Fragment Friday's

I am sorry to say that for the time being Fragment Friday's are discontinued.  I will try to get them back soon, so please content yourself with the reviews until then.  Also, I will now be posting reviews once a week instead of 3 or 4 times a week.

~Circe

The Tudor secret (The Spymaster Chronicles) by C. W Gortner

Pages:  352

Publishers:  St. Martin’s Griffin

Published:  February 1, 2011

The era of the Tudors was one of danger, intrigue, conspiracy, and, above all, spies.

Summer 1553: A time of danger and deceit. Brendan Prescott, an orphan, is reared in the household of the powerful Dudley family. Brought to court, Prescott finds himself sent on an illicit mission to the king’s brilliant but enigmatic sister, Princess Elizabeth. But Brendan is soon compelled to work as a double agent by Elizabeth’s protector, William Cecil, who promises in exchange to help him unravel the secret of his own mysterious past.

A dark plot swirls around Elizabeth’s quest to unravel the truth about the ominous disappearance of her seriously ill brother, King Edward VI. With only a bold stable boy and an audacious lady-in-waiting at his side, Brendan plunges into a ruthless gambit of half-truths, lies, and murder. 

Review:

This book combines both the history of the Tudor's and adds a blend of imagination. Brendan was a child when he was left on the doorstep of Dudley Manor. All he had was a governess and a birthmark.

When he was sent to court to be a squire to Robert Dudley, he catches the eye of Princess Elizabeth's spymaster and works to protect her from the reach of Northumberland's Duke. As he grows he learns the truth of his birth and the enemies who would do anything to kill him.

Told from the point-of-view of Brendan Prescott, a fictional character in medieval England, this story will capture the reader's attention and take them on a journey though time. I dub thee 5 stars.

If I Die (Soul Screamers #5) by Rachel Vincent

Pages:  342

Publishers:  Harlequin

Published:  September 27, 2011

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

Review:

Oh. My. God. I have absolutely no other words for this book. This really did not turn out like I expected. But I loved it!  Though I wish it hadn't ended so suddenly. You'd expect Kaylee and Nash to break up. Again. Also Nash breaks a promise he had made to Kaylee leading her to make a deal with Sabine. She also gets a visit from an reaper from her past.

Kaylee grows a lot more mature in this book than any other. Possibly because of the knowledge that she will die soon. And so she can leave behind people with happy memories of her, she makes a deal with Sabine about Nash and tries to take down an Incubus who has come to their school in search of a young girl who can give him a son.

Todd makes an appearance in this book and does something, which makes Nash, hate him. The drug 'Frost' makes another appearance.  The book had me hooked from the first chapter and drooling for more by the end.  I give it 5 stars.