Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan

 

Spoiler alert. It's not necessary to read the first two books in the previous series,These Hollow Vows, but it will greatly enhance your reading pleasure with this one

“Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies.

Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy.

When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home.

While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts.

The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all.” - taken from Goodreads.

Readers will recognize Jasalyn as Brie’s younger sister who was held captive by Mordeus in the earlier books. Bitter, when she is captured by a group determined to end Mordeus once and for all, Jas joins in as her doppelganger, Felicity, goes to the Wild Fae court to find a hidden portal. Soon both girls are caught up in their new roles where their futures offer new possibilities that they never dreamed possible. This book does end in a cliffhanger that will leave readers wondering what happens to both Jas and Felicity.

Visit Lexi Ryan’s website.

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater (The Wolves of Mercy Falls book 3.5)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first three books in the series, Shiver, Linger and Forever, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story about one of my favorite fictional couples for you.

“Can this sinner be saved?”

Isabel Culpepper and her family left Mercy Falls, Minnesota for Los Angeles, California to attempt to start a new life after the death of her brother Jack. Finishing the last five months of her senior year of high school is the least of her worries. Her parents have separated and she and her mother live with her mother’s sister and her daughter. With few friends, Isabel works as a model for a fashion designer. She has the aloof personality down pat. She has attempted to get over Cole St. Clair, whom she left behind in Mercy Falls where he had become a wolf. She wasn’t expecting Cole to come crashing back into her life.

Cole St. Clair has drastically cleaned up his rock star life since he was bitten and became a wolf. Booze and drugs no longer give him the release that shifting into wolf form does. He is back in California to not only restart his musical career but make amends with Isabel. Signing on to be the star of a web show where the stars are known to become train wrecks, he is determined to be a success instead. When his initial meeting with Isabel doesn’t go as planned, will Cole be able to win her back or will he slip back into his former rock star life?

One of my favorite book couples, I was extremely excited to read more about Cole and Isabel’s story. Snippets of Sam and Grace’s life back in Minnesota are sprinkled throughout the story.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater’s website.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (Wolves of Mercy Falls book 3)

SPOLIER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, STOP! I wouldn’t want to ruin the series for you!

All Sam Roth ever wanted was to be human. He hated shifting every winter into a wolf. Now that his wish has come true and he is with Grace, the girl of his dreams. But Grace is now the one who cannot seem to stay firmly in her own skin and the town of Mercy Falls eyes Sam with suspicion regarding Grace’s disappearance. Cole St. Clair is not only battling the wolf thing but his own demons. Finding a cure for the wolf’s bite is now his number one priority but Isabel Culpepper intrigues Cole even more. With demons of her own, Isabel holds Cole at arms’ length, while supporting Sam and Grace the best she can.

When fellow teenage wolf/”runaway” Olivia is found dead, the people of Mercy Falls are out for blood and Isabel’s father is leading the witch hunt for the wolves. When Tom Culpepper gets the protection lifted against the wolves and an ariel hunt is planned, time is running out for everyone involved. Can Sam not only save Grace but the wolf pack he considers his family before it’s too late? Will Cole be able to find the right trigger for the wolf disease and a cure before the hunt takes place? Will Isabel be able to be there for her friends?

Carefully read the last chapters and all of your questions about your favorite wolves will be answered with some speculation about the future.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater's website.

Linger: Wolves of Mercy Falls book two by Maggie Stiefvater

"This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one."

SPOILER ALERT! Please do not read any further if you have not read Shiver. I don't want to ruin the story for you.

A few months have passed since the conclusion of Shiver. Sam is trying to get use to being in his human form. He can venture out into the cold Minnesota weather and not worry about his body shifting back into wolf form. For now, he just wants to be with Grace and has trouble accepting that he can make plans for his future. On the other hand, Grace is unwell. She is running a high fever and suffering from headaches. Waves of nausea hit her and at times Sam can smell wolf on her. Is Grace's former wish now coming true when she no longer desires to be a wolf?

Isabel Culpepper is still mourning the death of her brother Jack. She blames herself for his death since her idea for a cure didn't work for him like it did for Sam. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she meets one of Beck's new wolves when he starts shifting between his wolf and human forms. Cole St. Clair is looking to hide from his human life. A famous rock star, he has grown to resent who he has become and is loking for escape. When Isabel meets Cole, there is an immediate attraction between them, two tortured souls looking for peace. But can the two of them find it together or separately?

Told from four different points of view; Sam, Grace, Isabel and Cole, readers will be left hanging at the end of the book until the conclusion of the trilogy with Forever due out in 2011. And once again, I love how the font color matches the dust jacket of the book, mossy green.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater's website.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver is a love story between a human girl and a wolf/human boy that is told in alternating viewpoints between the two. I love the fact that the book's typeface is the same pale blue color that's on the cover.

As a child, Grace was attacked by a pack of wolves as she was swinging in her backyard. Except for one, the wolf with the yellow eyes who portected her. Every winter, Grace would watch the wolves in the woods behind her house. She was always on the lookout for her special wolf with the yellow eyes.

Sam is Grace's yellow-eyed wolf during the cold months and a teenage boy during the warm ones. Sam is a werewolf and has been in ove with Grace since the day of her attack. He watches her from the woods as she looks out the windows and admires her from afar during his time in human form. He is always hoping they would meet and Grace would recognize him.

When Jack Culpepper is attacked and seemingly killed by the wolf pack, the townspeople of decide to take matters into their own hands and hunt down the wolves. Grace is distraught and takes off to save the wolves. When she comes home, she finds an injured Sam in human form at her back door, Grace realizes the true secret of the wolves of Mercy Falls.

Readers will be caught up in this climatic love story as Sam and Grace race to find a way to stay together before the cold changes Sam back into wolf form forever.

Check out Maggie Stiefvater's web site.

The following "trailer was created by Maggie with hundreds of paper cut-outs and multiple photographic frames per second. Music composed & performed by Maggie Stiefvater & Kate Hummel."