Crazy Challenge Connection - A-Z Authors 2014 - Finished

A-Z Authors 2014 hosted by Goodreads Crazy Challenge Connection.

It is the time of year when a lot of yearly challenges finish. I have now completed this one and managed to find authors with surnames for the whole alphabet. It was actually funny to see that it was N and V that was missing in the end not the ones like Q, X or Z that are considered difficult.

All posts for this challenge is HERE.

List of books at the bottom of this post.

A – Z AUTHORS
DURATION: January 1 - December 31, 2014

Once again this year, we’re challenging you to read at least one book by an author whose LAST name begins with each letter of the alphabet. If you have trouble finding authors whose last names begin with Q, U, X, Y and Z, you may use the author’s first name OR a name in which the letter appears – for example: Brian Jacques could be used for either Q or U. However, we’re asking that you NOT use this option until the last two months of the challenge, or until you have completed all but these letters. Please TRY to find an author beginning with the appropriate letter!

CHALLENGE RULES

♣ When you sign up for the challenge, please post a challenge template so we have a post to which to link your name; post #2 will list participant links which can then be used for making challenge updates.

♣ For each book you read, please indicate the title, the author and the date you finished reading it. If a challenge task gives several options, please make it clear which option you’ve chosen. If the task calls for an item on the cover, include a link to the book cover.* If it’s not obvious from the book title or cover, be sure to explain how your book fits the task. If you don’t, you won’t get credit for completing that task.

♣ Unless otherwise noted, books must be at least 150 pages long.

♣ Books may only be used for one task in this challenge, but cross-challenge posting is encouraged!

♣ If you want the challenge moderator to check your progress as you make updates, please copy/paste your update into a new message . We don't have time to scroll back through the entire thread looking for "message #15," or to follow links back to an original post.

♣ When you complete the challenge, please post your entire list as a new message to make it easier for everyone to see what you've read. If you don't repost your list, you won't be included in the list of those who have completed the challenge.

My post on Goodreads.

List of book:

✔ A: Andrews, Ilona: Magic Bleeds
✔ B: Buchan, John: John Macnab
✔ C: Cramer, Scott: Night of the Purple Moon
✔ D: Dover, L.P: Forever Fae
✔ E: Edwards, Sandra: The Marriage Bargain
✔ F: French, Katie: The Breeders
✔ G: Geary, Debora: An Unlikely Witch
✔ H: Howard, Chris: Saltwater Witch
✔ I: Ivey, Eowyn: The Snow Child
✔ J: Jefford, Nikki: Aurora Sky
✔ K: Kurtz, Sylvie: A little Christmas Magic
✔ L: Labonte, Beth: What Stays in Vegas
✔ M: Matheson, Richard: Steel and Other Stories 
✔ N: Natusch, Amber Lynn: Unborn
✔ O: Oliver, Jenny: The Vintage Summer Wedding
✔ P: Pandos, Brenda: Evergreen 
✔ Q: Quindlen, Anna: Blessings
✔ R: Reichs, Kathy: Death du Jour
✔ S: Singh, Nalini: Angels' Blood
✔ T: Thews, Samuel: A Place Beyond The Map
✔ U: Unger, Lisa: Heartbroken
✔ V: Vincent, Rachel: My Soul to Take by Rachel
✔ W: Wright, Melissa: Pieces of Eight
✔ X: Xinran: Himmelbegravelsen (Sky Burial)
✔ Y: Young, Samantha: Drip Drop Teardrop
✔ Z: Zane, Jennifer: Gnome on the Range

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

She doesn't see dead people, but...
She senses 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 guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next... From Goodreads.

This had a slow start and I thought it was boring. But luckily it picked up and there was a couple of events at the end that I hadn't seen coming and that is always good.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection: 1000 Member Celebration!
Crazy Challenge Connection - Oktoberfest
Crazy Challenge Connection - Bookshelf Battle Team Challenge #4
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection A-Z Locations - 2014

Unborn by Amber Lynn Natusch

Born into mystery. Shackled to darkness....
Khara has spent centuries discovering everything about the Underworld―except her place in it. But when she is ripped from her home, solving the riddle of her origins becomes more important than ever. With evil stalking her through the dark alleys of Detroit, she finds salvation from an unlikely source: a group of immortal warriors sworn to protect the city. Khara needs their help to unravel the tangled secrets of who and what she is — secrets many seem willing to kill for. But time is running out, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer necessity binds her to an arrogant fallen angel.
Can their shaky alliance withstand that which threatens her, or will her soul fall victim to the unholy forces that hunt her―those that seek the Unborn? From Goodreads.





I needed a book by an author with N for last name. I found this on Kindle unlimited and liked that I could listen to it. This is full of mythology. Khara is, like the group of immortal warriors she meets, a child of Ares. She has lived all her life, which is centuries, half the year with Hades and half the year with Demeter. This book is about finding out who / what she is and how she deals with it. It was interesting enough that I will look out for the next book that has not yet been published.

This book qualifies for:
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (U-vulture)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

The Marriage Bargain by Sandra Edwards

Camille Chandler is a tabloid journalist whose career is right on track--until her boss sees a curious ad in the L.A. Trades.
Wanted: Single actress for an extended gig abroad.
France's mega-rich playboy Julian de Laurent is up to something and Camille's boss expects her to find out what. Who knew the eccentric gazillionaire was looking to hire a temporary wife?
When Camille refuses to accept Julian's proposal--and secretly write a juicy tell-all about the de Laurent family--she's fired and left financially destitute, forcing her to entertain Julian's proposal for real.
But what'll happen at the end of the contract period, after Camille has spent six months as the wife of a man she learns is capable of stealing her heart? From Goodreads.






This was an okay romance. Not very plausible but a quick, cosy read.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Jumble Your Genres Reading Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Oktoberfest
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Let's Play Jeopardy!
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-seal)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #9

Barnet på Blessings (Blessings) by Anna Quindlen

Late one night, a teenage couple drives up to the big white clapboard home on the Blessing estate and leaves a box. In that instant, the lives of those who live and work there are changed forever. Skip Cuddy, the caretaker, finds a baby girl asleep in that box and decides he wants to keep the child . . . while Lydia Blessing, the matriarch of the estate, for her own reasons, agrees to help him. "Blessings" explores how the secrets of the past affect decisions and lives in the present; what makes a person or a life legitimate or illegitimate and who decides; and the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community. This is a powerful novel of love, redemption, and personal change by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer about whom "The Washington Post Book World" said, "Quindlen knows that all the things we ever will be can be found in some forgotten fragment of family."  From Goodreads.




This was really good and I enjoyed it. Lydia Blessing goes from being a not likeable person  to a very likeable person and as we look back at her life we discover the reasons for being the person she is. Skip finds his purpose in life. This book doesn't have a typical happy ending but in its own way it is not particularly sad either.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Author Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Gnome on the Range by Jennifer Zane

Once you get the zing you can't go back.
Jane West has everything a woman could want. A job in a small Montana town's only adult store, two busy young boys and one dead husband. Everything except a little excitement--a little zing. But that changes one summer morning at a garage sale when her kids buy some garden gnomes.
Now someone wants those gnomes and will let nothing get in their way. Including Jane. This new excitement for Jane spells trouble for a relationship with new neighbor--and hot fireman--Ty Strickland. Can Jane and Ty handle a relationship meddling mother-in-law, crazy kids, and stay alive while trying to solve the mystery of the garden gnomes? From Goodreads.

This wasn't great but it was funny in parts and that pulled it up to three Polar bears. Jane is okay but it is the mother-in-law that is funny. No, I don't think I will read more by this author.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Author Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (Z-zorrilla)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

The Vintage Summer Wedding by Jenny Oliver

A Vera Wang dress, the reception at a sophisticated London venue, and a guest list that reads like a society gossip column are all the ingredients of Anna Whitehall’s perfect wedding that never was…
Spending the summer uncovering hidden treasures in a vintage shop, Anna can still vividly remember both her childhood dreams; the first was that she’d become a Prima Ballerina, and dance on stage resplendent in a jewel-encrusted tutu. The second was that at her wedding she would walk down the aisle wearing a collective-gasp-from-the-congregation dress.
Years ago Anna pirouetted out of her cosy hometown village in a whirl of ambition…but when both of those fairy-tale dreams came crashing down around her ballet shoes, she and fiancée Seb find themselves back in Nettleton, their wedding and careers postponed indefinitely…
Don’t they say that you can never go home again? Sometimes they don’t get it right… This one summer is showing Anna that your dreams have to grow up with you. And sometimes what you think you wanted is just the opposite of what makes you happy… From Goodreads.

Okay romance. I liked Anna and her fiancé Seb. Anna has problems being back home in the village Nettleton when her dreams were something completely different. I might read more by this author.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Let's Build a House
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (V-raven)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Alaska, the 1920s. Jack and Mabel have staked everything on a fresh start in a remote homestead, but the wilderness is a stark place, and Mabel is haunted by the baby she lost many years before. When a little girl appears mysteriously on their land, each is filled with wonder, but also foreboding -- is she what she seems, and can they find room in their hearts for her? From Goodreads.

Another book I have had on my TBR pile for a while. I have always loved fairy tales and this seems to be a retelling of an old Russian one which I think I will have to find and read.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-leopard)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Drip Drop Teardrop by Samantha Young

Avery hasn’t had it easy. 
When she was ten years old her parents died in a car crash. Now nine years later her Aunt Caroline is the only family she has left. And Caroline is dying.
So when Death comes knocking (quite literally) in the form of the damaged and dangerous, Brennus, Avery makes a deal with the reaper in order to save Caroline.
Brennus is an Ankou.
One of the many, once mortal men and women, who were given the choice to become an immortal in exchange for ferrying the dead over into their afterlife.
Nine years ago Brennus took Avery’s parents and tried to take Avery, but she fought him and won. Amazed by her strength Brennus followed Avery and has watched over her.
Now he knows Avery is the one to offer him freedom from his obligation to the dead.
And he’ll stop at nothing to have her. From Goodreads.

An okay book, but not great. Avery is dealing with Death, who is a person. This is a romance as he has loved her for years.
I have more of Samantha Young's books and I might read them.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Read Scotland 2014
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection: 1000 Member Celebration!
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Sub-Genre Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (Y-coyote)
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Evergreen by Brenda Pandos

A kingdom on the brink of war.
A king on the fringes of insanity.
A family running for their lives.
Ash and Fin’s only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other’s life: become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone’s lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They’ll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can’t decide?
Enter the watery world of treachery, greed, and the binding mer kiss as the story continues with Evergreen, book two of Mer Tales. From Goodreads.




I really liked the first book so this was a disappointment. The first 60% of the book is extremely slow and boils down to two teenagers constantly calling each other to say "I love you".
I am glad I kept going though as it picked up in the last 40% to what I remember from the last book. A lot of action, betrayal and interesting twists.
As I already have the last book in the series I will read it and hope it is better than this second book.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Color Coded Reading Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection: 1000 Member Celebration!
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Sub-Genre Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (L-jellyfish)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

A Place Beyond The Map by Samuel Thews

Once in a very long while, betwixt and between the humdrum of everydayness, something magical happens: life gives us a fairy tale. Sometimes it begins with a door; sometimes by following a peculiar cottontail down his hole. For Phinnegan Qwyk, it begins with a chilly November night, two wet footprints and Periwinkle Lark.
A flamboyant and cunning Faë with a penchant for mischief, Periwinkle is also a bit of a thief. When he snatches Phinnegan away to a Place-Beyond-the-Map, Phinnegan discovers that fairy tales aren’t all they’re cracked up to be: at least, not when you are being attacked by the wild wolves of the Faolchú, being hunted by a gholem that lurks unseen in the shadows, or bargaining for your very life with a troll—even if she is beautiful.
When all seems lost, Phinnegan finds hope in the form of a shy pixie and a jolly, if rather messy, old man. His journey is not a mistake.
Evocative, purposeful and winsome, A Place Beyond the Map is what children’s dreams are made of. A simplistic tale spun within the world of fairy tales and myth, it is a story for children, and for those of us that are finally old enough to read fairy tales again. From Goodreads.

I enjoyed this book though I found the start quite slow going. After that it was a real fairy tale full of all sorts of creatures and not all looking as expected.
Phinnegan has to find his way home with the help of the not too trustworthy fae Periwinkle but he also gets involved in the local affairs.
My biggest problem with the story was that the ending is no ending but more of a setting the scene for the next book - but there is no sequel.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Nothing but Reading Challenges - UnCover It
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Sub-Genre Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (Q-quail)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

The Breeders by Katie French

Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything and they're hunting Riley.
When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family, Riley and her brother Ethan are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom? The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico. When Riley is forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother-a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out. From Goodreads.


A dystopian world where hardly any women are born. Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick has to pretend to be a bender, a genderless person, to avoid being caught by the Breeders. After her stepfather is killed and her mother has been sold to the Breeders, Riley with her 8 year old brother goes looking for her. She gets help from Clay who believes she is a bender.
This was a free book but it is good enough that I am considering buying the next book in the series.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Jumble Your Genres Reading Challenge 2014 (dystopian)
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (R-narwhal)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright

After revealing a dark past, Frey is forced to join with a group of strangers whose pasts seem to intertwine with her own. She struggles to regain her memories, her full power, only to find there is more danger on the other side. And now, there is no turning back. From Goodreads

As it is about 9 months since I read the first book, it took me a bit of time to get all the characters sorted.
Frey was bound which meant she had no memory of her previous life or her powers. During this book she slowly regains both. It becomes obvious that her previous self was a complete different person to the one she is now and I am looking forward to see how she copes with that in the next book.
Frey and her companions have to kill the council members that bound her in order to free her memories and powers.
She has some very loyal friends. But as she now starts to remember things again, and remember her friends together with her enemies, she is unsure of their loyalty. They can't tell her too much as her brain can't cope and she keeps fainting when it gets too much.
I am glad I finally got round to reading this sequel.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (F-jellyfish)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs

Assaulted by the bitter cold of a Montreal winter, the American-born Dr. Temperance Breman, Forensic Anthropologist for the Province of Quebec, digs for a corpse where Sister Elisabeth Nicolet, dead over a century and now a candidate for sainthood, should lie in her grave. A strange, small coffin, buried in the recesses of a decaying church, holds the first clue to the cloistered nun's fate. The puzzle surrounding Sister Elisabeth's life and death provides a welcome contrast to discoveries at a burning chalet, where scorched and twisted bodies await Tempe's professional expertise. Who were these people? What brought them to this gruesome fate? Homicide Detective Andrew Ryan, with whom Tempe has a combustive history, joins her in the arson investigation. From the fire scene they are drawn into the worlds of an enigmatic and controversial professor, a mysterious commune, and a primate colony on a Carolina island. From Goodreads.



I keep having to tell myself that the TV-series Bones is only loosely based on this book series. The Dr. Temperance Brennan is a very different woman than on TV. She is an ex-alcoholic, mother and quite emotional. I still enjoyed the book and I am definitely going to continue reading this series.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (mystery)
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (crime)
Eclectic Reader Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (#2)
Crazy Challenge Connection - Dr. Seuss
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (K-kestrel)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Book Buffs’ Battleship
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

Heartbroken by Lisa Unger

A shattering new thriller about three women, strangers, on a heart-wrenching collision course none of them could have seen coming.Long after anyone expected Kate to do anything with her life, she did. Using the journals left behind by her aunt and grandmother, she wrote a novel based on a very real generation-old love story that ended in tragedy. On the other side of town, Emily is about to set fire to her life. She’s in a dead-end job and is involved with the wrong man; she can feel herself being drawn into darkness, with horrific consequences. With nowhere to go, she finds herself on the run.  Without knowing each other, and with lives that couldn't be more different, Kate and Emily head to the same point on the map: Heart Island, an idyllic place in the middle of a lake in the Adirondacks, owned for generations by Birdie Burke's family. The harsh and unyielding Birdie is at one with this island, which has a terrifying history all its own. She, too, has consequences to face.
     Heartbroken is a tense, mesmerizing novel about the limits of dysfunctional families, of an island haunted by dark memories and restless ghosts, and of the all-too-real demons we must battle.  Wonderfully suspenseful, exquisitely crafted, and written with raw, emotional power, this is Lisa Unger at her very best. From Goodreads.

This was okay. A story including four generations of a family: grandmother (long dead, but has left journals of her life), mother ( a cold woman who prefers being alone on her island), daughter (who nearly always does as she is told by her mother and always keep promises), granddaughter (with the usual teenage problems, but she loves the island).
I didn't find it particular thrilling but the stories of the grandmother's life were interesting. It was also interesting to see how it all tied together and the consequences of the actions of all involved.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Author Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (U-auk)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?

Forever Fae by L.P. Dover

He leans down, lips parted, and then our lips connect... We didn’t know that this one kiss has FOREVER changed the Land of the Fae.
According to the Prophecy proclaimed many years ago, Princess Calista of the Summer Court is destined to change the Land of the Fae from the evil determined to destroy it. Her powers are phenomenal, and she secretly trains for battle with her handsome warrior friend, Merrick, who unbeknownst to her protects her heart as well, in hopes of keeping it for himself. At least, until the seductive Prince Ryder attends the Guardian Ceremony and instantly sends a fire burning through her veins and a connection so deep they both discover a love above anything imaginable.
No one knows how Calista is destined to change the kingdoms, but there is one that does. He not only craves Calista’s power, but her body as well, and his goal is to steal her power, make her his Dark Queen, and take over the Land of the Fae.
Will the evil succeed in claiming Calista’s soul? Or will the two men that fight for her heart save her from despair, and help her fulfill her destiny to become what she was meant to be. From Goodreads.

This was okay but no more than that. I like to read about the Fae and usually the Summer and Winter Courts are at each others throats but not here, so there is really only one enemy. The rest is two men wanting the same girl. It was very predictable and I don't think I will continue this series.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (bought 4th of June 2013)
What’s In A Name 2014 (A reference to time)
2014 Women Challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge (free on Amazon.co.uk 4th of June 2013)
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (L)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (F-dragonfly)
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #2
Dansk Readathon March 2014

Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer

Abby, 13, is looking forward to watching the moon turn purple, unaware that bacteria from a passing comet will soon kill off older teens and adults. She must help her brother and baby sister survive in this new world, but all the while she has a ticking time bomb inside of her--adolescence. From Goodreads.

Another free book that was way better than expected. The scary part of this book is the description of how they survive. The group the book follows on Castine Island is a good group. Most of the group want to work together to help each other, but that is not the case on the mainland where it is survival of the fittest or in other words the worst. 

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Quick fix Challenge (188 pages)
Meet the Protagonist Reading Challenge 2014 (lives by a body of water)
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (dystopian)
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (less than 200 pages)
Color Coded Reading Challenge 2014
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (bought 10th of September 2013)
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Pass The Parcel Team Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (S-jellyfish)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge (Maine)
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #2

What Stays in Vegas by Beth Labonte

Bored administrative assistant, Tessa Golden, is trapped in a life of lousy weather, irritating bosses, and mind-numbing secretarial work. Her dreams of being an artist have rapidly deteriorated into building things out of paperclips while on hold with tech support. To make matters even worse, the love of her life has gone off and married another woman.
So when Tessa is suddenly transferred to the Las Vegas branch of her company - playing wingwoman to her freshly divorced boss, juggling a client from hell, and catching the eye of one very eligible coworker - will her life finally be shaken up enough to straighten itself out? From Goodreads.

I enjoyed this more than expected and there were quite a few funny elements in it. Her best friend and love of her life, that she can't have as he is married, seems nice but turns out to be a jerk. Of course the story is predictable but that is okay.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Quick fix Challenge (194 pages)
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (chick lit)
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
2014 Women Challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (L)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Pass The Parcel Team Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (W-hawk)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge

Steel and Other Stories by Richard Matheson

In the title story of this collection from "New York Times" bestselling author Richard Matheson, "Steel," human boxing has been replaced by heavyweight bouts between massive robots. But that is just one of over a dozen unforgettable tales in this collection, which includes two new stories never before published in book form. From Goodreads.

This was definitely not for me. Quite a variety of weird short stories of which some made a bit of sense but others didn't. I liked I am Legend and I might read other books by Richard Matheson but no more short stories.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Audio Book Challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (short stories)
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (R)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (R-badger)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?

Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she is the best- but she does not know if even she is good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, Elena knows failure is not an option—even if the task is impossible.
Because this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt does not destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just might. For when archangels play, mortals break. From Goodreads.

I read a short story, a prequel to this book, in Must Love Hellhounds and decided I wanted to try the series. It was good and I like Elena. I have already ordered the next book from the library and will hopefully get it in March.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
Vampire Challenge 2014
2014 Women Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (S)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (Rat - series #1)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
Ten Book Author Train Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (N-dragonfly)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?