Vampire Academy series - By Michelle Read

Vampire Academy Series

By Michelle Read

Another fictional series about vampires written by Michelle Read.. Some basics about the types of vampires in this series.

First there are Moroi vampires – these are the good vampires who can do magic and control one of the four elements of fire, earth, water and air. Then there is the Strigoi vampire – they are dead, evil and immortal.. they kill without hesitation and feed on Moroi blood to make them extinct. Third are the dhampirs i.e the guardians – these are half human and half moroi. They guard the Moroi’s from Strigoi’s. Each dhampir is assigned to a Moroi and their only purpose in life is to protect their ward from the Strigoi.

Now about the books:

Book1 – Vampire Academy: This is the story of Lissa Dragomir a Moroi and Rose Hathaway a dhampir. These best friends are studying at St Vladimir Academy and they share a unique bond between themselves literally... meaning Rose can enter into Lisa’s thoughts and see and feel whatever Lisa experiences. Rose is fiercely protective of Lissa and wants to become her guardian when she graduates. But there is someone within campus doing nasty things to Lissa by sending her dead animals.. Rose wants to find out who it is and protect Lissa from any conspiracy. She also takes special classes from an expert guardian Dimitri on whom she has a crush too.. Between controlling her feelings for Dimitri, shielding herself from the nasty rumours about her and Lissa, Rose also has to protect Lissa from someone who is out to destroy her.... Can she save Lissa from the bad vampires???????

Book2 – Frostbite: In this one a group of Strigoi have killed a royal Moroi family and their guardians sending  the vampire world in a state of shock....Protection of Moroi suddenly becomes a hot topic of discussion all around the vampire world. Some Moroi’s want to fight Strigoi themselves along with guardians whereas few other Moroi’s are against the idea. Meanwhile the students of St Vladimir Academy are on a skiing holiday during Christmas when Rose and her friends actually face a pair of Strigoi and have to fight them or become their prey...

Book3 – Shadow Kiss: The guardians of St Vladimirs are given the test of field experiences i.e they are each assigned to a Moroi in the academy and they have to protect their ward against fake attacks from their teachers. Meanwhile Rose undergoes certain experiences where she realizes that she can sees the ghost of dead people killed by the Strigoi.... Her teachers think she is going mad and go easy on her but this just infuriates her.... There is a Strigoi attack on the academy and the teachers have to protect themselves and the Moroi kids. Will they be able to do it; will Rose be able to prove herself again.. the fights are bloody with a totally unexpected ending..

Book4 – Blood Promise:  Rose Hathaway is living a nightmare on her eighteenth birthday. She has to make a difficult choice between her best friend Lissa and the love of her life who has turned Strigoi. She wants to kill her “prince” but she has to leave the Academy for that. Even if she leaves the Academy does she have the ability to fight the strongest, powerful guardian turned Strigoi?? What happens in the encounter between a novice and a Strigoi....it’s a deadly fight one which you would enjoy reading..  

Book5 – Spirit Bound: This is by far the most exciting book of the Vampire Academy series.. Rose and Lissa discover a way to turn Stigoi back to a living form. But to Rose’s disappointment it seems impossible, even though she wants it to work.... She is receiving death threats from a Strigoi who is going to find her where ever she is and kill her.... The encounter with this Strigoi is again amazing and mind blowing.... will they attempt to save themselves and kill the Strigoi or try to turn him back into a living form????????On the other side they have graduated from school and Lissa goes to stay at the Royal court where all the royal Moroi lives and then will join a college nearby... As usual Rose goes with her hoping to get assigned to Lissa as her guardian.. but she is soon caught in the politics of the Moroi vampire world and is accused of a murder she claims not to have committed...

The last two books are really good and worth reading once.... Some unexpected twists and turns in Book 4 and 5. Waiting for the last one :)

Book6 is on the way and expected to release in December 2010.... more on that when it releases.

Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks

Message in a Bottle

By Nicholas Sparks

The story starts with Theresa a journalist finding a bottle near the beach in Cape Cod.. Inside the bottle is a letter addressed to a lady called Catherine and written by a stranger named Garrett where she learns that Garrett is separated from his wife and has expressed his sadness and his feelings in form of a letter.

Theresa is divorced from her husband who had broken her trust and is a single mom now raising her son Kevin in Boston. She is touched on reading the letter and somehow feels a connect with this man... She intuitively feels that this guy is different from all the guys she has known and is drawn towards him.....Then begins a journey where Theresa goes in search of Garrett which leads her to a small town called Wilmington in North Caroline... 

Theresa meets Garrett and finds that he is the man of her dreams.. Garrett who is trying to live everyday thinking of his dead wife finds a friend in Theresa.

Can their long distance relationship survive???? Can Garrett forget Catherine ever??? Is it possible for him to love someone second time over???

It is a nice book with a sad ending.. still worth reading once...

Enjoy J

Southern Lights - By Danielle Steel

Southern Lights

By Danielle Steel

Southern Lights is the story of a mother and daughter Alexa and Savannah respectively. They live in New York where Alexa is the assistant DA who prosecutes criminals. Alexa is divorced from Savannah’s father Tom who lived in Charleston and is still bitter even after 10 years of divorce since Tom betrayed her and went back to his first wife Luisa.

Alexa’s troubles start when she is preparing for a trial to prosecute Luke Quentin, a serial killer accused of the rape and murder of eighteen women. Her daughter Savannah who is seventeen years old gets creepy threatening letters and Alexa is scared that Luke is behind it and will harm Savannah in some way. She decides to send Alexa with her father Tom to Charleston for a few months even though she hates him and can’t bear to even talk to him face to face.

Savannah moves to Charleston for a few months where she starts school and tries to adjust to life without her Mom for a few months... it’s not easy for both Alexa and Savannah but it has to be done for their safety.

The rest of the story deals with Savannah’s relationship with her father’s family in Charleston where she grows up and matures a lot in the months she is away from New York. Alexa has to cope with the pressures of a high profile trial and being away from her daughter is difficult... but she does it.

                                                                                                                                                  

It’s a nice and simple story about two people and how they deal with their relationships and move on with life... a good read. 

The Wedding - By Nicholas Sparks

The Wedding

By Nicholas Sparks

The Wedding is the story of a middle age couple Wilson and Jane Lewis who have been married for 30 years. Jane is the daughter of Allie and Noah Calhoun from "The Notebook" fame.

Having worked hard for 30 years one day Wilson realises that he has neglected his personal life and his relationship with Jane has deteriorated. He gets this realisation when he forgets their wedding anniversary for the first time in 30 years.. He is not even sure if Jane loves him anymore.

Then starts a journey in his life where he starts wooing his wife again like he had done 30 years ago and tries to win her back.

He decides to surprise her with something unusual at their next marriage anniversary which is going to be their daughter’s wedding day too... He works hard all year taking some time off work and romancing his wife again; reliving all past memories and then pleasantly surprising her on the wedding day.

But its not so easy since he is not a man who can speak out his emotions clearly.. he has difficulty saying what he really wants to.. and to his help comes Noah his father in law, his daughter Anna and his entire family and friends who help him to surprise his wife.

Noah is featured on and off in this book and the writer does a wonderful job blending him in the story with Winston and Jane. The climax is truly special and one which at least I didn’t expect.. simply unbelievably awesome. :)

A wonderfully written book.. just loved it.. a must read for all married couples.:) :)