Black Dawn by Rachel Caine

Title: Black Dawn
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 367
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Glass House, The Dead Girl's Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, Kiss of Death, Ghost Town, Bite Club, and Last Breath
Age Group: Young Adult

Ever since the draug—mysterious creatures that prey on vampires—took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie—the town founder—has been infected by the master draug’s bite.

Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

Morganville is falling apart, but Rachel Caine is truly building something even cooler.

Things are heating up or watering up now with the draug slowly taking over Morganville. Now that the gang and pretty much the whole time are cornered up, an attack has to be placed in order to take back their town.

I still love how Rachel Caine is mixing it up by changing point of views. Unlike the other ones that started out slowly with one point of view here and there, and then giving whole chapters, but still focusing heavily on Claire, to giving a lot of equal time to many of the characters.

Things between Eve and Michael are a little rocky, Amelie is falling deeper and deeper into her sickness, Oliver has sort of taken over/fawning over Amelie, Shane is protective, Myrinn might be in love with Claire, and the said Claire is trying to make it another day.

Yep. Caine knows how to keep the interest in the series. I love how she added this, just so effortlessly, while still closing up what remind of the last few story-lines.

I'm very excited the way things are going. The story is getting more and more complex, the characters more interesting (or in the case of Eve, more annoying) and I am truly sad knowing that the series is coming to an end soon, because I don't know what I'll do knowing that I won't have my favorite quartet to look forward to.

Le sigh. You win some you lose some, I guess. 

Last Breath by Rachel Caine

Title: Last Breath
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 335
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Glass House, The Dead Girl's Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, Kiss of Death, Ghost Town and Bite Club
Age Group: Young Adult

With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town-a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely

Rachel Caine does it again by blowing me away!

Usually, in a series that is this long, I always fear that the interest will die away and that the characters will no longer be interesting, but that is not the case with this book series. If anything, they just keep getting better and better.

I absolutely love how Caine changes things up, which is why things become so interesting, I feel. Now the readers are no longer just looking at Claire's point of view, but looking into Shane, Eve, Michael, and even Amelie. Now that was interesting, to say the least.

As for Eve and Michael, all I can say is that the chick is really grinding on my last nerve. I mean, marriage, really? She was okay in the beginning, but now she's just irritating me and I really don't like her. And then she has this bad habit of complaining on just about everything and all I can think is, Why is she still around?

Shane and Claire are just as cute as ever.

Of course, things took an interesting twist that left me, well, with my last breath (no pun intended). Caine finds new and better ways to keep the interest alive, and she is winning.

Bite Club by Rachel Caine

Title: Bite Club
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: May 3rd, 2011
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 340
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Glass House, The Dead Girl's Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, Kiss of Death, and Ghost Town
Age Group: Young Adult

After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble.

There's a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare—knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other—or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire—accompanied by her friends and frenemies—to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville...

Just when I thought that Rachel Caine could not surprise me more, she does it again, but this time two fold. Not only are we reading about Claire and all her adventures, but now we even get Shane's point of view. And things are getting a little tense.

The whole book kept me on edge, as Shane fell further and further down a road of no return, while Claire scrambles to find a way to bring him back. When a new gym opens up, things with Shane begin to change as he begins to change.

And an old enemy returns, one that many faithful readers would be very familiar with.

As much as I love this book, I was also starting to get irritated with Eve. For once, I was really wishing that she wasn't around because she just annoyed me and I have a bad feeling that she will continue to irk me for the rest of the book series.

Every time she appeared, I just had to roll my eyes because she was a thorn on my side.

Besides that, I honestly liked the book. A lot of things in Morganville are going to change and I'm a little excited to see just what happens!

Ghost Town by Rachel Caine

Title: Ghost Town
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: October 26th, 2010
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 338
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Glass House, The Dead Girl's Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, and Kiss of Death
Age Group: Young Adult

While developing a new system to maintain Morganville's defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she's able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.

But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town's little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville...

As many of you know, I was reading these books in volumes as they came out, but it has been well over a year since the last volume was released and I was getting impatient and needed my Morganville fix, so instead of waiting, I just got the rest of the books individually. Now, I'm just waiting for the last one.

And what a fix I needed. I have been on a nonstop Morganville Vampires marathon since I got the books, which for those of you that follow me on Instagram know that I got a lot of them.

First can I say how much I love the cover? I looked back at some of the covers for the earlier books, and this I have to say is so much better. The other books that followed afterwards also look amazing. And I love the color schemes that they got going on.

Now, to the story. Rachel Caine has developed the characters beautifully. Even though it has been awhile since I last read anything Morganville I love how I'm able to pick this up and still be able to remember everything that occurred in the last novels. And I'm able to remember how the characters are and compare them to now. It's crazy how things happen.

I'm so glad there was much more of Amelie and Oliver.

Also, is it just me or do the vampires get much deadlier in this book and those that follow? I feel like they do, which just reminds me how vampires are supposed to be. Deadly and fierce.

Rachel Caine is a genius and I absolutely love this series. I love it so, so much!

Morganville Vampires vol. 4 by Rachel Caine

Title: The Morganville Vampires vol. 4: Fade Out & Kiss of Death
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 453
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Morganville Vampires vol. 1, Morganville Vampires vol. 2, & Morganville Vampires vol. 3
Age Group: Young Adult

FADE OUT
Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected.

KISS OF DEATH

A new chapter in the New York Times bestselling Morganville Vampires saga.

Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a big- time producer who wants to cut a demo and play some gigs-which means Michael will have to enter the human world. For this, he's been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal as well as Michael's all-too-human friends. And with that mix of personalities, this is going to be a road trip from hell.

How much I have missed the gang no one will ever know. Okay, so I missed them loads and loads, and with so many other obstacles in the way I am so glad to get back on it. And like so many other books I am so glad that once I started up again it was like I never left.

In "Fade Out" life in Morganville is getting back to normal. Or, at least as normal gets for that town. With the vampires, the crazy computer vamp, and of course Monica. But, there is something wrong with the town, especially with Amelie, who is not all herself.

Seems like vamps want to break free from Morganville but danger comes in a form that is almost least expected, in a human. When Eve's good friend Kim begins a film project to document the lives of the Morganville vamps. With her sudden disappearance truths begin to come out.

I actually had no idea what book number I was on since I'm reading these in volumes, two at a time. So, I was a little surprised to find myself already on book 7, and I was even more surprised with Rachel Caine. By this time I didn't think anything worse than Bishop could happen to the gang. Well, that's where people need to think again.

What I absolutely loved is that there is never a dull moment. Myrinn is still as crazy as ever, though, less so, but now his crazy computer girlfriend Ada adds to the mix. And when a danger that is unexpected appears, the gang just cannot take a break.

Like I said where one danger is gone, another appears. I am such a fan of the story continuing and the way things tie together the reader never forgets something. Somehow Caine is making this entire series tie together tightly, which makes me giddy with excitement.

And as I fall more in love with the series, I was not at all disappointed with "Kiss of Death." The gang is back and this time they are on the road. Yes, that's right, they get to leave Morganville! With Oliver and of course they have to come back, but details, details, details.

But with Michael going to meet a music agent in Dallas the gang hits the road for what they hope would be a restful but fun weekend. You'd think they know better by now. Danger has followed them out of Morganville, after the events that took place in "Fade Out" and this danger is not ready to leave the gang alone until Shane, Eve, and Claire are sucked dry and Michael goes puff.

I don't want to give too much away but like always, Caine is in it to impress. She takes her characters from their comfy homes into the outskirts of Texas where danger both human and vamp is waiting for them.

Sadly, I'll have to wait until the next volume is released, which will be who knows when, but the way things are going and what I've been hearing I know this book series is going to be a memorable one.

Am I the only one that's thinking why this hasn't become a TV series already? Just a thought. It can happily join the ranks with TVD, but that's my opinion.

Once again, Caine has written gold and I cannot wait to read more of what's to become of our gang.

Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes

Title: Dreaming Awake
Author: Gwen Hayes
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Falling Under
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

When Theia Alderson first encountered a mysterious, handsome boy in her dreams, she never imagined how finding Haden Black—and falling in love—could change her life. To save Haden, Theia sacrificed everything. And the dangerous bargain she made could have lasting repercussions.

Now Theia has returned to Serendipity Falls, and she finds herself struggling with the same deadly hungers that have tortured Haden. When students at their high school fall prey to a mysterious illness, Theia can’t help but wonder if Haden’s control is slipping—and how much longer she’ll have a grip on her own.

And still the nightmare realm of Under won’t let them go. Someone from Haden’s past is determined to destroy Theia from the inside out, starting with those closest to her, forcing Theia to choose between family and friends and a love that may have been doomed from the start…

The sequel to Falling Under, Hayes brings back Theia, Haden, and the rest of the gang. Now that Theia is back to the human world, she has some readjusting to do as she quickly realizes that things will not be the same. And that Mara, the queen of Under and a human's worst nightmare, will never let Theia go.

I have to say, I loved the first one, but this one completely blew my mind. The world that Hayes has created is haunting, chilling, twisted, dark, and incredibly creepy. She brings back this world that literally creates terror to the human world.

Theia's struggle to get back to normal and try to hide what could be her demon side that she now holds proves to be incredibly difficult. I felt like Hayes never rushed things when it came to Theia. She was able to keep a steady pace and realistically present the hardships that her heroine goes through. And with Haden, Hayes is still able to keep him a dark, delicious mystery that will make any girl want him.

When students in Theia's school begin to show signs of an unknown sickness, Hayes keeps us surprised at every turn with a revelation that continues to shock as the story develops.

The character's, I feel, go through some incredible developments and grow as the story progresses. Hayes even lets us into the minds of Donny and Amelia for a chapter, as the horror increases and everything begins to unravel as Mara grows stronger and stronger.

One thing I was not expecting was the way things ended. This leaves a lot open for hopefully future books, because so many things have been left open.

This book was as wonderful as the first and I have to say that I'm starting to love both Theia and Haden, because Hayes breathes such life into her character that it leaves no room for argument how wonderful they are for each other. This book definitely focused much more on the demonic aspect than the first, which brings goosebumps across my arms while reading it.

Another wonderful story by a wonderful author.

Morganville Vampires vol. 3 by Rachel Caine

Title: Morganville Vampires vol. 3: Lord of Misrule & Carpe Corpus
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: March 1, 2011
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Morganville Vampires vol. 1 & Morganville Vampires vol. 2
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

Lord of Misrule

In Morganville, violent black clouds promise a storm of devastating proportions. As student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against the elements the unexpected happens: Morganville's vampires begin to vanish. Discovering why leads Claire to one last choice: swear allegiance to the evil master vampire Bishop- or die...

Carpe Corpus

An underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it Bishop vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants. Claire and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?

What can I say that hasn't been said in the last two books I read (well, four actually). I really love the way they come together, because it feels like I'm only reading three books, when really I just finished six out of the current eleven that are out.

So to begin, in Lord of Misrule Bishop is about to turn the town upside and the town does a complete 180 in the next book. I love how much I hate Bishop. He is really just pure evil. And not to mention the craziness that goes on in these books. What I really like about Rachel is that she doesn't flat out tell you who is good and who is bad, besides our four main characters, you have no idea, because these vampires love to play mind games with everyone. I am literally with Claire every time she turns around and finds out that someone who was supposed to be a friend turns out to be a foe and vice verse, and then it turns out it is the opposite.

It's ridicules. But the fact that Rachel can keep such a tight hold on the complexities of the novel really makes her a wonderful author.

I won't lie, in Carpe Corpus I kept trying to figure out who was on what side, but Ms. Caine just loves to keep people guessing.

The way the last book ended was a little of a surprise to me, but since the series continues I can tell that a lot more will come up. I just want to know what will happen to all the characters, and I can't wait to see more of Claire and Shane, because they are just so adorable. Compared to the way Shane acted in the first book to now is really a huge development of a character. Not to mention Claire. I don't think I've ever seen such a tougher heroine like her before.

Michael continues to surprise me with each turn. I love how loyal Rachel stays to her character, never once breaking them away from who they are, but continues to add to them with each new book.

The story line continues to get more complex and the situations more dangerous, and honestly, the reader can never know what will happen next.

Five stars out of five for pure awesomeness.

Morganville Vampires vol. 2 by Rachel Caine

Title: Morganville Vampires vol. 2: Midnight Alley & Feast of Fools
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: September 28th, 2010
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 448
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Morganville Vampires vol. 1
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

Midnight Alley

Claire Danvers has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. But her protection doesn't offer much comfort when people start turning up dead and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home, giving a terrifying new meaning to "night school"...

Feast of Fools
The tenuous good-neighbor policy between the vampires and humans of Morganville is turned on its head with the arrival of bad-to-the-bone Mr. Bishop. What the ancient old-school vampire wants from the town is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball that Claire realized the elaborately evil trap Bishop has set for the warm-blooded souls of Morganville.

So after the first volume I knew that I had to rush and pick the next book up, sadly I had to wait a little while before rushing out and getting this book, but once I did I have no regrets. I had no idea I was going to enjoy this series so much.

Claire has grown on me so much, and I am personally very proud of Shane, because within the last two books he has grown so much. He still keeps to his Shanish way's, but the fact that he isn't as immature as from the first book I really like that. There were moments I was a little worried about his relationship with Claire, wondering to myself if he's using her or what's going on. And there was a moment in the third book, Midnight Alley, where I'm thinking, "He's showing his true colors now." But at the end of Feast of Fools I realized that he does actually care about her, very deeply. And handling the whole Michael situation is...well, he's working on it.

As for Michael and Eve, I love them. I have no idea what's going on with Michael and what he feels and I wish that Rachel would go away from Claire and let us into Michael's head for a little peek because going from human to a ghost to a vampire it takes out a lot in a guy and I just want to claw into his mind and figure out his demons, basically. Eve, I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't more background with her, especially with her brother, but I do feel like her reaction towards everything he's done - or hasn't done, who knows - is very realistic.

Now for each book: MIDNIGHT ALLEY was a fun ride. We finally get into a little bit about the town history and a little secret about the vampires, which you'd have to read to find out, and even the town itself. Morganville sits in a throne of secrets that you want to peel away by each brick and concrete and tree and house. I found the character of Myrnin a little unnerving and a little scary, because the guy is...colorful. I was a little scared for Claire thinking that Amelie, being a cold hearted vampire, was throwing her out because she has just very little regrade towards humans, but FEAST OF FOOLS explains a lot of things.

Jason gave me goosebumps and not in the good way either. I didn't like him, I just wanted him to go away, and he just got worse and worse as he appeared. Monica, is Monica.

FEAST OF FOOLS had me dropping my jaw in a lot of places. I feel like Rachel is doing a wonderful job with the pace of the novels, with the way things get revealed, and the cliffhangers she leaves. At first the books sound simple, but as you go from one book to the next, from one chapter to the next, you really get that there's a whole mess here. I like the comparison she used with the game of chess, though comparing lives to a game is a little unsettling, she does a good job of explaining things.

Bishop I am curious about, especially with what we find out about him, which leaves me asking so many questions, which leads me to say that Rachel does a great job of answering things, but also an equal great job of leaving us with more questions. She leaves loose ends where they need to be, but ties enough things up at the end of each novel to leave you feeling like, "Okay, we solved one problem, let's move to the next one," which is something I think is important as an author. I'm sure Lauren Kate could pick up a few things from Rachel.

Really, all around great book. Sexy, dark, mayhem, love, action - not enough words. You have to read it to really believe it.

Morganville Vampires vol. 1 by Rachel Caine

Title: The Morganville Vampires vol. 1: Glass House & The Dead Girl's Dance
Author: Rachel Caine
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: November 3, 2009
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 480
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

Morganville is a small college town in the heart of Texas-not a place that exactly screams "hotbed of creatures of the night". But college freshman Claire Danvers is about to discover why, in Morganville, you should never, ever stay out after dark...

Glass Houses
College freshman Claire Danvers moves off campus and into an old house in the small town of Morganville. Her new roommates have her back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

The Dead Girls' Dance
Claire may have a great roommate and a new boyfriend, but when she's invited to the Dead Girls' Dance all hell breaks loose-literally. Because this time, the living and the dead are ready to tear up the night...

 I actually never heard of the MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES before, and I picked up this book because, honestly, I liked the cover. It was pretty and a little mysterious and dark and I knew it obviously had something to do with vampires.

I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first and I was glad when I had the first two books in one, because I really did like it. Claire is smart, Eve is funny, Shane is the tough guy, and Michael is basically the head of it all, and they all connect so well together, it was wonderful.

There were a lot of portions I laughed, and some parts where I literally thought that this should not belong in the YA section. The plot-line feels unbelievably complex but when when paying attention it's actually just really well planned out. The books aren't too long and their not too short, and there's actual character development throughout.

I had moments where my jaw dropped, I was scared, and I was biting my nails in anticipation. I was sad when it ended and was ready to rush out to get the next volume, but I don't have it yet.

The story didn't go too fast nor too slow, and the world that Rachel made was fantastic. Again, I'm sure I'm one of the few people left in this world who has yet to read it, but I'm glad I did. I also love how Rachel ends each book with a cliffhanger of sorts.

Twisted, dark, mysterious, and funny. If you have yet to get this book, it is highly recommended that you do. You will not regret it.