looking to get that fix that only a totally kick-ass book can give you.  Frater is on my author’s to read list and I cannot wait to get my grimy little hands on Pretty When She Destroys book three due out in 2013.

I gave this novel 5 coffee cups out of 5

Giveaway Time!!

I want to share my love of this series, so one

follower can have their choice of an ebook from this series:

 Pretty When She Dies or Pretty When She Kills

(international )

enter rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway