In My Mailbox 29

For review:
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent - I've been really looking forward to this one. Thanks MiraInk.
Hector & The Secrets of Love by François Lelord - I just finished reading this yesterday, it's a really fun story. Thanks to Gallic.

From BookMooch 
Damsel in Distress and Requiem for a Mezzo by Carola Dunn
The Rilloby Fair Mystery by Enid Blyton
Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates
Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

It's been a pretty good week for me! What did you get?


In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Something is wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh...

She can sense when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest boy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the dark forces behind Kaylee's power than she does.
And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason and only Kaylee knows who'll be next, she realises that finding a boyfriend is the least of her worries!

My thoughts: Kaylee is a bean sidhe but doesn't know it. All she knows is that she sees when someone is about to die and uncontrollably screams until they do die.
This was a really great story and I really liked the characters, especially Kaylee and Nash.
I hadn't heard of bean sidhes before so I was pleased to see that the mythology behind them was explained in the story.
This was a fantastic start to the series and I can't wait to read the next book!

Thanks to Mira Ink for sending me this book for review.

My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent

It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

My thoughts: This is the prequel to the Soul Screamers series and is available for free at Rachel Vincent's website.
The story begins with Kaylee and her friend shopping at the mall. Kaylee soon begins to have what appears to be some kind of panic attack in the middle of a shop. The next thing she knows, she's waking up in a psychiatric unit where the rest of the story takes place.

To be honest not much really happens in this story, and anything important will be covered in the main books of the series anyway. But this was a good introduction to the series and has made me more excited about reading My Soul to Take, the first full book in the series.

Kaylee seems like an interesting character and I'm looking forward to reading about how she copes with her affliction.

Alpha by Rachel Vincent

Everything is about to change for werecat Faythe when her father is ousted from the council that controls their secret world. And a shocking tragedy jeopardises her future as Alpha of the pride.

Now a rebel on the run, Faythe's biggest fight lies ahead. Old allies from the supernatural world are ready to stand by her side. And weretoms Marc and Jace would give their very souls in the duel for Faythe's heart...

Yet as their enemies draw near Faythe knows that she - and she alone - can lead the pride into what may be their final battle.

My thoughts: This is the final book in the Shifters series and, having not read the previous books, I was a bit worried that I'd be missing information that was important for this book, but it didn't feel like that at all.

Obviously I might have enjoyed the book more if I had followed the series, but it seemed to work just as well on its own as there were enough explanations given for me to get the general gist of what had happened before.

The book did seem to start quite slowly for me as most of the time the characters were planning and thinking about what they should be doing rather than actually doing anything. However, as the book goes on there is a lot more action and it gets quite exciting.

A big part of the story is the love triangle between Faythe and the two toms, Marc and Jace. Having not followed the series I was a bit confused about why and how she could treat them the way she did.

Overall it was an exciting book that was full of action. For someone who usually steers clear of 'urban fantasy' I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

If, like me, you haven't read the series I'd suggest starting with book one, Stray. The good thing with Alpha being the last book in the series is that you won't have to wait impatiently for the next book!

Check out my Q&A with Rachel Vincent.

I received this book from MIRA in exchange for an honest review.

In My Mailbox 23

It's Sunday, and you know what that means? Yep, it's time for another In My Mailbox post (In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren). I got two books this week that I'm really excited about.

The first is Johnny Swanson by Eleanor Updale. I read Montmorency by the same author, and I absolutely loved it and have since been trying to get my hands on her other books. This ARC edition popped up on bookmooch so I mooched it, and when it arrived I did a little happy dance when I saw that it's actually signed by the author! 

The second book I got was My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent which came from the publisher for review. I wasn't expecting this one so was pleasantly surprised when it turned up on my doorstep. I've just read the prequel to this book, which you can read for free at http://rachelvincent.com/mysoultolose.pdf, so now I'm really excited to start this book.

Well, that's it from me, what did you get this week?

Author Interview - Rachel Vincent

Rachel Vincent is the author of the Shifters series, about a werecat named Faythe Sanders, who is learning to define her own role in her family and fighting to claim a place in her Pride.
Rachel’s young adult urban fantasy series, Soul Screamers, is about a teenage bean sidhe (banshee) trying to balance a normal school experience with the terrifying, hidden world she’s just discovered. My Soul To Take is published in the UK January 2011.

Rachel was kind enough to answer a few questions for me...

1. Are you sad that the Shifters series is at an end?
Yes, and no. I chose to end the series because I wanted it to go out on a high note, at a natural conclusion, rather than to extend indefinitely and suffer series burnout. And I’m happy with that decision, and with how the series ended. But it is a bittersweet moment for me, because I already miss writing Faythe and her dangerous world.

2. What do you enjoy most about writing?
Arguments. Fights. Any intense emotion, like loss or fury.

3. You have pet cats, did their personalities inspire any of your book's characters?
Actually, it was kind of the opposite. My cat Kaci is named after a character from the Shifters series.

4. What would you dress up as for Halloween? A writer on deadline. PJs, slippers, no makeup, dark circles under her eyes, coffee mug in hand. ;)

5. Trick or treat?
Treat, of course!

Check out Rachel Vincent's website at http://rachelvincent.com/

In My Mailbox 19

I received two books for review this week. I'm really looking forward to both of these.

Alpha by Rachel Vincent - Everything is about to change for werecat Faythe when her father is ousted from the council that controls their secret world. And a shocking tragedy jeopardises her future as Alpha of the pride.
Now a rebel on the run, Faythe's biggest fight lies ahead. Old allies from the supernatural world are ready to stand by her side. And weretoms Marc and Jace would give their very souls in the duel for Faythe's heart...
Yet as their enemies draw near Faythe knows that she - and she alone - can lead the pride into what may be their final battle.

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton - A rural idyll: that's what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and moves to a tiny hamlet in the Cévennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free to make a new start, and to set up in business as a seamstress. But this is a harsh and lonely place when you're no longer here on holiday. There is French bureaucracy to contend with, not to mention the mountain weather, and the reserve of her neighbours, including the intriguing Patrick Castagnol. And that's before the arrival of Catherine's sister, Bryony...

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.