The Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa

I was hungry. My stomach growled, and the apple felt cool and crisp in my hand. Before I knew it, I’d taken a bite. Sweet, tart juice flooded my mouth, with just a hint of bitter after taste. “He was a perfect gentleman,” I said with my mouth full, my voice sounding strange in my ears. “He helped me rescue my brother from the Iron King. I couldn't have done it without him.”

Rowan reclined and gave me a lazy smile. “Do tell.”

The Iron Daughter is book no.2 in The Iron Fey series (no.3 if you count the e-novellas). It takes off from where the last book left off, for the most part. There is an e-novella that follows the transition from book 1 to book 2 but you don’t need to have read it to follow the story. Meghan made a deal with Ash in book one so book two finds her holding up her end of the bargain. Meghan is stuck in Tir Na Nog with Mab, Ash and his brothers to witness the exchanging of the Scepter of the Seasons. All appears to be going well until some iron fey appear and cause disarray in the Winter Court. The reappearance of Ironhorse and a few more favorites tie the new adventure together nicely. The relationship between Meghan and Ash and Puck reminds me a lot of Twilight so if you loved that series I would suggest giving this one a go.

Author website: http://juliekagawa.com/wordpress/

Switched - Amanda Hocking

The guy was just looking at me, nothing more, but it freaked me out somehow. I’d put up with his stares for a week, trying to avoid confrontation, but I couldn’t take it anymore. He was the one acting inappropriately, not me. I couldn’t get in trouble for just talking to him, right?

Wendy gets strange vibes and strange feelings about the new guy at school. Finn Holmes, then he turns up at her window and her life starts to crumble. Wendy lives with her Aunt and older brother, her father is dead and her mother is in a psych ward. She’s there because she tried to murder Wendy on her 6th birthday. When two people try to kidnap Wendy and Finn saves her she is convinced to go along for the ride and finds herself in a world she never knew existed.

http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/

Fate- Amanda Hocking

“It’s tricky what you have with him.” She nodded at the door after Jack. “Why hasn’t he turned you?”

  “It’s a complicated situation.” I rubbed my arms. The girl on Olivia’s lap stirred, and she stroked her hair to quiet her. “Why haven’t you turned Hannah?”

  “I wouldn't have any reason to keep her if I did,” Olivia said, but she looked at her with some affection. “You've heard the saying ‘why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?’ Well, if I bought the cow, I wouldn't get any milk at all.”

  She wanted Hannah for her blood, and nothing else.

  “So why do you think he should turn me?” I asked.

“He loves you,” Olivia sounded surprised when she looked up at me. “You must know that.” I shifted uneasily but didn't answer her. “And I'm betting that he’s not getting any milk either.”

Fate is book 2 in the My Blood Approves series. With Peter out of the picture, for now, Alice continues to stay with Jacks family and get to know them. Milo her brother starts spending more time with them and he starts to get jealous of the time Alice spends with Jack. Then Alice runs into trouble at a vampire nightclub and most of the book focuses around the results of that trouble, as well as her continuing to fight off her urges to be with Peter.  There’s a rocky start and a rocky ending but well worth the drama to see the stories progression. If you enjoyed the first book then there’s no point resisting the urge to read this one, just succumb, absorb and enjoy the ride.

http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/

Past Midnight - Mara Purnhagen

    “I see her,” a man’s voice whispered.     A chill spread through me. Shane played it again. Never had three little words terrified me so much.     I see her.     I felt numb. “When was this recorded?”     “Just a few minutes ago, when you were standing in the doorway,” Shane said.

Charlotte is a teenager trying to get on with a normal life, she has managed to convince her parents to let her attend the same high school for one year consistently. Her parents have even gone so far as to buy a house in a suburb so she can make friends and do normal teenage things. Unfortunately things aren't as normal as they look from the outside. Her parents are ghost hunters/paranormal researchers who have their own reality TV show and they are always keen to involve Charlotte and her college attending sister Avery.

The summer before school starts they are in the town where Avery is attending college, her parents take the opportunity to film at several locations. One of them makes Avery chilled to her bones so they have to abandon filming after the second take. Without another thought to what went on they all go about their lives as usual. Avery goes to college, Charlotte and her parents move into their new home in their new town, and Charlotte starts at her new school. Everything is fine until Charlotte starts having strange dreams and she starts to realise everything is not as okay as it seems.

http://www.marapurnhagen.com/

The House of the Scorpion - Nancy Farmer

...He rambled on about his youth in Aztlan. It was called Mexico when he was a boy, he said. He came from a place called Durango. “People from Durango are called alacránes - scorpions - because there are so many of them scurrying around. When I made my first million, I took that as my name: Matteo Alacrán. It’s your name too.”Matt smiled, well pleased that he shared something with El Patrón.

Opium is a country that lies on the outskirts of the United States, it is part of what used to be Mexico. It is a country that has been sealed off from the rest of the world by a very powerful drug baron, El Patrón. House of the Scorpion focuses on a little boy called Matt. It follows his horrific childhood and flows into his interesting adolescence. He begins to find out everything there is to know about the drug kings empire, including just how shut off it is from the rest of the world. One of the most fascinating things about the book setting is that Opium’s technology has been partially halted. Opium has been kept 100 years in the past, while the rest of the world has evolved and developed. Matt makes some fascinating discoveries about himself and his home as the book advances. (Read The Lord of Opium, the sequel that begins 12 hours after the end of this one).

http://www.nancyfarmerwebsite.com/

The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa

When I woke up, I knew I was in hell. My whole body was on fire, or at least it felt that way, through I couldn't see the flames. It was dark, and a light rain was falling from the sky, which I found strange for hell. Then a dark figure loomed over me, jet-black eyes boring into mine, and I thought I knew him from. . . somewhere. Hadn't I met him before. . . ? “Can you hear me?” His voice was familiar, too, low and calm. I opened my mouth to reply, but only a choked gurgle escaped. What was wrong with me? It felt as if my mouth and throat were clogged with warm mud.     “Don’t try to speak.” The soothing voice broke through my agony and confusion. “Listen to me, human, You’re dying. The damage the rabbids did to your body is extreme. You have only a few minutes left in this world.” He leaned closer, face intense. “Do you understand what I'm telling you?”

The Red Lung virus was threatening to wipe out humanity so a Master vampire offered up other vampires to scientists in an attempt to save the world. The plan backfired and instead humans became cattle that were kept in gated communities run by Master vampires.

Allie lives in the Fringe, with a group of kids who are Unregistered citizens just like her. They don’t show up every month for bloodletting like the rest of the registered humans and so they go hungry. Allie lives each day as it comes, days are spent finding food to keep from starving and nights are spent hiding inside in fear of the vampires who stalk the night looking for humans to feed from. When she is desperate enough, Allie goes beyond the Outer Wall and into the ruins to scavenge. One day she is hungry enough to risk running into the rabids that live there, she ventures out and discovers a treasure trove, at the cost of her life.

Faced with the prospect of dying Allie chooses to live and is reborn as a vampire. She learns the ways of her new life from her sire until she is run out of town and must learn to live on her own. For the first time in her life, Allie finds herself cast out of New Covington and in search of a new home. She stumbles upon a group of wondering humans whom she joins and decides to attempt to play along and pretend to be human. The one thing her sire warned her of was starving herself because the longer she puts off feeding the closer she gets to madness and losing her self control.

Another fascinating look at a post-apocalyptic world where vampires rule and humans are no longer in charge. An interesting cast of characters, worth a read just for their interactions alone.

http://juliekagawa.com/wordpress/

Crave - Melissa Darnell

I edged closer to my unconscious boyfriend cuffed to a chair nearby. My judges gathered in a tight half circle a few feet away. Probably so they could see me better as I failed their test. The guard’s face looked bored, as if to say this was nothing personal. Which was a lie. This was totally personal. And all my fault. He reached inside his inner jacket pocket and took out two items… a syringe and a scalpel.

Savannah used to be friends with most of the kids in her school until the fourth grade. Then something happened, all the kids who are part of ‘the clan’ stopped talking to her overnight. Her boyfriend, her best friends, everyone, almost the entire town. Since then Savannah, living with her mum and grandmother has been off limits. The clan kids pick on her and torment her, in more ways than one. Tristan her childhood boyfriend torments her in a different way to the rest. She is always aware of his presence and finds herself drawn to him despite the fact he ignores her.

Crave follows Savannah's journey of self discovery, after being terribly sick her family lets her in on a few secrets and her life begins to get more and more complicated. Being drawn to Tristan is no longer her only problem. Tristan is now drawn to her, despite them both having to stay away  from each other. What follows is a Romeo and Juliet style courtship, just with a very different ending.

http://www.melissadarnell.com/