American Vampire

Vampires - the Wild West - Hollywood - Blade. Skinner Sweet is an outlaw - an American Vampire with a bone to pick. After mistakenly being turned by some pompous rich European Vampires - he is left trapped in the dessert for years. When he finally get's freed he seeks vengeance and destruction. Fast forward to 1920s Los Angeles where an aspiring actress is about to have her life drastically altered by some goons and possibly the weird man who has been hanging around her pool. A bloody nightmare and a damned good read!

The Silver Queen

It's been a minute since I read the first book in the Sovereign series, but one chapter into The Silver Queen and it all came rushing back. It was like picking back up with friends who I hadn't seen in a while. There is no time lapse between this book and the first, but it is one you most definitely need to have read the first one to understand this one. It's a complex story line and readers jumping into this one would become easily lost. The Gilded King ended with the last uncontaminated city becoming tainted by treachery and blood. Julia is one of the few uncontaminated humans left and chaos is breaking out as the Nobles fight each other over the quickly dwindling blood supply (uncontaminated humans). Outside the walls of the city is only more destruction; Cam has taken several trusty silvers with him to go out into the Red to rescue his Queen and try to bring order and safety back to the city. Operating with the same alternating story lines (Cam and Julia); it's great to see the view of the world through such different perspectives. Action packed and full of betrayal, death, romance, and adventure. This is a high fantasy that readers won't want to miss out on! I can't wait for the third installment!

Vampire Academy

You know... I didn't hate this book nearly as much as I thought I would. In fact, I think I enjoyed it?! Crazy I know. As I mentioned in my last book review (The Coldest Girl In Coldtown) Twilight pretty much ruined vampire books for me. I thought the genre was doomed. But I've already been proven wrong twice this year, there are good young adult vampire books!!

The title of this book (and the cover) is a little off putting, but never fear it's actually quite good. The only reason I picked it up is because I saw that it was getting turned into a movie this year and I love to read books before seeing the movies.

Lissa is a mortal vampire (a Moroi Princess) and her guardian is her best friend, Rose (a Dhampir). Together they must battle a prep school for mortal vampires and guardians without breaking too many hearts, getting into too many fights, and figuring out what Lissa's growing power means. It's full of suspense, witty dialogue, and teenage drama. A win all around.

For fans of teen literature and vampires.

Bunnicula

I probably haven't read this book since second grade, but my initial reaction to this book is still spot on. It's fabulous. Even as an adult I still laughed out loud. The scene where the cat, Chester, is trying to get rid of the vampire rabbit, Bunnicula, by "staking" him with a thawing steak is hilarious. I can just imagine that orange tabby covering the bunny with the steak and then hitting it repeatedly. Too funny. They don't make kid's classics like this anymore.

For those of you unfortunate few who have never read this timeless tale... you're missing out. The story follows Harold and Chester, the pets of the Monroe family as they encounter a third pet to their household, a bunny named Bunnicula. The cat Chester is convinced that Bunnicula is a vampire because he sleeps all day, can't stand garlic, has fangs, and turns vegetable white by draining them. Harold the dog doesn't really care one way or another, but Chester is convinced they have to act... before it's too late.

It's a funny and classic story. I will have to re-read the rest of these in the series.