Top Ten Tuesday: Older Favorite YA Books

This week's topic is  Top Ten "Older" Books I Don't Want People To Forget (I'm going with a rewind this week because I didn't have ideas for the original topic). Plus as a librarian, I love recommended books - either newer or older titles. I just want the readers to be happy. I'm going to limit myself to the first 10 I see, but there are SO many more that I wish readers would notice.

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish 

Review: Taken By Storm

 * 3rd book in the series *

Bryn has power to survive almost anything. She's not sure she's going to survive this latest trouble. Shay calls a Senate meeting.

There'a rabid werewolf on the loose, leaving bodies in remote locations. This rogue werewolf must be taken care of. However Shay has reason to believe this werewolf just might be female.

He has a plan ready to set in motion, but his plan involves crossing territories that aren't his. Together with Callum's help, Bryn gains one week to confirm her fears, that the werewolf is Maddy and try to bring her back into the pack.

Bryn knows that deep down Shay's wants her land, but especially her pack which contains the majority of female werewolves. Bryn will die fighting for her pack; she'll do anything to survive his attack. Unless she's not strong enough - this time.

My Thoughts: This is my favorite werewolf series - hands down! I adore Jennifer Lynn Barnes and her books.


I love Bryn for her strength, loyalty, determination, and her love. She's such a strong powerful character. I adore her snark and her wit. I love the depth of her friendships with Lake and Devon. I liked learning more about Lake's emotions. As always, I found Devon charming and funny. They have great banter. 


Plot twists came at me out of nowhere and dumbfounded me. I needed to moment to breath and to wrap my head around it again. Just as I suspected one thing, everything changed again. The twists were shocking and sometimes heartbreaking. There were sad moments in this book, but moments that I understood needed to happen. 


I love the way it ended, a fabulous book that I devoured.


More Coming? Here's the Jen says on her blog:I can’t say for sure that this is the last book I’ll ever write about Bryn, but I can say that I would be happy with it as a finale if it were—. Personally, I hope there's more coming because I adore this series.
Cover Thoughts: I really like it! Source: My Library

Trailer Thursday: Raised By Wolves series

I LOVE this series, check out the new book trailer and keep your eyes peeled for Trail By Fire coming out June 14th!

Have you read this series yet?

Book of the Month: March

As always, I loved many of the books I read this month, but Trial by Fire blew me away. You can read my review here. It doesn't come out to June - but put this on your radar.

Review: Trial by Fire

***Contains SPOILERS if you haven't read Raised By Wolves***

Bryn loves her new life with her pack until a wolf enters her territory. He's badly hurt and he's asking for protection. With Shay as his Alpha, he's been used as a punching bag, until Shay gave him to a group of psychics.

Bryn doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to turn him away, but she neither can she help him within the rules of the werewolves. She desperately tries to find a loophole in the rules.

Before she can figure out a solution, the psychics show up in town. A new girl starts school. Bryn knows she's a threat. Caroline isn't normal. She's a hunter. She can't be tracked and she never misses a target. She had the ability to take out Bryn's entire pack.

The psychics hate werewolves. Each time Bryn meets them, she learns more about them. With the psychics and Shay looking for a fight, Bryn needs to watch her back very carefully. She's knows what's at stake and she's not about to give in or give up her pack for anything.

My Thoughts: I couldn't WAIT to read this book as I LOVED Raised By Wolves. Trial by Fire was simply amazing. I love the power of Bryn. I love how her pack's different and how she as a human is different from the other Alphas. I love how she tries to see the loop holes in dangerous situations. I love how she doesn't ever want to play by the rules. I love her sense of justice. Mostly there isn't anything I don't love about Bryn. I love Lake, Chase, and Dev too. I laughed, I cried, I had to re-read the ending twice to understand it. The ending blew me away. A very different werewolf series that makes me anxious for the next one. (And there is a next one I checked!)

Cover Thoughts: I like how it ties into the first cover - and into the story.

Source: Publisher - Egmont (Who has amazing books)

GoodReads

Up next: Every Other Day: a teenage girl who's only human every other day, and who spends her non-human days as a super-powered demon hunter (whose achilles heel is, of course, the fact that every other day, she has no powers at all).

Cover Reveal: Trial by Fire

I LOVED the cover for Raised by Wolves
Here's the cover for the sequel Trial by Fire coming out this June (I can't Wait!!!!)

It looks very similar and ties in nicely to the first book - which I LOVED. It was one of my favorite reads last year.

Thoughts?

Author Visit: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

We had the extraordinarily good fortune to snag Jennifer for an event at the library.

Here's the room set up:

There's a dessert table



There's a readalike table where people could check out books from our collection



There's a book buying table



And finally there was Jennifer

A little blurry and then before the room filled up.

*************
She talked about her writing process

How long it takes her to write a book: her first couple of books took a few short weeks while her last book look almost a year to write. She also revises each day before she writes.

Her rejections and how to get over rejections: best tip: as soon as you start query letters for one project, immediately start another project so when the rejections letters come - and they will - it won't hurt as bad because it's not the project you're working on right now.

How Raised by Wolves found the official cover - after many drafts with tons of photos, fonts, and colors

Books:
She recently LOVED
Mistwood
Unwritten Word

She adores:
adult urban fantasy

The first supernatural book she read: Matilda

Old favorites from Childhood:
Anne of Green Gables series
Tamora Pierce


Here's a READ poster I made of her with her favorite Spy novels

Review: Raised by Wolves

As a young girl, Bryn lost her parents in a brutal attack. Callum, the alpha of his werewolf pack, brought her into his circle and treated her like a daughter. As the only human in the pack, Bryn has always felt like an outsider.

Until a new wolf, Chase, appears.

Chase wasn’t born a wolf. Bryn instinctively knows that she must meet him. As he’s locked away for his own protection by Callum, she goes to Callum for permission to see him. Bryn asks Callum, not as a daughter would ask a father, but as a member asking the Alpha. Therefore, she must abide by his decisions
and his rules.

He declares that she will be allowed to see Chase if she meets the following conditions: first, she will train until he’s satisfied that she can defend herself should the need arise. Second, there will be pack members with her at all times, and these pack members have his authority during the meetings. Third, she must open herself up to the pack bond and become an insider. Finally, she must agree not to attend the next Senate
meeting of Alphas.

Bryn, annoyed and confused by some of the conditions, agrees to all of his demands. Once she’s allowed
to meet Chase, she feels a very strong connection to him. She wants to know what happened to allow the
change from human to wolf. As far as she knows, nothing like this has ever happened. She won’t rest until
she uncovers the truth.

The truth is twisted in a way that combines her past with her present, and once she gains that knowledge,
nothing will stop her from taking charge - not even the Alpha’s commands. With a powerful connection
between her and Chase, her life will never be the same.

My Thoughts: Jennifer Lynn Barnes pens an amazing werewolf tale that leaves you breathless for more. Besides the paranormal aspect, RAISED BY WOLVES touches on friendship, loyalty, betrayal, strength, family, and a little romance. It’s absolutely perfect, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

The Cover: Amazing! I like the dark feel of the book.

Source: review for www.teensreadtoo.com where I gave it the Gold Award because it's just THAT GOOD!

Created: Raised By Wolves booktrailer

I created this using a different site - I like it because you can include the text with the photos, but it makes the photos small. Plus the transition is preset according to the style you choose. I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with it, but I find it interesting.

Raised By Wolves (contest)

I'm DYING to read Raised by Wolves and Jennifer Lynn Barnes is hosting a contest.

So here's my entry: a graph on the reason I'm dying to read it, yesterday!

It's a little hard to read, but basically because the author is awesome, the cover rocks, I adore werewolf books, and I can't wait to read about the heroine that rivals Buffy!

Spotted: Raised By Wolves cover

Isn't it beautiful?
I really can't wait to read it for a number of reasons

1. The Cover
2. Werewolves
3. The author, she's wicked cool and her books are clever and fun plus she likes monkeys

how can you not read her books?