Devour

By Andrea Heltsley

About the book (from Good Reads):
He wasn’t supposed to remember.


Callie is a royal vampire. She hunts by taking the blood from her victims and erases their memories afterwards. She goes undetected until a victim named Chase approaches her with all his memories intact. He is intrigued and attracted. She is terrified.  What happens when a human mixes with the immortal world? Chaos.

Callie’s 18th birthday has passed and she is coming out at the annual blood ball. Will she find a mate or will she suffer the repercussions of her indiscretion? She is brought to the Vampire council and they must decide what to do with Chase. Do they kill him, or turn him to protect their secret?

Review:
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The summary drew me in and made me want to read the book.  Royal vampires, a possible love triangle, and a mortal that finds out about the paranormal world. This story could have gone several different directions. There could have been action, romance, betrayal, lots of drama and more. Heltsley took a more traditional route though. She amped up the romance portion and played down the action. It made for a decent story.

Heltsley's writing style is easy to read. She does a good job of letting readers know everything Callie is feeling. There's love for Cody and stress/worry over what she and her family are going to do with Chase.

I really like that Heltsley gave Callie a good friend, Jane. She's someone who doesn't mind helping her friend out of a bind.  Plus she doesn't judge Callie.  But then again who wouldn't mind taking over your best friend's HOT snack! You can tell that Jane plays an important part if Callie's life.  I wouldn't mind reading about what happened once Chase was changed from Jane's perspective.

Only thing that bothered me was how quickly Callie and Cody jumped into being "married".  Heltsley does a good job explaining that they are true mates, but it still seemed so fast.  Callie went from being adamantly against finding a mate to quickly picking Cody and starting the process that night.  Even though they knew each other for years, there was no dating. Heltsley tried explaining it-- that Callie wanted to make her parents proud, and the only way to get herself out of the Chase situation was to find a mate. I guess I would have tried to find another alternative, and since Callie isn't like me, I found it difficult to buy into her mindset.

There wasn't too much romance.  There was a lot of kissing and a bit of exploring, but even when they  consummated their marriage, Heltsley discreetly wrote about what happened.  Nothing too naughty.  It won't make your face blush. Very appropriate for the young adult audience.

Readers who love a good vampire story will enjoy Devour.  If you enjoy romance, then you will like this too.

Under the Never Sky

By Veronica Rossi

In The Death Shop there are many ways to die. The trick is surviving. And if you’ve grown up without being exposed to the outside elements, there’s no hope–unless you find someone to help guide you…

After an accident that gets Aria kicked out of the enclosed city of Reverie, she is thrown out into the outside world known as The Death Shop and left for dead. She soon runs into Perry, a “savage” who helps her survive and navigate the wild. Perry wants to use Aria to get back his nephew who was taken by Aria’s people, the “dwellers”. The two ultimately want to get back to Reverie, but they have to learn to rely on each other before that can happen. Can two people from opposite worlds trust each other to achieve their goals?

It takes a while for the story to get going. Aria has to be kicked out of her home before the action can happen. Once she crosses paths in the wild with Perry, the story really takes off. Together the two must survive ether storms with hungry cannibals after them and outrun wild wolves.

This will make an amazing movie that both sexes would enjoy. (oh yes, the film rights have been optioned by Warner Brothers) There’s battles with knives and archers that create action for guys while Aria and Perry’s relationship is the love story that ladies swoon over. Together it is the perfect date story/movie/book.

I love how Rossi made her main characters complete opposites of each other. One sheltered, the other raised in the wild; one is chatty, the other is quiet; one is a singer, the other is a hunter; one has sharp hearing, the other has sharp sight. It creates a large barrier each character must overcome before starting to like the other and puts a new meaning to opposites attract.

I highly recommend this book to teens and adults alike. If you enjoyed the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, then you will definitely enjoy Under the Never Sky. There are lots of similarities between society and the wild in both books. I will definitely finish this series and look forward to picking up the second book, Through the Ever Night, that’s due to release January 2013!

Curious for more? Check out the book trailer below and I know you’ll be running out to pick up the book as soon as possible. I mean seriously, this is the best book trailer I’ve ever seen!