Review: Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Title: Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4) 

Author: Richelle Mead

Pages: 503

ISBN: 9781595143105

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

First Published: August 2009

Buy it: Bookdepository

MAJOR spoilers ahead!

DIMITRI'S HEART HAS GONE DARK.

Now Rose must journey to the ends of the earth to find - and kill - her one true love....

Or has the time come to join him?

My heart shattered. My world shattered.

You will lose what you value most....

It wasn't my life.... It wasn't even Dimitri's life.

What you value most.

It was his soul.

If you haven't read the VA series yet, you shouldn't be reading this review! So go buy the books right now, read them, and then come back. It'll be worth it, I promise!

For those of you who don't know me that well, I should tell you that Vampire Academy is my favorite series. I like it so much, that if I could choose one book series to bring with me to a desert island, it would be this one. I would keep reading these books for the rest of my life and never get sick of them, that's how much I like them.

Anyway, I reread Blood Promise for the July Sequel Month, because it's my favorite book in the series. It's beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time, because Dimitri is a Strigoi and Rose sets out to kill him. Kill the love of her life. Not an easy task, and maybe even an impossible task. Because Dimitri was already stronger than Rose when he was still a Dhampir, now that he's a Strigoi? Rose could very well lose her life to Dimitri. 

My favorite part of the book is when Dimitri has Rose captured. There's still some of the old Dimitri inside and that made me wish there was a chance for them to somehow be together. Impossible of course, a Strigoi can't leave a Dhampir like that. So Dimitri gives Rose a choice: Either she let's Dimitri change her willingly, or he'll do it by force...

Blood Promise ended way too fast. After I finished it, I wanted to reread the rest of the series too, I could have foreseen that, but I don't have time to reread all of them, unfortunately. In a few months I will definitely make time! I don't think it's a surprise that I gave Blood Promise 5 stars. This book is what made Richelle Mead on of my favorite writers. It's well written, keeps you hooked from page one, makes you laugh and cry and has the perfect mix of suspense, romance and action. I absolutely adore it.

My first time attending a book signing!

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday, but I'm so busy with packing and everything, because I'm going back home today. The eight months I spend here in Tarrytown, NY flew by. It's been a week filled with "last times." Last class, last visit to Manhattan, last lunch at the awesome indian place etc. But there was also a "first time" this week: My first time going to a book signing! 

On May 30th Richelle Mead, Sarah Dessen, Marie Lu, Andrea Cremer and Rick Yancey did a Q&A and a signing at Barnes & Noble Union Square in New York. This event was actually on the same day of a graduation cruise, that my school organised, but meeting Richelle has been a dream of mine for years, so I decided to skip the cruise. And boy, am I glad I did!

I arrived at B&N over three hours before the event started. Lucky for me, I was one of the first people to get there, so I could sit in the front row. After chatting with the girl next to me for a while, and reading for a couple of hours, the Q&A started! I was sooooooo excited about seeing Richelle in real life. And together with four other authors, so cool! The only one I didn't know was Rick Yancey, but he was absolutely hilarious and made me laugh every time he answered a question. I felt like Richelle was kind of shy, but it was still very awesome to hear her answers to all of the questions.


After that, it was time for the book signing. Because I was in the first row, I could go first. I was SO nervous, it's not even funny. My hands were literally shaking! I had a whole bunch of things in my head that I wanted to say to Richelle, like how great an author she is, how much I love her books, how important they are to me, but I forgot everything. All I could blurt out was how nervous I was and that it was so great to meet her. I wanted to slap myself in the face afterwards. I acted like a complete idiot. But it was still a really great evening. Richelle is my hero and my role model. I'm happy I spent my afternoon and evening at B&N instead of my graduation cruise!

I wanted to wait for everyone to finish, so maybe I could get a picture with Richelle, but one of the people who worked at the event told me she wasn't gonna take pictures with anyone. A real bummer, but I'm super happy I got my favorite Richelle Mead book signed: Blood Promise. 

It's probably not gonna happen, but if Richelle ever does a book signing in the Netherlands, I will be first in line and this time I will say something normal instead of just fangirling all over her!

Review: The Bet by Rachel van Dyken

Title: The Bet

Author: Rachel van Dyken

Pages: 240

ISBN: 9781483918778

Genre: New Adult

First Published: March 2013

Buy it: Amazon

"I have a proposition for you..."

Kacey should have run the minute those words left Seattle millionaire Jake Titus's mouth. Instead, she made a deal with the devil in hopes of putting her past behind her once and for all.

Four days.

She could do four days!

But she wasn't counting on Jake’s older brother Travis being there to witness their farce of an engagement.

One thing is for certain.

One brother is right for her.

One wants a lifetime.

And one is in league with the devil.

She should have gotten Jake’s signature in blood.

I'm starting to think there aren't any bad New Adults out there. Of course, after saying this I'm gonna find one soon, but so far I'm completely overwhelmed by how good they all are.

The prologue of The Bet made me fall in love with the book instantly. It was super cute and funny. But then, when we went to the first chapter, I was a bit confused. I started to think this story was gonna be like the movie "The Proposal." But, as it turned out, I was very wrong. It was all a bit more complicated and very different than I thought. Either way would have been fine with me actually, I mean, I love The Proposal, but I was afraid it wasn't going to be original. Fortunately, it was.

At first I was already starting to fall in love with Jake, but then we got to know Travis *swoon* and found out what a manwhore Jake is. So I quickly changed to team Travis. The stunts he pulled on Kacey cracked me up. Oh, and I loved Grandma, she's a genius! 

After reading this book, I can certainly understand why it was number one on the New York Times Bestseller List. It's hilarious, romantic and sweet. Simply put, it's just perfect. And I'm not exaggerating. I really felt that way after I finished reading it. I can't find anything wrong with it, so of course I'm giving it 5 stars. I'd never heard of Rachel van Dyken before, but now I want to read everything she has ever written. I'm definitely a fan!

My Favorite Quotes (2)

In this segment of my blog you can read my favorite quotes from the books I read in the past few weeks

"I don't think he meant to kiss me," I said finally.
"What? Did he slip and fall on your mouth? Those things are known to happen." 
- Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

"You look like you got more of a bath than the car. I never
thought washing a car would be so hard, but after watching you for the last fifteen minutes, I’m convinced it should be an Olympic sport." 
- Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

"Somebody's here to see you," she said, as though annoyed.
"Male or female?"
"Male. It's-"
"Does he look like a Jehovah's Witness?"
She blinked in surprise. "Um, no. Do we suddenly have a problem with Jehovah's Witnesses?"
"Oh, no. Not at all. I closed the door on a couple this morning. Thought they might send their homies after me."
- Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

Don't go buying trouble. It's free and it knows where you live.

- Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

"Um, is it naked movie night? I'm not sure I got that memo." She looked him up and down when he turned around.

"I'm sorry, does my masculinity frighten your prudish nature?"

She snorted. "Please, I just don't want to get last night's skank on me. I hear diseases travel through too much skin contact."

- The Bet by Rachel van Dyken

"A man who'll love you when you look like hell will love you always."

- Aphrodite's Kiss by Julia Kenner

3 Things Tag

Today, instead of a new edition of Filling Up The Weekend; I found this 3 things tag on a dutch book blog: Craving Pages. There are a lot of different versions of it, like; beauty, fashion, lifestyle and so on. I thought it was a pretty cool thing to do so I translated it to English and here it is!

3 favorite stand-alone books

- Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Now technically this isn’t a stand-alone book, but because you can easily read it without reading the other ones, I think I’m allowed to put this here.

- Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. So tragic and yet so beautiful.

- Easy by Tammara Webber. This book is so good! If you haven’t read it yet, you should check out my review. It’s an awesome New Adult novel.

3 favorite series

- Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward. Probably my favorite series of all time. Ward can keep writing about the brothers forever, as far as I’m concerned.

- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I can reread these books a hundred times and still not get tired of them.

- The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I can’t put into words how much I love The Host. It’s torture waiting for the second book, but I know it’s gonna be worth it.

3 favorite genres

- Paranormal Romance

- New Adult

- Chick lit

3 favorite heroines

- Katy (Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout) She’s sassy, cheeky and super funny. And she loves books and has her own blog. What’s not to like about that?

- Katniss (The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins) Basically, Katniss is the ultimate heroine. If you’ve read The Hunger Games you’ll probably agree with me on this.

- Georgina (Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead) She’s a badass succubus with a great sense of humor. Never got tired of reading about her life. Still sad the series is over.

3 favorite heroes

- Vishous (Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward) From the moment I started the BDB series I was intrigued by V. Imagine my joy when I discovered the fifth book in the series was about him!

- Dimitri (Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead) Gorgeous Russian Dhampir who can kick everyone’s ass. And no to mention very sexy.

- Ian (The Host series by Stephenie Meyer) I love how he’s one of the first persons who starts treating Wanda like an actual person instead of an “it”.

3 favorite villains

- Loki (Mythos Academy by Jennifer Estep) The way Estep describes Loki is super creepy. I can just imagine him walking around with half a face. Ew!

- Voldemort (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling) I don’t think this needs any kind of explanation.

- The Strigoi (Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead) I don’t get scared of fictional characters easily but these beings are seriously scary!

3 things you use as a bookmark, when you can’t reach your normal bookmark

- A piece of paper I ripped of the first thing that I could find.

- My phone. Which works perfectly fine until I start panicking because my phone is missing..

- The tablecloth. I have one on the table next to my bed. So it’s very convenient to use that as a bookmark.

3 places where you keep your books

- Under my desk. I don’t have actual bookshelves, which is ironic considering the name of this blog, so I keep a lot of them in piles underneath my desk.

- The table next to my bed. I don’t have a real nightstand, just a big table that’s between me and my sisters bed so we can each use one side of it as a nightstand.

- On top of my closet. Again, the result of not having any bookshelves..

3 books you read last

- Alien Mate by Eve Langlais, silly sci-fi love story (18+)

- The Temptation by Alisa Valdes, you can read the review here

- Lover at Last by J.R. Ward, the 11th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series

3 favorite physical bookstores

- Barnes & Noble everywhere. The first thing I thought when I entered this bookstore for the first time in my life (which was last October) was: I’m in paradise!

- Strand bookstore in Manhattan. Huge bookstore with great deals.

- Waterstones in Amsterdam. My favorite place for English books in the Netherlands. Kind of pricy but I love the store.

3 favorite online bookstores

- Bookdepository.com Very cheap and they have everything.

- Amazon.com If you have a kindle, amazon is great because it has lots of free books every day.

- Barnesandnoble.com Everything I buy is from the two websites above, but just like in the physical store, I also love to browse their website.

3 favorite websites

- Goodreads.com

- Facebook.com

- Blogger.com

3 books you wish you'd never read

- Daisy Dooley Does Divorce by Anna Pasternak. So. Freaking. Boring.

- Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries) by L.J. Smith. This book is the reason I stopped reading the Vampire Diaries books. Super weird book. Made no sense whatsoever.

- This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. This book has four heroines and each of them has their own storyline. It was just too confusing for me. Sad I wasted time on this book.

3 authors you love

- Richelle Mead

- Susan Elizabeth Phillips

- J.R. Ward

3 favorite book blogs, besides your own

- SassyBook Lovers

- TotallyBookalicious

- Stuck in Books

Feel free to use this 3 things tag for your own blog. Although I would like it if you'd post a link to this blog with it. And I'd love to read your 3 things tag, so let me know when you made one!

My Wishlist Wednesday (3)

In this edition of My Wishlist Wednesday I'm gonna focus on books with the most awesome covers. Books that make me want to buy them without knowing what they're about.

Young Adult: Splintered (Splintered #1) by A.G. Howard

Look at it! It's soooo pretty with the colors and the butterfly and the leaves. I absolutely adore this cover. 

New Adult: Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2) by Jamie McGuire

The first book was super awesome and then I found out the second book looks like this. I.NEED.IT!

Young Adult: Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

All three of the Shatter Me books look truly beautiful. I think the first book is my favorite cover ever, but this one is amazing too.

Paranormal Romance: Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood #11) by J.R. Ward

I've already read this one but I just had to include it. I mean, look at the guy! Wish I knew his name so I could stalk him look him up! 

Filling Up The Weekend (2)

If you're like me, and have countless books but still have no idea what to read sometimes, here are some tips for you to read during those fantastic days called The Weekend:

Chick lit: Aussie Rules by Jill Shalvis
I've reread this book multiple times and loved it every time. It's a sexy, carefree, feel good story. Perfect for a quiet weekend in at home.

Paranormal Romance: Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1) by J.R. Ward
The BDB series is one of my favorite series of all time. If you haven't read it yet, please do! Bad ass, gorgeous looking vampires. Love it!

Young Adult: Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I devoured this book within 24 hours. When you start reading this, make sure you have the following books too, because you are gonna want to read those too, believe me.

Chick lit: It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars #1) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The beauty about SEP's books is that you can read them separate and out of order and they still make perfect sense. This book is one of my favorites by Phillips.

My Favorite Quotes (1)

In this segment of my blog you can read my favorite quotes from the books I've read in the past few weeks.

"So when do we get to the junk-kicking?" Erin asked. Don shook his head and sighed. "I swear, there's one in every class. Kicks will be next time." He pointed at her. "And I'm makin' sure you're in Lucas's line for that."

She put on her innocent face. "Don't y'all wear padded Michelin-man suits?"

"Yes... but those pads don't block all feeling."

"Heh-heh," Erin said, and Don quirked one eyebrow at her.

- Easy by Tammara Webber

"Maybe they’re getting some bow-chicka-pow-wow."

I looked at him. "Ew. "He flashed his teeth. "She’s definitely not my type." His gaze dropped to my lips, and parts of me quivered in response to the heat in his gaze. "But now I totally have that on my mind." I was breathless. "You’re a dog."

"If you pet me, I’ll—"

"Don’t even finish that sentence," I said, fighting a grin.

- Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I grabbed a bookmark of the coffee table and shoved it in the book. Dog-eared pages were Antichrist of booklovers everywhere.

- Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

She shook her head, then took off again, and I found myself struggling to keep up with her in my bunny slippers. With a sigh, I realized I was getting way too much excercise. I'd just have to counteract it later with cake.

- Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

In the year since she'd moved into the farmhouse, he was the first man she'd invited into her home.

Carter groaned.

Why did she have to pick him? Why couldn't it have been someone more run-off-the-mill? An exterminator. A plumber.

An extraterrestrial, for Chrissakes.

- Heart of Gold by Jessica Bird

Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Pages: 310
ISBN: 9780425266748
Genre: New Adult
First Published: November 2012
Buy it: Bookdepository


Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.


I found out I have a new favorite genre: New Adult. Lately I've started to feel a bit old for YA books that have main characters that are fifteen years old (or sometimes even younger). It's getting a bit harder for me to empathize with them because I'm.. well, let's say a few years older than that. So New Adults are perfect for me. It bridges the gap between Young Adult and Adult books. The main characters in these books are usually somewhere between eighteen and twenty five years old. Don't get me wrong, I still love YA's too, but NA is something I just realized I was really looking for.

But this is a review, so let's talk about Easy. I actually bought this book because I was buying the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and I needed one more book to qualify for free shipping. This one got very high reviews so I decided to buy it. And boy, am I glad I did! From the moment I started reading it I was hooked. It's been a while since I read a non-supernatural book that was this good. The book starts with Jacqueline leaving a Halloween party. She get's in a horrible situation and Lucas saves her. That's the start of an intense love story. At one point I actually had to take a break, because I needed to cool off.

Lucas turned me into mush pretty fast. There's something you should know about me, I love bad boys. Like, really, really, really love them. So this book was perfect for me!

Lucas has had a pretty rough past and Jacqueline is recovering from a nasty breakup with her now ex-boyfriend, whom she dated for three years. So both of them have quite a few problems to overcome. Add to that the drama that happens in the first chapter and you have a great story. You can probably already guess how many stars I'm gonna give it, that's right: 5 ofcourse! Please everyone, go read it! Soon!