Book Nerds Across America

I know this is a week late...but it's been a busy week!!

For my Lent Challenge I decided to not pick a number of books, like I did last year, but just a theme. My theme: Paranormal. It seems like forever since I read a lot of good paranormal books.

Here's the list and a short review of each:

Alien Commander's Bride (Draconians #1): (a novella)  I've never been a BIG dragon reader. Sure there's been dragons in the story, but never as hot as Nash and the Draconians. In this story the world has been taken over by Dragons (aka the Draconians). They want to mate and to do that they need human woman. Therefore, the woman sign up for the lottery. Then they are matched with their mate. Nash is the Commander of the Draconians and H-O-T! Lexi Garcia is trying to save her family and she signs up for the lottery. This is a short book but full of hot sex scenes and a deep connection to the humans and dragons!!

Alien Warrior's Mate (Draconians #2): (a novella) Of this whole series this is by far my fave! This sweet, kind Loretta is just trying to take care of her grandmother and siblings and did the right thing by going to school and gaining her MBA. Then came the dragons! Mylash is also my favorite dragon as well! He's a lot like Loretta, but in a hot male dragon form!

Alien Fighter's Woman (Draconians #3): (a novella) Tabby is an amazing character in this series. Rough around the edges, but wants to do the right thing. The problem: her mate: Oro! Talk about a thick skull. I felt bad for the dragon at times, but other times I wanted to shake him.

Alien General's Wife (Draconians #4): (a novella) Of all in this series, I think this is the longest book! And thank goodness it is. This is the action packed one I'd been hoping for. Indigo is a relatable character, but her mate and General, Vlosh, I didn't get this dragon at all!  Sometimes, I just skipped the parts of him alone. He's...strange!

Alien Architect's Bride (Draconians #5): (a novella) This one I have a like/dislike complex with. There's parts I like because of the interactions with the humans and dragons and dislike but this dragon, Joss, a big jerk! Seriously. I don't mind an alpha male type, but OMG ... just no!!! Overall, it's my least fave of the series.

New Beginnings (Others of Edenton 0.5): YES!! I have fallen in love with this series!! Everyone stop what you're doing and just go buy all these books!! That's what I did when I finished this first one. I came across this series by accident. It popped up on my "Recommend Reads" from Amazon. I never even heard of this author before, but I won't forget her name now! Even though I usually love just reading a whole series of one type of paranormal, this has them ALL! I didn't think I'd like it, but OMG I totally do!

Slater is the Alpha of Edenton. Jess moves into town from another pack, because she had to get away from her jerk of an Alpha. Of course neither are looking for mates, but who ever stops looking for their one true love. However, there's a lot more to this story than just love. So much more!!!!

In Too Deep (Others of Edenton #1): Fallon and Brody are by far my favorite couple in this series (thus far). Fallon and Brody are two broken souls and when they connect it hard to see them both fighting it. But, their dark pasts and secrets are why they're so strong now!!!

Shadows of the Past (Others of Edenton #2): Amethyst and Hayden! *sigh* I love these two. Then you add in Preston (oh, yes! More Others!) and you can have yourself a party! Well, not really, but it's a serious love triangle that keeps you flipping through the chapters. This one has A LOT of action in it as well. I made have shed a tear or two near the end!

Falling into Place (Others of Edenton #3): This comes with a warning (I'm not spoiling anything it's in the blurb) but this is a very sexual book, a lot more than the others thus far. So, if that isn't your thing, skip this one. Like the others, this is a bit darker and there are seriously violent scenes. Robert, Liz, and Termaine are three characters you won't forget! Ever!

Breaking Free (Others of Edenton #4): Devlin and Jamie ... wow! I think Jamie is one of my faves in this series. She's down-to-earth and her back story is very sad, but touching too. She's come a long way ... bring in Devlin! Another Other with a dark past trying to find his way ... oh and does he ever!!

Mending Scars (Others of Edenton #5) I know I said Fallon and Brody were my faves ... that's until this book!! Preston and Dacia...OMG! I really disliked Dacia up until this point. She's super-duper annoying and a real pain! No joke! But when you see her trails and past and why she's the way she is ... well, you can make the judgement call. Preston is still swoon-worthy! I adore him and in this book you find out EVERYTHING about him!!

Light In Darkness (Others of Edenton #6) Oh Lincoln! That sweet, kind angel! I adore him and throughout this series I just want to protect this kid! He's so precious! (Then again, he is an angel!) Victoria, Ms. Vampire, is (portrayed) to be the opposites of Lincoln, but like always we don't get the whole story until you read through! These two ... hot ... hot ... hot!

Now that's all I did for the Lent Challenge. However, I'm on this one: Blissful Agony (Others of Edenton #7) and there's more to come!!!

Flo's Review

This was a great story. So let me talk about what I didn't like first and get it out of the way so I can end this review with the good stuff. Having heard lots of great things about Sarah Dessen, any and all of her books sat on my TBR for awhile -- to the point that whenever I found a good deal on one, I bought it. Hence, I own at least 4 and had never read one. For our BookNerd Lent Challenge, I finally picked up The Truth About Forever. And I didn't like it -- mainly because the majority of the part of the story that I made it through was spent in flashbacks and not forward motion. Unfortunately, I discovered with Lock and Key that this is Sarah Dessen's writing style. I do not know what she has against chronological order. But Lock and Key skipped around SO much. It was present, then it last week, then it was present, then it was this earlier morning, then it was two days ago, then it was when Ruby was a kid, then it was present again. Seriously?!?! Please explain to me the need to write a scene happening in the present and then flashback to a  time period that was earlier that morning?!?! I don't understand! Can you not just start the story in the morning and carry on with the day?!?! As you can tell, this lack of chronological order annoyed the CRAP out of me. But I came to love these characters. Each and every one of them. Ruby. Cora. Jamie -- how can you NOT love Jamie?!. Nate. Olivia. Gervais. Like Jamie, I was pleasantly surprised with how well Ruby transformed. But she wasn't the only one -- Cora, Gervais, Nate. I liked the themes in the book, how it discussed the idea of family and how the idea of the key was woven into Ruby's journey. I finished this book with a smile on my face, so happy that all these characters who I now loved were going to live out happy endings. So, will I read another Sarah Dessen book? Maybe. But honestly -- I don't know.

Jacque's Review:

Lock and Key is a stand alone contemporary YA novel.  That sentence alone should tell you this is not your typical YA book.  The protagonist, Ruby, is a 17 year old girl who is a senior in high school.  She has been living alone for ten years with her mother who is divorced, has a substance abuse problem, and is clearly not a good role model.  She attends school all day and helps her mother work in the evenings just to meet their basic needs.  Living under these circumstances has left her very guarded and suspicious of others. 

I have two books I am dying to read sitting on the corner of my coffee table, winking at me as I go by. But I have not opened them. And I won't -- until Sunday, April 8th. Because they both contain love triangles, and my Lenten Booknerd Challenge was to give up books with love triangles. Like any other Lenten sacrifice I have made, this was difficult! There are frankly a lot of love triangles out there! But I persevered in staying away from them, and I am proud of myself for doing so.

Now, for the other challenges: I started with a Stand Alone book: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green which was such a great book! I had been wanting to read it for awhile, so it was a bonus that it fit into one of our Lenten challenges. Next, I tackled the Book Jacque Chose for Me: Between by Cyndi Tefft. Well....it's a good thing I liked the John Green book! With that behind me, I tried a Book That's Been in My TBR the Longest: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. I struck out on this one. My last Challenge book was another Book That's Been in My TBR the Longest: The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Ehhh....

So, it appears that the only one of the Challenges (besides my personal one) that led me to a book I really enjoyed was the Stand Alone Challenge! This is a little unfortunate, especially with the books that have been in my TBR the longest. Oh well. At least now I know -- AND they are off my pile!

Overall, I had a lot of fun with my #Lent4BN Challenges! It was fun to deviate from my set list of what I plan to read and add some different elements into the mix.

Flo's #Lent4BN Challenge: Read a Book That's Been In Your TBR Pile the Longest


Ok, I tried to complete this challenge with The Truth About Forever and failed, so I decided to give it another chance by trying another book that's been in my TBR just as long. This trilogy by James Dashner is a favorite of some of the girls at Down With the Capitol, a Hunger Games fansite I also work on, so I've been meaning try it out for awhile. With everything I had heard about it, I was expecting to love it.

Well...

It was better than the TTAF because I did actually finish it! And I enjoyed it. I wanted to see if the Gladers would figure a way out of the Maze. But here was my main problem: characters. In order for me to really enjoy a book, I have to enjoy the main character(s). Most of the time, this means I have to like them, but I'm pretty sure there are some instances where this means I just absolutely despise them as well and have to keep reading to see what happens to them. (I can't think of anything off the top of my head, though.) But I didn't like Thomas. He frankly annoyed the klunk out of me. I agreed with the Gladers when they got annoyed at him for asking too many questions at inopportune times. I agreed with Alby when he got annoyed at Thomas because Thomas was whining that Alby didn't like him. Alby said something along the lines of: it's not about liking you, but strange things have been going on since you arrived and we're trying to figure them out. Thomas questioned EVERYTHING the Gladers did even though they've been there two years, so they clearly know what's up. And he'd been there, what, a day or two? The Gladers would get insulted with Thomas' questions and I agreed with them! At one point Minho said something along the lines of: that's insulting. Don't you think we've thought of that? and I agreed! Then, after asking a bazillion questions at highly inopportune times, when people asked questions of him, he just wanted them to follow him and blindly trust him, at one point saying, "I'm done with explaining!" So they can stop in the middle of a crisis to answer your annoying questions, but you won't explain anything to them?!?!

I didn't really like Teresa either. She wasn't nice to the Gladers. They were suspicious of her, but she freaking told them she initiated the end! Of course they were! Yet they still took care of her and fed her through her coma phase and then she repays them by being unfriendly to everyone but Thomas and Chuck.

There's another scene that annoyed me, but I don't want to be spoilery.

So, I'm not sure that I'll keep reading the trilogy. I am kind of interested to see how they fare in The Scorch Trials, but can I deal with Thomas as I find out? I'm not sure.

One final note: I heard they are making this into a movie. This will be one gross, gory production!! I can't even begin to imagine how'll they translate a Griever to the big screen.

Click here to read Mary's review of The Maze Runner.

One of our Book Nerd Lent Challenges was to choose a book for another Book Nerd to read. I used this great opportunity to have Jacque finally read one of my most favorite books ever. In return, she made me read about Fabio in a kilt. No, it's not fair. She clearly got the better end of the deal.

The book Jacque chose for me was Between by Cyndi Tefft. She actually hadn't read it, but Teri has and I believe she gave it 5 stars. Well, this will be another one of those scenarios of Book Nerds division, because at most, it gets 2 stars from me.


Here's the Goodreads summary: "It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent. After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates. Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries."


It was Just. Too. Much. All of it. Let's start with Aiden MacRae. It's one of those scenarios like the chicken vs. the egg. I don't know what came first. Does he remind me of Fabio because I think he's overdone and trying to hard to sexy and perfect? Or is he overdone and trying to hard to sexy and perfect, thus making him a Fabio in my eyes?! And the accent! I understand he's Scottish and he has one, but I've read several books with hot Scottish men and didn't want to groan because every word was over-affected.

Plus, there's the slightly annoying "I've known you appoximately 3 minutes but I already love you soooo much that I want all your babies and would take a bullet for you and you can do no wrong EVER" factor. Call me a cynic. I believe in attraction it first sight. A connection of sorts. But deep, undying, unending, unquestioned love? That takes more than the, what, DAY it took Lindsey & Aiden. (On a side note, perhaps this is another reason I'm Team Jacob?)

Anyway, so Lindsey falls in love with Aiden after .2 seconds and decides "Forget heaven! I wanna hang out with Fabio!" And he tells her about his past (long story short and non-spoilery: he screwed up) and of course Lindsey is all, "That's okay! You're amazing!" and then the two of them start traveling to different periods in time and the book seemingly has no plot for several chapters while they just kinda wander around.*

*I do want to address the traveling, because that IS cool. Basically, they can both go to any place where one of them has been before. So, he takes her to an old school fancy ball and to Paris. She takes him to a nice night she had with her family. But as an outsider, she sees that the way she remembers it is really happier than it actually was. That was interesting.

Anyway, then after knowing each other like a day or two something happens that I won't reveal because it's spoilery, but it relates to my rant up above, and I was done! I gave it more than 100 pages like I try to do with all books, but I couldn't give it more than that.

The Lent for Book Nerds Challenge is a great way to enjoy Lent and challenge yourself to a goal.

Each Book Nerd has set a goal for themselves during this Lent season.

Mary's Goal:

I had no clue what I was going to do for Lent this year.  When the Book Nerds and I began discusses this on Twitter I knew that I had to set myself a good goal.  Plus, I have recently had a lot of time on my hands with not a lot to do.  My goal for this Lent is 20 books in 40 days.  I will review each book and I will number them so that everyone (and mainly myself) can keep up! I really hope that more can join us in this challenge.  I think that setting goals (even goals for just 40 days) are a great way to make oneselve feel better! Good Luck to All!

Jacque's Goal:

Selecting a challenge has not been easy give the fact that I have some insider information related to future Lent challenges here on the blog. *hint hint*  After reviewing my lengthy TBR list, I have finally come up with something book related to give up for Lent.  For those of you who follow the blog regularly...I am one of the few BookNerds to read mysteries.  I am currently up to my ears with books from various mystery series that I want to catch up on.  SO...I am going to give up mysteries for Lent and will focus on the considerably smaller selection of books remaining on my TBR list.

Flo's Goal:


I was lying in bed the other night thinking about how often for Lent people give up something they love...making it that much more of a sacrifice. You know now that the BookNerds have been talking about our  Lent For BookNerds Challenge, so I tried to think about how that realization relates to this. And I thought -- pretty much right away -- of something I love in books: a love triangle! It's the heart of our BookNerds in Love Triangles features that we do every so often, and a popular YA story element -- because, really, what girl wouldn't want to have 2 eligible men into her?! Anyway, because it has become so popular and I love it so much...can I do without it? Can I sacrifice it?? So, for the next 40 days I will not be reading any books where the main story line involves a love triangle. This is going to be tough! But I think it will also give me appreciation for a nice, simple love story.

Tee's Goal:

 The other day Jacque and I were talking and she asked me how I was liking the Nook Santa Clause brought me at Christmas  . I told her it was great, I was getting a lot of Words with Friends and Angry Birds played on it, but I had yet to read one book on it. I CAN NOT MAKE MYSELF READ SOMETHING OTHER THAN A PHYSICAL BOOK!!! So for Lent, I have decided that I will read at least one book a week on my Nook. I have plenty on it, I started downloading right away, but they have just been sitting there! I am actually not giving up anything, but this is a challenge after all and I need forced on this!!! In a way I am giving up something...Im giving up my books, the one's I love to hold and smell...So wish me luck..I have a feeling this is going to be as hard as the Lent I gave up my Diet Coke......

It is that time of year again.  It is Ash Wednesday and time for Lent.  One thing that the Book Nerds would like to say is that we would never push our beliefs onto anyone.  This was just a challenge that was discussed on Twitter and gave us an idea. 

For those who do not know, Lent is celebrated by many Christians and (mainly) Catholics.  It is when you sacrifice something or challenge yourself to something.  It can be anything really. Most of the time people give up something for the time of Lent  but the Book Nerds came up with something different.

For 2012, the Book Nerds are going to challenge themselves to read! It is simple, just read and review.  We each have set goals for ourselves to reach before the end of Lent.

We would love for others to join in on this challenge and see how many Book Nerds we can get!  It does not matter the book, just read and review.

Keep watching the posts and looking for the hashtag #Lent4BN on Twitter!

picture cane from jaxorthodox.org