Top Ten Tuesday: Villains

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This weeks Top Ten: Villains (favorite, best, worst, lovable, creepiest, most evil, etc.)

I couldn't decide which type of villain I wanted to write about, so that lead me to do subcategories. I feel like such a rebel!

Villains I Love To Hate 

The Beautiful Pretender

I have a review of this book coming soon so I won't say too much, but there is a character I absolutely hate. Most villains have redeeming qualities, but this character had lacked any of those qualities. She loved to hurt others and was completely heartless. 

The Falconer

The Villain in this book was completely cut throat, heartless, violent, and everything I love to hate. This Villain did things that ripped my heart out, stomped on it, then put it through a shredder. 

Empire of Storms

I have never hated a villain more then the one in this book. This is the 5th book of the Throne of Glass series so I can't say anything more, but if you haven't read this series you are missing out! 

Twisted Villains 

Dorthy Must Die

I've talked about this before, but this book was very hard for me to get through. It was twisted, gory, and dark. Dorothy is our obvious villain given away by the title, but she isn't the only one. 

Stalking Jack the Ripper

I can't say much about this one, but who ended up being the murderer was very twisted. 

Societies, Government, Associations, etc. 

Altered 

I LOVED this book. The government does experiments on 4 genetic altered boys.

Bloodlines

The alchemists in this series have some serious rules and boundaries that are never allowed to be crossed. They believe themselves to be the heroes and the vampires the monsters, but not everything is what it seems.  

Whose The Bad Guy?

The School for Bad and Evil

I loved that this book makes you think about what is good and evil, and the gray that lies between. 

Bad Boys I Love 

The Return

If you're a long time reader of this blog then you know how much I use to hate Seth. In The Covenant series I couldn't stand him, but somehow JLA has warped my mind into loving him. He's impulsive, rude, and yes he has been a villain, but I can't help but love him anyways. 

A Faerie's Secret

I simply love a villain in this series. This is considered the 4th book in this series, but it's the first book of Calla's story. This is a hidden gem that you won't regret reading

I can't wait to read everyone's list. Make sure you leave your links in the comments. I hope you're having an amazing day! 

  

Chasing A Hidden Dream

This post is probably going to be all over the place, so please excuse the hot mess that will flood this post. The past year I have been chasing a dream that I've always had, and that is writing. I've been writing ever since I can remember, but I've never dedicated myself to the craft. Fun fact about me, when I was in grade school I wrote a poem about fall and I won a creative writing contest with it. That poem is in our small towns historical museum. I truly believe that it was that day that I realized that writing was my passion. That day the writing bug bit me, and the itch to create has never left. Throughout school I wrote and loved every second of it. I won contests and scholarships but I never thought of being an author. In brutal honesty I truly believed that I could never achieve being an author because I live in a small town, and well it's hard to have big dreams in a small town. I don't live in a place where I could find editors, agents, publishers, and knowing that made me put my love for writing in a box I didn't know then that you can find those connections through the magic of the internet. My high school teacher tried with all her might to push me to believe in myself and to give myself the chance to be an author. Sadly I played it safe and pushed that passion down. I went to school to be a teacher. I played it safe all my life, and it landed me in a job field I wasn't passionate about. I love kids and I love seeing their little minds grow, but it isn't my heartbeat.  My heartbeat has always been writing, creating, and books. 

 Once I realized that it was like God gave me signs everywhere to chase my dreams. To not put my dream or Him in a box. If this is a dream He created in my heart it shouldn't be ignored. Everywhere I looked there was inspiration. I took the plunge secretly and wrote down an outline of a story that had been in my head for a long time. After I wrote that outline I had to start writing because the concept had taken over my life. I felt like if I didn't write it down I would explode. I worked on it for awhile, but it felt like it flew by. That book was a passion project that I had to do for myself, and I loved every second of it. In all honesty it's a hot mess that needs serious revision, but it's mine and that's what matters. God kept blessing me with signs to keep going. I went to a church book club and a woman I had never met was there. We started talking and turns out she is a published author! In our small town she made her big dream come true, and she was sharing her tips and tricks with me. She gave me a long list of craft books I devoured, offered to be a beta reader for me, and just an all around amazing book friend.

  I don't know if I will every be published, but I am chasing my dream to create, write, to be an author. It's time to take a hidden dream and release it from the old box I've hid it in for years. I'm releasing the dream and replacing it with my fears and anxiety in the box instead. It just feels right to be writing, and I'm overjoyed to be taking the plunge. 

I'm in the middle of outlining a new book, and I am so in love with it! It's like dating where it's new, fun, and we are just getting to know one another. Since I've been outlining the last month I should be ready to start writing it in November. It feels like the stars are aligning and telling me to do Nanowrimo so I will be participating for the first time! Y'all I am nervous and excited to start this journey. If you are doing Nano please let me know so we can be writing buddies! 

I feel like this wouldn't be a fun post without giving you a sneak peek of a mood board I've created on Pinterest for my book.

I'll share more about my story in posts to come, but for now I'll share that it's a YA urban fantasy with a heavy swoon worthy forbidden romance.
I share little sneak peeks on my Instagram if that's something you're interested in make sure you're following me. 

 I don't know if I will ever be published, but I am chasing my dream to create, write, and to be an author. It's time to take a hidden dream and release it from the old box I've hid it in for years. I'm releasing the dream from the box, and putting my fears and anxiety in its place. I am going to start incorporating writing posts on here, and I want your opinion on this idea. What type of posts do you want? I am thinking about doing writing diaries, my favorite podcasts for writers, craft books that have helped me, and inspirational posts. If there is anything you would like to see just let me know in comments below. 

Before I sign off I want to thank you. Every single person that reads my posts means the world to me. I have met so many amazing book friends through this blog, and I am overwhelmed at the friendships this blog has created. Thank you for being such a supportive incredible community. I love every single one of you and thank you for being a part of this.

Review: Born at Midnight

Born at Midnight

Author: C. C. Hunter 

Series: Shadow Falls #1 

Pages: 398 

Hours: 11 hrs 27 mins 

Published: March 29th 2011

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

"..if you're going to tell me that I'm going to start howling at the moon, eating peoples cats, and will spend the rest of my life having to get waxed if I want to wear a bathing suit, then I don't think I can handle it, either. I like cats and I tried waxing once, and that hurt like a son of a gun."

Born at Midnight was a fun and refreshing read that is a perfect book to read during a marathon, to help you get out of a reading slump, or simply a delish book to devour. 

  Kylie's parents are getting a divorce, and with all the fighting and chances Kylie needs a break. She tries to escape the drama at home and goes to a party with her best friend. While Kylie thinks the party will be a fun time it only adds more drama when the cops bust the party. Her mom believes Kylie is spiraling out of control, and decides it would be in Kylie's best interest to spend the summer at a camp for troubled teens. On the bus with the other teens Kylie starts to notice that there is something off about them. When they arrive at the camp she learns that the camp isn't for troubled teens, but instead it's for teens with paranormal gifts. While everyone is finding out what they are Kylie learns that once again she may not fit in with her peers. Does Kylie have some paranormal element or was she brought to the camp by mistake?

 While this summer camp is filled with mysteries and paranormal creatures the friendships and summer romance dramas felt relatable. Born at Midnight is a coming of age story, and the main character Kylie learns so many life lessons that we've all had to bare. Kylie learns that while some friendships fade with time others last longer then one may think. She learns that sometimes love isn't enough for some people. Growing up has its growing pains, but who you have by your side during the journey is what's important. She discovers the heartache that comes with first loves, and redeeming love. Hunter did an excellent job of showing the trials of growing up. The characters where fleshed out and everyone had their own problems to conquer. There's great diversity of problems that the characters had to go learn to deal with. It all felt real and relatable. The problems diverse from family not accepting a character to another struggling with a learning disability, to another not accepting who they are, and more. By the end of this book we get to see many of these characters conquer these problems and the growth in the characters was phenomenal. 

 While the description on Goodreads describes some of the character's paranormal elements I didn't read it, and I recommend you do the same. Learning what everyone was had me itching to figure it out. Every character's paranormal gift truly added to their personality and character arch. I appreciated how every paranormal aspect seemed to fit each character and it never felt like it was an after thought in the plotting process. I feel like this book is more character driven and the plot was building up for the second book, but it didn't fall flat.

 The only thing that I didn't love whole heartedly was the romance. There is one relationship that I was rooting for but in the end it fell a little flat. The love triangle in the book didn't work for me, and I felt like it was more of a convenance relationships. I didn't feel the excitement I usually do in a paranormal romance. I like a heavy romance in a book, and while there was a lot of romance it just felt boring to me. I wasn't getting excited when the love interests were interacting with Kylie, and I just wanted to get back to the other subplots of the story. I do believe that it has potential to be better in the second book, and I look forward to reading it to see. 

 Overall I recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a fun paranormal read that you can finish quickly. If you like a coming of age, character driven, paranormal read give Born at Midnight a try! 

About the Author

Follow Christie
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C. C. Hunter is the New York Times bestselling author of over thirty-five books, including her wildly popular Shadow Falls and Shadow Falls: After Dark series. In addition to winning numerous awards and rave reviews for her novels, C.C. is also a photojournalist, motivational speaker, and writing coach. In February 2018, Wednesday Books will publish her contemporary young adult and hardcover debut, This Heart of Mine. And the first book of her new paranormal young adult series, The Mortician's Daughter: One Foot in the Grave will release on October 31st 2017. C. C. currently resides in Texas with her husband, junkyard dog, Lady, and whatever wild creatures that meander out from woods surrounding home.

C.C. Hunter is a pseudonym. Her real name is Christie Craig and she also writes humorous romantic suspense romance novels. 

Audio book Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Stalking Jack the Ripper
Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #1
By: Kerri Maniscalco
Pages: 337
Audio: 9 hours & 26 mins
Published: September 20th 2016
Publisher: by Jimmy Patterson
My Rating: 

“Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn’t believe something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery.” 

 The traits of an average seventeen year old girl in the 1800's included: gossiping, crushing over potential husbands, and learning to be a devoted wife. Between Audrey Rose's social parties, training, and dress fittings she just happens to cut open dead bodies. Audrey is a girly girl, but there's one thing she's interested in that most girls in the 1800's aren't. She wants to learn and understand the science behind the human body, and often sneaks away to her uncle's laboratory to study forensic medicine.

In the mist of her studies a pattern of  horrifically violent murders start to occur, and Audrey is determined to stop them. While studying the bodies, investigating the clues left behind, and taking dangerous risks, Audrey learns that maybe she is closer to the killer than she realized. While connecting the dots Audrey refuses to stop her investigation no matter how much the end result will tear her apart.
Stalking Jack the Ripper is a fast past, gripping, and bone chilling thriller that I couldn't stop listening to. The history and fictional parts of this book intertwined beautifully and effortlessly. The story stayed true to the evidence history has left behind, and I loved the gruesome twist that Maniscalco put on who Jack the Ripper was. As with any thriller read there are a few guesses of who can be the murderer. The reasons behind the murders had a twisted explanation that had me thinking about it long after I had finished the book.
The characters in Stalking Jack The Ripper were all complex, mysterious, and lovable. Even the corrupt characters tug at your heart strings, and cause you to empathize with them. Maniscalo develops complex characters break the norm for their generation.  I enjoyed how they all had twisted personalities in their own unique way. No one in this book is a cookie cutter character. They are jaded, mischievous, broken, and dark. I loved how they all had brokenness that they were trying to deal with, and how raw their emotions are.
With the third book in the series out it's the perfect time to grab this book and binge the first three books in this series. I enjoyed the audio version. The narrator did a great job of getting into character, and the performance never fell flat. If you want to try an audio book that gives you all the fall and Halloween feels Stalking Jack the Ripper is for you! 

About the Author

 Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.She is the #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series.
Favorite non-writing things:I believe curry, avocados, vinyl records, handwritten letters, and my 1950s Smith-Corona typewriter are the best things on the planet. EVER. (Aside from my food blog, www.sndwchsetc.com, that is.)  My favorite quote of all time is: “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club” by Jack London.

Follow Kerri
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