My dad LOVES yellow cake, and box cake really is the easiest and quickest thing in the world. Two extra ingredients make the cake all the more moist and delicious!

 Ingredients:

1 Yellow Box Cake

1 Vanilla Pudding cup

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

3 Eggs

1 cup Water

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together all three eggs, until completely broken down. While whisking add in the oil, and then water.
2. Once that is completely mixed, while continuing to whisk, slowly add the pack of box cake a little bit at a time. You could just put it in all at once, but that will create a lot of clumps. If you put it in a little bit at a time, there won’t be any clumps.
3. This is usually where you would stop when being lazy and only making a yellow box cake. But if you want to make it a little more special and make people think that you made this cake from scratch, you’ll add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a vanilla pudding cup.
4. Mix the entire thing one more time, and then put it into the baking pan.
5. To bake, follow the baking instructions on the box.

Before I start my review, can we all just take a moment to take in and appreciate this B-E-Autiful cover?!

Thank you!

After finishing Tiger’s Curse, and falling in love with the story, its characters and the culture incorporated within each of the pages, I was more than excited to get my hands on the second book, and finally start reading it. With sky high expectations for this second segment, I couldn’t wait to finally continue the journey with the two tigers, the teenage girl, and sweet Mr.Kadam. (And I couldn’t stop myself from drooling over Kelsey and Ren’s relationship… again.)

Instead of trying to summarize the story, like I usually do, I’m just going to insert the synopsis right here. So that way I won’t be giving too much from this book or the first one.

 “Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest–this time with Ren’s dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger’s Curse. Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, TIGER’S QUEST brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them.”

Tiger’s Quest doesn’t introduce very many new characters. The only four people we (the readers) are introduced to, are the three guys Kelsey starts to date when she arrives back in Oregon, and the one friend she makes while enrolled in a Martial Arts class. This didn’t really bother me that much, because I didn’t read Tiger’s Quest to meet new people, I’m reading for the characters I fell in love with in the first book; two brothers, Kelsey and Mr.Kadam.

While Tiger’s Curse revolved more of Ren and Kelsey, Tiger’s Quest is much more about Kishan and Kelsey… due to Ren not being there, for reasons I can’t say.. While I loved Ren and the way he treated Kelsey, I also liked seeing this sweet and loving side of Kishan.

If you’ve gotten the chance to read Tiger’s Curse you know exactly how heart wrenching the ending was, and I can’t promise you that the ending of the second book is much happier. But I can easily say that the last fifty or so pages, was my favorite part. The ending was nothing I could have ever imagined, it wasn’t explosive or world ending, but it caused my heart to drop, and my eyes to water… and in a sad way, I loved it …

Overall the characters gave me everything I was hoping for and more. The team is another step closer to ending the curse, but things are also falling apart… I continued to learn more about the Indian culture, I continued to swoon over Ren and Kelsey, and now even Kishan and I continued to follow their journey to end the curse.

I loved Houck’s writing style, and gulped down the book within two or three days! But if I had to pick one thing that bothered me, it would have to be towards the beginning of the book, when Kelsey starts to date three different guys… I thought she was trying to take it slow, especially after such a heartbreak.

But I loved the story and I plan to continue and finish the series!

The cover of Black City is mind blowing! It’s artistic and unique and I’ve never seen anything like it before. What do you think?

Black City is a broken down and damaged society and in shambles due to warfare.  Both Humans and Darklings (vampires) live in this society. But while the Humans reside inside of the city, Darklings are forced to live in the ghettos outside of the city limits. Black City is run a man named Purian Rose who is intimidating, scary, and starting wars to get rid of Darklings. Though most citizens or Darklings have never even seen the man, fear strikes them when they hear his name.

The story follows two very opposite teenagers. Natalie, the daughter of an Emissary of Black City and Ash who is a halfling (half human, half darkling), but is allowed to live inside the city because his father is human. While Natalie is used to living a pampered life, and almost never finding herself in any trouble, no matter how rebellious she can get, Ash is dealing haze (a drug found only in darkling fangs) just to earn extra money.

*I know how this sounds, rich and spoiled girl falls in love with poor bad boy. But Elizabeth Richards makes it much more than that.*

Being as rebellious as she is, Natalie is surprised when her mother enrols her into a working class school. There she recognizes the same guy she saw a couple of nights ago, dealing haze. The two couldn’t be more different, and because of that they bump heads and completely disagree. But soon, both start to have feelings for one another.

A human/darkling couple would never be accepted and is looked down on in the society that Purian Rose has established. So the two try their hardest to stay away from one another. But really, when does that ever work? Darklings are exactly what Purian Rose is trying to get rid of… yes, even Ash.

Before I say anything, I do have to admit that I went into reading Black City with a bad taste in my mouth. I was pulled in by the cover, but I became hesitant when I realized that was another book about vampires. I think we can all agree that the vampire thing is overkill. But Black City doesn’t focus on the entire “vampire” idea. That information is more in the background.

And one more thing, before I completely drool all over my keyboard and fan girl over this story, I want to get the negative out off of my chest first. The one and only thing that truly bothered me was the instant love between Ash and Natalie.

I really enjoy seeing two people who are so different deal with one another, and overcome their differences. But only after a couple of chapters, the two couldn’t stop thinking about each other, nor stay away from one another. I like seeing a little bit of conflict between Ash and Natalie. Then I wanted to see them be forced to work together, to solve whatever it is they need each other for, and then they fall in love… I just feel that the beginning of their relationship was a bit forced.

I think we’ve all seen movies about the rich girl who falls in love with the poor boy, and she is willing to do and give up anything and everything just to be with him. But Black City is so much more than that. Characters in Black City seemed to be real, and have substance behind them.

Ash is battling within himself, unsure of where he belongs, or who he belongs to. Natalie on the other hand is having mommy issues. She is also dealing with an obsessive ex-boyfriend, who is also her bodyguard. So it seems that she can never get away from him.

Purian Rose is the “cult” leader that the community never really sees, but still brings fear to many. Though he may seem to be trying to do the right thing, he isn’t.

The ending, you may ask? Well I can’t say anything about it, because I don’t want to give anything away! I promise it’s for the best!

The writing style was dark, scary and sexy. There was no room between action scenes and things moved quickly! If you haven’t read this one, or the second book, Phoenix, you should get on that!

Before I say anything at all, I would like to apologize for my negativity in this review, and just because this book didn’t really tickle my fancy, it might tickle yours. I just want to give my honest opinion, nothing else.

I was asked to review Breathe on digital audio, and when I realized it was by Abbi Glines, I couldn’t turn down the offer. I’ve read many reviews where people were raving about her stories, the characters featured within, and her writing style. I’ve been meaning to pick up some of her books, and when Breathe was offered to me, I couldn’t resist.

I was excited to finally get it started and see what everyone in the blogging world was talking about… but my excitement was a bit short lived.

Audio books are perfect for listening to when your hands are full, when you’re writing book reviews, or doing chores, etc. So yes, I do read other books in between, while I listen to audio books, because I can’t carry my computer everywhere I go. But while listening to Breathe I read a total of three other books!

I read The Vincent Boys also by Abbi Glines and loved it, while listening to Breathe (not at the same time, but you know what I mean)! It gave me motivation to continue listening to the audio book.

Breathe follows the story of an average teenage girl named Sadie, and a teenage boy rock star named Jax. Sadie isn’t only taking care of herself, she is also taking care of her pregnant mother. Jax is done with his tour, and is ready to spend his summer away from the cameras and fans, hanging out with his family in private. But for Sadie things aren’t that easy, bills are due, and Sadie has to go to work at a mansion, hoping to fill in for her mum.

One thing that really bothered me about Sadie was that before she even met Jax, she was constantly telling herself that he was this rich spoiled guy who is used to girls’ attention, and that she’ll do anything she can to avoid him. But I think we all know that this never works out, or ends up happening.

The two seem to always be around each other and throughout Breathe the two teenagers confess their love. They hit a few bumps in the road, and work them out again later.

To me, Breathe felt a bit forced; the story (poor girl, rich guy), and the romance. Having read The Vincent Boys and falling head over heels for it, I found Breathe didn’t match up as well. The relationship between Sadie and Jax was too much instant love and overall the flow in the story, and the background between the two main characters felt a bit rigid.

I really liked the entire idea behind the story. The synopsis pulled me in but the execution of the idea wasn’t really to my liking.

Again, I apologize for all the negativity but I just wanted to give an honest review. I have heard rumors though, that the rest of the Sea Breeze series is good, so I’ll probably give it another shot, and see how it goes!

I received this audio book for review from Simon and Schuster; thank you! I would recommend this book on audio as it’s really awesome to listen too! I loved the reader’s accent. It made the story sound like it was read by Magnus himself!

What Really Happened in Peru follows Magnus’s adventures during his stay in Peru. Each adventure is short, the actual book I think is only 100 or so pages long, and the audio version plays for about an hour and half. It’s really quick, great for a car ride, or just to listen to on the side while doing something else.

Throughout What Really Happened in Peru, the reader learned a lot about Magnus and his days before meeting the characters we all know and love in the Mortal instruments series. We also get to see a glimpse of his friends, Ragnor Fell and Catrina Loss.

Besides those three, the reader also gets a taste of what it meant for Magnus to be in love with a mortal, and as well as little bit of Magnus’s demon father (Dare I say, that was my favourite part?!).

What Really Happened in Peru filled in the reader with some background information on a beloved character, but the adventures themselves were as exciting I hoped them to be. Overall, I still really enjoyed learning more about Magnus, before the Mortal Instruments series started, even though I wished the adventures weren’t so dull.