Review + 100 Follower Giveaway: Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Title:  Born at Midnight
Author:  C.C. Hunter
Summary:  One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls--a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren't just "troubled."  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side--learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie's never felt normal, but surely she doesn't belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn't complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek's a half-fae who's determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin' hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn't be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear--Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs...

The Dish:  It seems I'm giving a lot of love to Texas authors, and I'm happy to continue that love with C.C. Hunter's Born at Midnight.  Kylie Galen has just been sent to a summer camp for supernaturals, and she definitely has something to say about that.  Namely that she's at the wrong camp.  She's determined to prove to the camp leaders that's she's not one of them, but everyone seems to believe the opposite, especially when she keeps seeing the ghost of a soldier always following her.  Hard to argue with that logic that she is indeed supernatural, which makes her stuck where she is.  With a vampire and a witch for roommates that always seem to bicker with each other along with a half-fae who's very interested in her, a werewolf who knows Kylie from the past, and a sneaky shape-shifter, life at this camp is far from ordinary.

Readers have to look at Born at Midnight as an introduction to Kylie's life and the supernatural world that Hunter has created.  The story is about Kylie's journey in finding out just who and what she is as a supernatural along with meeting those who will help her in discovering that truth.  Fortunately for Kylie, she has many people who not only assist but to just have time to be a teenage supernatural.  Take Della and Miranda, the vampire and witch that she rooms with.  While Della can be a bit cold especially when it comes to Kylie's aversion to even saying the word "blood," the vampire is willing to stand up for her roommate against a troublesome she-werewolf.  Miranda is a boy-crazy witch with dyslexia that always seems to be "in-the-know" on camp news.  Readers get insight into how the vampire and witch dynamics work in this world, and despite their constant arguing, Della and Miranda are there for Kylie when she needs friends most.

Then there are the two males vying for Kylie's attention namely in Derek, the half-fae who has the ability to sense others' emotions and Lucas, the werewolf who knew Kylie from when they were children and whom she thought did a great misdeed to her.  Their dynamic in the story is...interesting to say the least.  When one is not spending time with Kylie, it seems the other is.  It doesn't seem that their "conflict" is as realized save for one confrontation when Derek and Kylie are on a "Meet Your Campmates Hour" activity when Lucas comes out of nowhere after Kylie screams when she sees a water moccasin.  As characters both males intrigue me since you have Derek's almost "boy-next-door" charm and then there is Lucas's "mysterious-speak-only-when-necessary" demeanor.  However, on a personal note, werewolves tend to trump fae with me (apologies to those who favor the fae, it's just my preference).

When you get to pacing of the story itself, it is a steady flow of Kylie's experiences both at camp, coming to grips with her parents in their divorce while she's trying to prove she's not supernatural, and also when dealing with the ghost, "Soldier Dude" as she named him.  There is a LOT going on in her life, so it's understandable that the story have a more relaxed yet inquisitive feel to it.  I definitely did not feel rushed though I did want to learn more of the different situations at Shadow Falls and involving Kylie's parents, determining whether they were supernaturals or not.

Most of the action doesn't get going until close to the end of the book, but as I mentioned before, readers should look at this book as an introduction to Kylie's world.  With Born at Midnight being the start of The Shadow Falls series, the main conflict cannot be revealed nor can the climax come at the beginning of the overall story.  Lucky for readers, Awake at Dawn is coming out in October of this year, and I'll be looking for that in stores to read more of Kylie's story.

UPDATE: The Giveaway is Closed! Check back for future giveaways!

Giveaway Time:

Now for the fun part!  To celebrate both reaching 100 Followers and also to show my love for Texas author, C.C. Hunter, I'm giving away a new copy of Born at Midnight to one of my awesome readers.  Rules are as follows:

1.  To enter please leave a comment with your paranormal of preference (werewolf, vampire, witch, fae, shapeshifter, etc.) along with your email address.

2.  You don't have to follow my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (old or new) please leave a second comment.

3.  The winner will be chosen using a random number generator on July 31st.

Good luck, everyone! ^_^

Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Title:  Paranormalcy
Author:  Kiersten White
Summary:  Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal.  Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still.  Normal.  Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies.  She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths.  Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.  So much for normal.

The Dish:  Four words really braced me for this story... pink taser named 'Tasey.'  After reading that, I knew this would most likely be a great book.  Kiersten White delivers a different type of paranormal story, and readers cannot help getting caught up in the novel due to an almost personable writing style.  The narrator's voice sounds so real especially with the humor associated with teenagers known as sarcastic wit.  This style made for a great and enjoyable read as we learned Evie's story.

Evie has only ever known life within the International Paranormal Containment Agency center as being a normal among many paranormals.  When your best friend can only live underwater and your faerie ex-boyfriend is still fixated on you, it's probably hard to find some sense of normality.  However, Evie manages to maintain her somewhat stable life for eight years until a strange and unknown paranormal is caught breaking into the center.  After that incident, a chain of events is set off and the "normal" world she has built is sent spiraling through the air.

I can understand the need for stability when it seems as though each day is a whirlwind of activity, and Evie never knew where she might be sent.  To have that steady familiarity ripped from her was almost heart-breaking for me.  People think they need a change due to the tedium of the everyday, but when confronted with it head-on, it can be a frightening thing.  Evie not only has to come to terms with the idea that the people she felt were 'family' have not been completely honest with her but also that there is something darker within the world of the paranormals.  And it's searching for her while killing those who are dear to Evie.

Evie's warmth and care for those around her really rang true through White's storytelling, and when someone dear to her was killed, it felt as though I had lost that person, too.  I felt so close with all of those that Evie loved, Raquel, Lish, Jacques, Lend, and even Reth, though he took awhile to really impress me.  Until now, the fae have not been part of the paranormal worlds I've seen in other books, so it was interesting to see my first recent example of the faerie world.  Reth annoyed me to no end throughout the book because I thought he was one of those trying to cause grief for Evie.  He still annoys me though not as much right now, and I'm eager to see what his role will be in the sequel, Supernaturally.  Lend was one of my favorites next to Evie despite my initial gasp when he first entered the story.  It would have been nice to hear some of the story through his voice, but Evie's opinions seem to influence my own...and you can't help adoring the sweet shapeshifter.

Overall, White's writing impressed and pushed me to read the book quickly, which I would have finished earlier had I not been preoccupied with a visit from my beau over the weekend.  I'm sure Evie would understand that, and I look forward to hearing more of her story in July.