Top Ten Picks: Favourite Books Of All Time

Top Ten Picks is a weekly meme by Jillian about your top 10 picks! Each week, there will be a different theme and this weeks theme is 'favourite books of all time'. So here are my top 10 favourite books of all time (in no particular order) ~

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

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2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

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3. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

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4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

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5. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

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6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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7. The Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris

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8. The Rizzoli/Isles series by Tess Gerritsen

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9. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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10. Women Of The Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong

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So what are your favourite books of all time?

Teaser Tuesdays (14)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
A few centimetres away, I spied more bright green shoots coming up through the old leaves, and two more blossoms. Signs of spring - and, more than that, signs of human occupation - in the middle of the forest. ~ p.42, Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (14)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Absolutely nothing! I had such a crazy week, I didn't even get one page read. I'm really hoping this week will be better!

At the moment I'm reading:

Sarwat Chadda - The Dark Goddess

In the next week I hope to read:

Eve Edwards - The Other Countess
Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator
Alyson Noel - Shadowland
Maggie Stiefvater - Linger

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought only 1 book:

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Maggie Stiefvater - Linger

In SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

Fade Out by Rachel Caine


No. of pages: 345
Rating: 9/10
Series: The Morganville Vampires (Book 7)

Synopsis: Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again…

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve’s castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger—and way more dangerous—than anyone suspected.

Review: When Eve makes a new friend at her theatre group, Claire is kind of put out, but then Kim goes missing and in the search for her, they stumble across Kim's biggest secret and they realise the whole situation is so much worse than they initially thought...

I didn't quite enjoy this as much as some of the others in the series, not to say it was bad, it was as gripping as ever, but again I just didn't like a few of the characters in this one. Kim and Ada, both new additions, and neither very nice ones. Both annoyed me a bit, and I was glad to see they weren't going to be carried over to another book. The plot was slightly slower too, more wrapping up various storylines rather than starting anything new. I'm still loving this series which is great, because sometimes when storylines are so action packed it can feel a little silly or unreal, and I never feel like that with this series. The plots are engaging, as are the great characters, and I definitely recommend these to all fans of YA vamp books, they are some of the best I've read.

Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine


No. of pages: 356
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Morganville Vampires (Book 6)

Synopsis: In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace - until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He's kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths.

He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants - the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?

Review: As the problems between Bishop and Amelie come to a head, everyone must battle to save those they care about, and fight to save the future of Morganville...

In this book Claire really gets a chance to flourish as her own person and we see her grow up and adapt pretty quickly. I did miss the fact there wasn't as much Eve, Shane or Michael in this book, but I was glad to see this portion of the storyline come to an end as I really was ready for it to be done. Ada was an interesting addition of character, I'm not sure I particularly like her, but I guess we can only see what her motives are as the books carry on. Myrnin is still my favourite, the series would not be anywhere near as great without him, he's a fantastic character. I'm so glad I bought all of these books to read back to back, and would advise anyone intending to get them to do the same, each book tends to have a big cliffhanger which I imagine would be mighty frustrating if you had to wait a while before seeing what happened next.

Lord Of Misrule by Rachel Caine


No. of pages: 348
Rating: 9/10
Series: The Morganville Vampires (Book 5)

Synopsis: In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat. Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.

Review: With forces divided, the town has descended into total chaos. Houses are being burned down, violent gangs are forming and everything is just falling apart...

This was probably my least liked book in the series. I didn't dislike it as such, I just got bored of the whole Bishop thing and wished it would hurry up and end so we could move on to a new storyline. Lord Of Misrule is just as action packed as the other books though, so even though I was slightly bored of Bishop, it still only took me two short sittings to complete, because the books are totally unputdownable! I didn't really like the ending on this book either, although I can understand why it was put there for the plot, I just felt like it was too much personally.

Feast Of Fools by Rachel Caine


No. of pages: 367
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Morganville Vampires (Book 4)

Synopsis: In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace. Student Claire Danvers has never been convinced, though especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball, attended by vampires and their human dates, that Claire realizes the elaborately evil trap he's set for Morganville.

Review: The book begins with the arrival of Bishop, the vampire 'father' of Morganville founder Amelie. Unlike the vampires of Morganville who live in relative peace with humans, Bishop and his companions have no such desire, so it's with trepidation that they are received into Morganville. So as Amelie hosts a welcome feast for Bishop, both vampires and humans alike can only speculate as to what his true motives are...

Still absolutely loving this series, the books are just so action packed, and keep you gripped the whole way through. In this book, I loved how everyone came together against a common enemy, although I just cannot stand the character of Bishop, but I suppose that's how it's meant to be. I'm seriously falling in love with Myrnin though, he is just too funny even though he's so scatty! He's definitely one of my favourite characters in the series. This book is a tad slower going than the others that precede it, but it's no less interesting. Instead of the non-stop action, it focuses a lot of the personal problem that Amelie and Myrnin have that Claire is helping with, and how that's developing. I can't wait to see where the storyline with Bishop goes in the next book.

Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine


No. of pages: 365
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Morganville Vampires (Book 3)

Synopsis: Claire Danvers's college town may be run by vampires but a truce between the living and the dead made things relatively safe. For a while. Now people are turning up dead, a psycho is stalking her, and an ancient bloodsucker has proposed private mentoring. To what end, Claire will find out. And it's giving night school a whole new meaning.

Review: Claire has made a huge commitment in order to protect her friends, but in doing so she has just put herself in much more danger. Amelia orders Claire to start mentoring under a very old and slightly crazy vampire, in order to learn some ancient things that cannot be lost. Added to that, there's a crazy human psycho stalking her too. So as things spin out of control for Claire, it's all she can do to keep herself alive...

This is the book where you find out the big secret behind Morganville, and you meet Myrnin the eccentric crazy old vampire. He is a hilarious if not slightly scary character, but a great addition to the series. I really enjoyed finding out about the secrets behind Morganville and all that Amelie is trying to hide, it's certainly one of the more original storylines that I've come across lately. I'm loving the characters more and more as the books go on, even the 'evil' characters are really well written and easy to get attached too. I also really love the way Claire, Michael, Eve and Shane all fit together as housemates and friends, all protecting each other. I'm so glad I found this series, they are great books, with fantastic characters and great plot lines that keep me gripped.

Top Ten Picks: Favourite Male Literary Characters

Top Ten Picks is a weekly meme by Jillian about your top 10 picks! Each week, there will be a different theme and this weeks theme is 'favourite male literary characters'. So here are my top 10 male literary characters (in no particular order) ~

1. Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)

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2. John Tyree (Dear John by Nicholas Sparks)

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3. Henry DeTamble (The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger)

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4. Robert Langdon (The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown)

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5. Noah Calhoun (The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks)

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6. Death (The Book Thief by Markus Zusak)

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7. Sam Roth (Wolves Of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater)

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8. Tolliver (Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris)

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9. Jacob Jankowski (Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen)

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10. Jeremy Danvers (Women Of The Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong)

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So who are your favourite male literary characters?

Teaser Tuesdays (13)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
He'd cleaned the worst of the blood off his face, but a single dark line smeared his cheek, underlining his startling pale eyes. Beautiful and dangerous. Billi knew all about that sort of boy. ~ p.140, Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (13)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Rachel Caine - Lord Of Misrule
Rachel Caine - Carpe Corpus
Rachel Caine - Fade Out
Rachel Caine - Kiss Of Death

At the moment I'm reading:

Sarwat Chadda - The Dark Goddess

In the next week I hope to read:

Eve Edwards - The Other Countess
Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator
Alyson Noel - Shadowland

In My Mailbox (12)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 3 books:

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Brunonia Barry - The Lace Reader

Drawn by family. Driven by fear. Haunted by fate. Would knowing the future be a gift or a burden? Or even a curse? The Whitney women of Salem, Massachusetts are renowned for reading the future in the patterns of lace. But the future doesn't always bring good news -- as Towner Whitney knows all too well. When she was just fifteen her gift sent her whole world crashing to pieces. She predicted -- and then witnessed -- something so horrific that she vowed never to read lace again, and fled her home and family for good. Salem is a place of ghosts for Towner, and she swore she would never return. Yet family is a powerful tie. So it is that fifteen years later, Towner finds herself back in Salem. Her beloved Great Aunt Eva has suddenly disappeared -- and when you've lived a life like Eva's, that could mean real trouble. But Salem is wreathed in sickly shadows and whispered half-memories. It's fast becoming clear that the ghosts of Towner's fractured past have not been brought fully into the light. And with them comes the threat of terrifying new disaster.

~~~~~

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Darren Shan - Cirque Du Freak/The Vampire's Assistant/Tunnels Of Blood omnibus

Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy who loves to ride bikes and hang out with his three best friends. Then one day Darren and his friends stumble across an invitation to visit the Cirque Du Freak, a strange and mysterious freak show. Almost as if by destiny, Darren wins a ticket and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires.

~~~~~

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Miranda Dickinson - Fairytale Of New York

Florist Rosie Duncan's life couldn't be better, she has a flourishing business on New York's Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak ...For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie's resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret. But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after? A sparkling, romantic comedy about an English girl who finds herself in the city where dreams can come true - or so she thinks!

~~~~~

And also received 3 books for review from Lisa Hayden @ Penguin UK:

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Sarwat Chadda - Dark Goddess

Billi SanGreal is a Knight Templar and has thrown herself utterly into their brutal regime, shutting herself off from everyone and everything. But when Billi finds herself at the heart of a savage werewolf attack, she knows their target – a young girl – must be rescued at all costs. For this is no ordinary girl. Vasalisa is an avatar with an uncontrollable force within – and it’s not just the werewolves who want her.The Dark Goddess wants to sacrifice Vasalisa and use her powers to unleash unimaginable catastrophes and devastation. Can Billi protect Vasalisa from the ancient goddess – and at the same time stop her from destroying the world?

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Eve Edwards - The Other Countess

It's 1582 and eighteen-year-old Will Lacey's family is in trouble. After years of wasteful spending, his late father has run Lacey Hall to near ruin. Tasked with marrying his family back into fortune, the new Earl of Dorset is all set for a season at court to woo not just the Queen but potential brides with his jousting skills. But when Ellie – a strong-willed girl with nothing to her name but a worthless Spanish title – catches Will's eye, he faces a bigger battle than he could ever have anticipated.

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Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. But all three have been given a second chance – to work for an agency that no-one knows exists. Its purpose - to prevent time travel destroying history . . . When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window where and when she shouldn’t have, Liam is marooned sixty-five million years ago in the hunting ground of a deadly - and until now - undiscovered species of predator. Can Liam make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's torn to pieces by dinosaurs – and without endangering history so much that the world is overtaken by a terrifying new reality?

Teaser Tuesdays (12)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
She sucked in a deep breath and opened up the giant commercial refrigerator. It was full of blood bags, but no bodies. ~ p.138, Lord Of Misrule by Rachel Caine.

Top Ten Picks: Favourite Books To Movies

Top Ten Picks is a weekly meme by Jillian about your top 10 picks! Each week, there will be a different theme and this weeks theme is 'favourite books to movies'. So here are my top 10 books that have been turned into movies (in no particular order) ~

1. The Time Traveler's Wife

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This has been my favourite book for about 5 years now, so I was a bit apprehensive when the film was released, because I didn't want the story I loved so much to be ruined. Luckily, I thought the film was fantastic and that Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams did a great job as Henry and Clare.

2. The Notebook

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I actually saw the film of The Notebook before I read the book, and only decided to read the book because I loved the film so much. Whilst the book in itself is a great read, the film is just magical, I love the characters of Noah and Allie, and always get completely immersed in their story.

3. My Sister's Keeper

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This is another of my favourite books, but the transition to film was a bit rocky. I heard pretty early on that they were changing the ending, and I was very unsure as to how that would pan out. When I watched the film, I did so with an open mind, and enjoyed it, but as a seperate thing to the book. I thought the acting of Sofia Vassilieva was out of this world, and she pretty much made the film as great as it was, and I think the ending in the movie suited the story told on screen.

4. Into The Wild

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Again, I saw this before I read the book, and I was so glad I did. The movie is amazing, the true story of Chris McCandless is utterly heartbreaking, but the book is nothing like the film, and in my opinion, not nearly as good. The film fleshes out the story a lot more, you get to know Chris more and you delve more in to his motives behind wanting to go to Alaska so intensely. A fantastic film, and a fitting legacy to Chris, who was determined to follow his dream, no matter the consequence.

5. Harry Potter

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Like a lot of people from my generation, I'm a massive fan of the Harry Potter books and movies. My personal favourite is The Order Of The Phoenix, because I love the huge fight scene in the ministry at the end. I think the books have transferred to screen well, especially considering a lot of the plot has to be cut due to the length of the books.

6. Speak

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This is a relatively unknown book and film, which seems weird to me as I read the book about 8 years ago. The book is great, but the film is fantastic. It stars Kristen Stewart back when she was unknown, and she plays the role of Melinda so well. A touching story about a girl who tries to overcome a terrible incident, but when no one listens, she stops talking.

7. The Da Vinci Code

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A lot of people seem to hate Dan Brown, but I guess I'm one of the few that enjoys his books. The Da Vinci Code is my favourite of his, and so I was excited to see it come to life in the film. Especially as part of the movie was filmed in the town I live in, so that was a nice touch for me personally. I'm a massive fan of Tom Hanks, so I love how he portrays the character of Robert Langdon, and I thought Audrey Tautou was great as Sophie.

8. The Lovely Bones

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This was pretty controversial when it was first released, but I rather enjoyed it. Okay, so some of the scenes could be considered 'over the top' with the whole CGI thing, but I think that it is meant to represent a young girl's heaven, and there's no reason why it couldn't be like that. I liked the cast, and thought the actors really suited the roles and the music added to the film was great as well. I thought it followed the book pretty well too, which was a plus for me as I enjoyed the story in the book.

9. Dear John

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As soon as I saw the advert for this movie I knew I was going to love it. It seems like the perfect summer romance on the top, but under the surface there's a lot more going on and I like that in a movie. My one niggle would be that in the film, you don't really get a definitive answer about what happens at the end between Savannah and John, so I had to read the book afterwards to find that out. Other than that, I thought it was a fantastic film, and I loved the book as well.

10. Girl, Interrupted

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I can't remember the first time I saw this, I think I was in my young teens, but I enjoyed it then and I still enjoy it now. The acting is fantastic, especially by Angelina Jolie and Brittany Murphy, who are so convincingly out of their minds crazy. The book I didn't enjoy so much when I read it a few years ago, but I did enjoy the insight to what happened to some of the girls after they left the hospital, which isn't mentioned in the movie. Definitely a must see.

So what are your favourite books to movies?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (12)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Jodi Picoult - Picture Perfect
Rachel Caine - Glass Houses
Rachel Caine - The Dead Girls' Dance
Rachel Caine - Midnight Alley
Rachel Caine - Feast Of Fools

At the moment I'm reading:

Rachel Caine - Lord Of Misrule

In the next week I hope to read:

Rachel Caine - Carpe Corpus
Rachel Caine - Fade Out
Rachel Caine - Kiss Of Death

In My Mailbox (11)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 13 books (yes I was very naughty!):

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Rachel Caine - The Morganville Vampires series (books 1-8)

It's a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows - one that will spill out into the bright light of day.
Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn't have the right connections - to the undead who run the town.
When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Hew new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

~~~~~

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Charlaine Harris - Harper Connelly series (books 1-3)

Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living-but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her stepbrother Tolliver as her manager and sometime-bodyguard, she's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent-even if the dead can wait forever.

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Chelsea Cain - Heartsick & Sweetheart omnibus

When beautiful serial killer Gretchen Lowell captured her last victim - the very detective who was trying to hunt her down - she quickly established who was really in control of the investigation. So why, after 10 days of horrifying physical and mental torture, did she release Detective Archie Sheridan on the brink of death and hand herself in? No one else will ever know what happened between Gretchen and Archie, and even with his tormentor serving life Archie remains both obsessed and driven by a mysterious, terrifying dynamic that was born during his time alone with her. One thing is clear - Archie does not believe he was ever truly freed. Two years on Archie, shadowed by vulnerable, naive young reporter Susan Ward, must lead a new hunt for the 'after school killer', and he knows that one person can help him climb into the mind of this psychopath. But are there links between these brutal deaths and Gretchen's own unthinkable past? And will this only give Gretchen an invitation to play puppeteer once more?

~~~~~

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Alyson Noel - Shadowland

Ever and Damen have travelled through countless past lives - and fought off the world's darkest enemies - in search of each other. But just when their destiny seems finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon them. A single touch of their hands, a soft brush of their lips will mean death for Damen - cast into the darkness of the Shadowland. But as she seeks to break the curse, Ever meets Jude - a green-eyed, golden surfer boy who understands magick, and understands Ever better than she realises. And she begins to ask a terrifying question: even if you're immortal, can true love really last forever?
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