Review of The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

Title/Author: The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3) by Aimee Carter
Publisher/Date published: Harlequin Teen, February 26 2013
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley and bought a shiny finished copy

Goodreads summary: Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or the end of the world.
Kate must choose.

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can't stop her - until Cronus offers a deal.

In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.

With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.

Even if it costs her eternity.

***WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR FIRST 2 BOOKS IN THE SERIES***

It is no secret that I love Greek mythology and this series is one of my favourites that involves this. Goddess Interrupted ended on such a cliffhanger that I was both REALLY anxious and REALLY scared to finally get to The Goddess Inheritance. Not to mention my fear of reading the last book in a series.

But I shouldn't have worried, because I can totally trust Aimee Carter to bring the awesome and give me some closure! The thing I love about series and that makes me love this one so much is that I could just slip right back into this world and catch up with the characters effortlessly, it's like reconnecting with old friends and I love that!

Kate has grown so much over the course of the series and I love that she's a strong woman who knows what she wants. I thought the whole thing with her getting pregnant at the end of Goddess Interrupted was pretty sudden and SO unexpected, but though Kate hadn't planned have a baby at her age, she definitely wants this baby. The protectiveness and love adds another layer to her relationship with Henry and I just loved it!

And Henry... I'm such a big fan of Henry. He may be infuriatingly stubborn at times, but he's just so swoonworthy and sexy in all his power that I can totally forgive him for this. Though I kinda didn't get how he could be so naive sometimes! Seriously! Kate is missing and people keep this from him with lame excuses? I mean, seriously?? If only he'd been more about taking action and people wouldn't have kept him in the dark, it would have solved SO MANY problems!!

Anyway.

This was one of those books that I just could not put down! It was so actionpacked and the stakes were so high, I was just on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was filled with sweet moments and heartbreaking moments and WHAT? NO!! moments and just all of those good feelings! Though I am fully satisfied with this ending to an amazing series, I cannot help but wish Aimee Carter will write more stories set in this world and maybe centering around Kate and Henry's kid? Because he seems pretty special. Though I'm also fine with just more Kate-books, because she rocks and I don't think she's done having adventures!

My rating: 5 stars

Review of Lord of Wicked Intentions by Lorraine Heath

Title/Author: Lord of Wicked Intentions (The Lost Lords of Pembrook #3) by Lorraine Heath
Publisher/Date published: Avon, April 30th 2013
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: Lord Rafe Easton may be of noble blood, but survival taught him to rely only on himself and to love no one. Yet when he sets his eyes on Miss Evelyn Chambers, and earl's illegitimate daughter, he is determined to have her, if only as his mistress.

After her father's death, Evelyn Chambers never imagined she would be sold to the highest bidder, yet circumstances give her little choice except to accept the lord's indecent proposal. Rafe is wealthy, as well as ruthless. Yet his coldness belies deep passion and deeper secrets. If she must be his, Evelyn intends to lay bare everything the Lord of Pembrook is hiding. But dark discoveries threaten to destroy them both until unexpected love guides the last lost lord home.

I really enjoyed Lord of Temptation and Deck the Halls With Love, earlier books in this series and I was really excited to start Lord of Wicked Intentions! And I wasn't disappointed!

Evelyn is the illegitimate child of an earl and though her father loved her very much, he didn't really think she was fit for polite society, or so she discovers after his death. Her brother, who is a hateful man, decides to try and buy off his debt through selling his half-sister as a mistress to vile men. Of course Rafe steps in and makes some death threaths and whisks Evelyn away to his own mansion.

Evelyn was pretty naive. I get that she's been sheltered and everything, but well, she's got that starry-eyed child sens around her and it kinda annoyed me at times. I did like that she doesn't hang her head, but accepts what life has thrown at her and makes the most of it.

Rafe is a pretty hard man. Circumstances have made him that way and I liked that although he thinks he's all mister tough guy, he secretly has this really big heart and does things for people without them realizing it and without expecting gratitude. I just wanted so bad for him to give his brothers another chance and to have him be a part of the family again! And for all his taking Evelyn away to become his mistress, I liked that he waited for her to be ok with intimacies and get to know him a bit.

So I know that in romance novels in general if one half of the couple is a little 'broken', love (and sex, let's be honest) cures this all of a sudden. But really, I was just sort of not convinced here. I mean, he has had a problem with people touching him for YEARS. And suddenly he's completely ok with it. Yeah... I'm not buying this.

They did have really good chemistry and some things that happened towards the end made me cry and I love when books make me cry! There were a couple of things that made me roll my eyes, but overall this was a very enjoyable read!

My rating: 4 stars

Daisy Update (41) On a Monday!

So I usually do this on Sundays, but as I was kinda busy yesterday I thought, well, let's just do it on Monday instead :)

Last time I told you guys how I was SO EXCITED about getting accepted for the GP residency and the Monday after I got a call telling me I could start in September 2013 instead of March 2014!! This lead to more excitement of course, cause now I won't have to look for a job to tie me over and I can just START! YAY! I feel really lucky and happy and just HURRAY! :D

So that week I only had to work Monday till Wednesday and I actually had a pretty decent evening shift, with only 1 patient coming into the ER. Which is awesome, because really, it's been insanely busy the last couple of months and now I just had room to breathe. And eat, which is pretty unusual.

Friday it was the boyfriend's birthday and we had some friends over in the afternoon who stayed for dinner and his and my family came over after, it was really fun and kinda exhausting. I kinda yawned the guests away around 11.30PM and after a while they got the hint ;)

Saturday we went out for drinks with some friends, which was fun and Sunday it was Mother's Day and it was time to go hug my mom and have dinner with her, my dad and my brother. We don't really spend a lot of time together as a family and it was nice to just have it be the four of us.

Last week was just BUSY. All together I think I worked 75 hours, which is sorta crazy. I was working on one of the wards again and I just love that! I also love that there are now 2 residents on a ward and I have so much more time to get to know the patients instead of just 'managing' them! It's nice to be able to do a little extra for them and not run around like a crazy person trying to get everything done on time! And now I actually have time to get coffee and socialize a bit with the other residents and nurses :)

Have you guys heard anything about the Eurovision Song Contest? I watched the semi-final on Thursday and seriously, I just laughed SO HARD at some of the performances! If you're interested in seeing why, I'll leave the links to the youtube clips of Macedonia and Romania:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1VYsOUCsY

Where did they get all that red fabric???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3xp5ZXSYA

Move over Edward, here's another glittering vampire!

Oh, and just because I've been singing this with one of my coworkers ALL DAY Friday:



Even after a couple of years, it's still hilarious!

So, enough of these musical shenanigans!

Saturday was my last 24-hour shift and it was kinda ok! I only had one patient in the ER ALL DAY! Seriously, I was so surprised! One patient is pretty much NOTHING. I did have some sick patients on our wards, but for a whole day it was pretty ok. Two had a lot of fluid in their chest and I totally rocked doing a punction and draining some of it. It's still a little scary to stick a pretty big needle in someone's chest, but it went really well and it helped the patients! I didn't get much sleep at night because of some questions over the phone and one patient died, which was expected, but still.

Yesterday I just conked out when I got home and in the afternoon it was time for the annual barbecue we have with the boyfriend's friends. They have a carnival this weekend every year and we always get together for the barbecue at someone's house, this year it was at the boyfriend's parents' and it was really fun! They pretty much all have girlfriends and I like hanging out with them. I didn't join them when they went on to the carnival, because I was ready to fall asleep standing up and decided it was a better idea to just go home.

Today I'm just gonna give into my hermit tendencies and relax and not look presentable, because hey, noone's home except for me. I have 3 whole weeks off and I plan on reading ALL THE BOOKS and watching Pretty Little Liars and Grey's Anatomy and cook yummy food and maybe go on a little vacation and just have lots of quality time with the boyfriend! :) Oh, and go shopping. Cause seriously, what's time off without a little retail therapy? :)

Review of The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

Title/Author: The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom (The League of Princes #1) by Christopher Healy
Publisher/Date published: Walden Pond Press, May 1st 2012
How I got this book: bought myself a pretty copy
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary:
Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav.

You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel, but you probably know them all as 'Prince Charming'. Well, all that is about to change as the hapless princes stumble upon an evil plot and get a second chance to prove themselves true heroes.

Seriously, reading this book was one of my better decisions this month! It was SO MUCH FUN!

First off, you guys should know that I love fairytales. LOVE. And I love any book that deals with them or reads like one and this novel getting deeper into the different prince charmings out there is just SO MY THING!

I don't read many funny books, and I'm not sure why not, cause this was hilarious! I laughed out loud a couple of times, which earned me weird glances from the boyfriend at times. I loved getting to know the characters flaws and all and they've all earned a special place in my heart. But to be honest, I think my favourites are Liam and Duncan. Liam is what I'd want my prince charming to be like and Duncan is just so sweet! All four of them are great characters, but these two stole my heart.

I loved that we get to see them in their full glory and get a little more of a backstory on the princes, because, let's face it, it's mostly all about the princesses in fairytales. Most of them don't even have a name in the story and that's what's adressed in The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom.

I read this in no time at all and was highly entertained the whole time. The writing if witty, funny and engaging, I really fell for these characters and was rooting for them! It's a bit of a silly romp, but sometimes you need that in your life and it made for a great read-a-thon read! I already have The Hero's Guide To Storming The Castle staring at me, so I'll be reading that soon :)

My rating: 4,5 stars

Review of Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

Title/Author: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead
Publisher/Date published: Razorbill, November 13th 2008
How I got this book: own it
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all... might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose's forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line - and choose between the two people she loves most.

***WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR FIRST 2 BOOKS IN THE SERIES***

So if I had read this back when I didn't worry about review piles who needed clearing, I probably would have DEVOURED these books in the space of a week. They are THAT addictive!

With every book I love Rose more. She is such a kickass character and she's what makes these books shine. I mean, sure, I am as likely to drool over Dimitri as the next girl, but Rose is who I ultimately read this series for. I love her loyalty and how she truly gives everything of herself. She's committed and I respect that.

And for those of you who have met Dimitri: do I really need to say anything other than THIS MAN!! *SWOON*

Rose and Dimitri together are just amazing and I was happy and happy and frolicking along, reading the book and then all of a sudden WHAM! BIG PLOT TWIST! And OMG, I can't believe I forgot for a minute which series I was reading and how Richelle Mead manages to pull at my heartstrings EVERY TIME! And like I said to Judith from Paper Riot THINGS NEED TO BE FIXED! I mean, seriously, I will never forgive Richelle Mead if things DON'T get fixed! Seriously!

I so need to read the next book...

My rating: 5 stars

For My Mother

Today's Mother's Day, and while I feel that you should show your mother you love her EVERY day, today is still a special day.

I love my mom and I am so thankful we have a good relationship! She's always there for me and supports me no matter what and I love that I can share my love of reading with her! She's the one who read stories to me and took me to the library when I started reading books myself. Anytime I have news, either good or bad, I just call my mom. I love our spa days together and the days when we just sit together watching TV or reading.

So mom, even though you're probably not reading this, I just want to say that I love you and that I'm so happy that you're MY mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Review of How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer

Title/Author: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer
Publisher/Date published: Balzer & Bray, April 23rd 2013
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie - like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?

Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.

Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?

Guys, you have no idea how much I would have loved to work at an amusement park as a summer job when I was in my teens. Seriously, that would have been EPIC. Especially if you can share it with friends. So of course I jumped at the chance to read How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True!

And it was so much fun! This is why I read contemporaries every now and then! I love that they can have an extremely fun and cute storyline and mix it up with real issues. I loved that I could identify with Zoe and her love for her best friend, her cousin. I loved how she had all these memories connected to the place she was working at and how she gave everything even if she didn't really felt appreciated.

And seriously, I totally loved pretty much the whole cast of this novel! From the prince charming who is terribly afraid of horses to the Queen herself who can be put in a better mood by getting a piece of dark chocolate and having it NEVER MENTIONED that she gets this with her lunch from Zoe. LOVE.

I also really enjoyed the scenes with Zoe and the boy who turns out to be her very own prince charming after all and how she could be herself with him and even talk about her mother who passed away. Even though I did think a lot of the problems in this novel could have been sorted out easily if people just TALKED TO EACH OTHER, but yeah, that's usually the problem ;) I loved all the intrigue going on in Fairyland and the competitiveness because of the chance of winning a LOT of money. I don't want to spoil it, but I seriously laughed at the ending when all is revealed.

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True has everything I need to put a smile on my face and I read it in no time at all! I read it during the dark hours of Dewey's read-a-thon, but I think it would be perfect to dream away with on a sunny afternoon when you have nothing going on. I'm definitely going to be reading more by Sarah Strohmeyer!

My rating: 4,5 stars