Finding "Dating Dracula" by Kinsley Adams

 I love it when I get the chance to read some light and funny romantic monster stories. And "Dating Dracula" was all of these things.

In this urban fantasy, Anna is a human vlogger who is determined to expose the truth about vampires to the world after their recent coming-out to human society. Anna is determined to prove that these "fangers" aren't the dark, romantic misunderstood beings they present themselves to be. She wants to expose their true nature on her vlog and see her followers skyrocket her into stardom.

This is how Anna and her best friend, Lucy, end up in a vampire night club. In her attempt to uncover the truth, Anna finds herself the next victim of a vampiric serial killer. Drained of blood and left for dead next to a dumpster in an alley, Anna begins to seriously question her life choices. However, she is saved by a tall, dark, handsome, and brooding vampire who pulls her back from the brink of death by giving her his blood.

When Anna awakens as a vampire, she is shocked to discover that her savior is none other than the legendary Dracula, aka Vlad. And it turns out that all the lore surrounding his evil nature is not entirely accurate. As Anna begins to adjust to her new life as a vampire, she finds herself drawn to Vlad.

Unfortunately, dealing with drinking blood, the lack of a reflection, and her new coffin are the least of Anna's problems. It turns out that the vampire who drained her is back to finish the job, and he has Anna in his sights.

This is a cute love story between Anna and Vlad with just enough suspense thrown in to keep me engaged. I thought the love between the two characters could have used a little bit more of a foundation but overall I was satisfied with their story.

If you are looking for a light paranormal romance, then I think you will enjoy this "Dating Dracula".

My biggest complain is I definitely could have used more of Sam in this book! =) Wink. Wink. 

Finding "The Prison Healer" by Lynette Noni

 Holy plot twist! I did not see that coming!

I'll admit, I read several reviews before starting "The Prison Healer" and I had seen multiple reviews mentioning a plot twist at the end, but man, I did NOT see that coming.



Kiva has been locked away in a high security prison for the past 10 years of her life, ever since she was seven years old. For the past few years, she has held the title of prison healer, caring for sick and injured inmates and processing new arrivals. She is known as many different things to many different people. Most of them are not flattering.

For the past ten years, Kiva's sole purpose has been to stay alive. She keeps her head down, she listens to the guards, she spies on the other prisoners for the warden, she burns the letter "Z" into the flesh of all the new prisoners, and she does it for one reason.

"Stay alive. We are coming."

Her family is coming for her. Over the past ten years, Kiva's family has been able to smuggle in messages telling her to stay alive and they are coming for her soon. It is the only thing that has kept Kiva going.

However, things start to change with the arrival of two new prisoners. Jaren, the new handsome and strong tunneler, seems to have taken an interest in Kiva. One that she fights against knowing that Jaren likely will not survive his first month in the prison. And Tilda, the very ill rebel queen responsible for the uprising against the ruling family, who arrives shortly after and her presence changes everything.

"Don't let her die. We are coming."

When the rebel queen is sentenced to Trial by Ordeal, her death becomes almost certain. However, Kiva must do everything in her power to keep the rebel queen alive until help can arrive, even if it means taking the queen's place in the trials. Kiva must survive the four elemental ordeals: Ordeal by Air, Ordeal by Fire, Ordeal by Water, Ordeal by Earth. However, if Kiva fails, she dies and the rebel queen will be executed with her.



With their fates now entwined, Kiva is going to need the help of her friends, both new and old, if she ever hopes to get out of the prison alive.

***

This amazing immersive story is a page turner filled with intrigue, prison riots, betrayals, secrets, budding romance and magic. I thoroughly enjoyed the budding romance between Jaren and Kiva, and Tipp is definitely one of my favorite characters.

The description of the Ordeal by Fire and the Ordeal by Water literally had my stomach twisting with anxiety. These scenes were packed with tension and I literally flew threw them.

I hated that we didn't see what happened to the warden towards the end.

That plot twist at the end though... I almost feel like I need to reread the book now and see if there were clues that I missed that pointed towards this revelation, or if it hit all readers the way it did me.

I am excited to see the story continue, but I feel like Kiva has a dark road to travel ahead of her. I think I will wait to read "The Gilded Cage" until "The Blood Traitor" comes out this summer.

Finding "Kingdom of the Cursed" by Kerri Mansicalco

 While I still love the story line and the premise of this series, I have to admit I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as the first one. I enjoyed the increased spice level of this book between Emilia and Wrath but I almost constantly felt like I wanted to slap some sense into Emilia.

She is constantly thinking about her schemes and how she is going to have to be smart to find out who is behind her sister's murder, and then she goes and does something completely stupid.



There was A LOT going on in this book and I feel like it made the plot feel a little scattered. (view spoiler) I wish that some of the big reveals that came in the last 5 chapters had been introduced a little sooner in this book so we could get a better feel for how they are going to impact Wrath and Emilia's relationship. (view spoiler)

My biggest gripe is that I kept thinking, "Emilia doesn't deserve Wrath". And this made me sad. I really enjoy Emilia as a character and I am ready for her to branch out more and show greater depth. I don't want her to completely throw aside her need for vengeance, I just want it to be a facet of her more complex character development.

I still love this series and I am very excited for the final book to come out.