Mundie Moms

Friday, December 31, 2010

Book Review- Vampire Crush

By A.M. Robinson
Published by Harper Teen
Released on December 28th, 2010
Source- ARC from The Publisher
4.5 Stars- Go Pick This Book Up

I swear, my life was always totally normal.

Normal house, normal family, normal school. My looks are average, I don't have any superpowers, no one's showing up to tell me I'm a princess—you get the picture. But when my junior year started, something not normal happened. There were new kids at school . . . new kids with a wardrobe straight out of a 19th-century romance novel, and an inexplicable desire to stay at school until sundown.

And on top of that, James Hallowell showed up. James, who stole my sandwiches in fourth grade and teased me mercilessly through middle school. James, who now seems to have the power to make my heart race any time he comes near.

But something weird is going on. Because James rarely goes out during the day. And he seems stronger than your typical guy. And he knows the new kids, all of whom seem to be harboring some kind of deep secret. . . . (quoted by Goodreads).

Vampire Crush is a fun, quick, enjoyable read. This debut book is nothing that I thought it would be and I enjoyed that element of surprise. It has a cast of great characters, an indulging plot and brings to the table a mix of charm, wit and sarcasm all rolled together. What makes this book so much fun is it's narration. It's hilarious and at times laugh out loud funny, especially when Sophie makes a comment about what she thinks vampires should do- sparkle in the sun, be invited into the house and so on.

Vampire Crush starts off with Sophie wanting to be chosen as the high school paper's editor in chief. When she's given the assignment to interview 6 of the new students, she's faced with a problem. They don't want to talk to her and they're harboring secrets. When a childhood friend and next door neighbor returns, Sophie finds James is a different, hotter and has a connection to the 6 new students.

What I like about Sophie is she's witty, sarcastic, strong willed, and stubborn as she doesn't back down when she wants something and doesn't take much crap from people. I mean that in a nice way, as Sophie's world is about to get rocked with the unimaginable, vampires. Don't think this just another Twilight book, as it's not even close. Sophie's just can't seem to stay out of trouble as her reporter side wants to get to the bottom of what this group is hiding.

I liked that Sophie, who is some what of a loner at school, turns into this protective person once she learns why the new students are here. After all they are a clan of vampires with a volatile leader, Vlad. If it weren't for James, she wouldn't know much about their history. The more she investigates, the more trouble she gets into and the more James is there to help her. I also liked the way Sophie befriends two of the female vampires from the group.

The characters are fun, the high school setting was well written and the romance was great. Okay, I really loved the romance as it's the sweet boy & girl next door type. James and Sophie have a long history together, as they've known each other for years, never acted on the crushes they've both had, but it's their snarky comments to each other I enjoyed the most. I couldn't help myself but laugh out loud when these two dish it to each other. It's done in such a funny manner, like when Sophie finds out what James is and makes the comment he doesn't sparkle in the sun. Their romance is one I enjoyed, as the crush they've both secretly had for years slowly develops into something more. Plus James takes on the protective role and I'll admit I have a weakness for the "knight in shinning armor" role.

Vampire Crush is a such a fun, engaging, laugh out loud read, and I'm so glad I didn't shrug this off to being "just another vampire book." A.M. Robinson's debut book is one I'd highly recommend. She's created a wonderful vampire world complete with history, clans/families, and I enjoyed being apart of her vampire lore, as she adds a unique spin to her story and what brings Vlad's clan to Sophie's town. If you're looking for an enjoyable read with great paranormal characters, lots of snark and a sweet romance, go pick up Vampire Crush.

MM Favorite 2010 Series SIGNED Swag Winner

Thank you to everyone enter our Favorite 2010 Series *Signed* Swag giveaway! Our winner is...

#112- Cathie Veres

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

There's still time to enter to win a pre-ordered book from a Debut Author and/or a pre-ordered book from one of our highly anticipated 2011 releases. All the giveaway links in our right hand side bar.

New Year's Eve- 2010 At A Glance

(image found on google)

I can't believe 2010 is coming to an end! This year has flown by. This year has been a fantastic year on Mundie Moms. THANK YOU to all of you for being apart of it. We've enjoyed getting to meet some of you at the various author events signings and book festival in TX, and we look forward to meeting more of you this year. Sadly it may not be at BEA, but luckily it will be at the wonderful book festivals and author signings that will be in TX in 2011.

Thank you to all of you for your support, for being apart of our author chats, for taking part in our giveaways and for discussing books with us and being apart of our forum. Thank you for your friendships! We've enjoyed the friendships we've made and we're looking forward to having you apart of site in 2011. We have a lot more author chats, giveaways and more planned for 2011.

Thank you to all the authors who have been a huge support to us and for your friendships! We have enjoyed having you our site this year and are grateful to you for taking the time to come on and chat with us, for allowing us to interview you and for allowing us to escape reality for bit and get lost in your books. Your stories have moved us, your characters have made us laugh, and they've made us cry, and we've enjoyed every moment of it (well except when our hearts get ripped out and you leave us hanging for you next book. Okay, even then we still enjoy it as we want more). Your writing has moved us in some way and made an impact on our lives.

Thank you to the publishers for your support, your friendship and allowing us to share our reviews so many others. We thank you for allowing us to host so many wonderful giveaways this year. This year was a huge year for book releases and we have enjoyed being apart of it and we're looking forward to the releases in 2011.

There as so many things we've enjoyed from 2010. We've enjoyed being apart of some awesome blog tours, helping out with The Smart Chicks Kick It Tour's TX stops, The Beautiful Darkness Tour and The Austin Teen Book Festival. We've enjoyed meeting the authors who came through TX this year and have had the honor of having a character named after me in The Lost Saint (Thank you Bree Despain)!

It's been so fun being apart of such a wonderful book blogging community. We've talked about books, we've shared reviews, we've become friends both in the blogging world and outside of it, and we've supported each other through memes, giveaways, on Twitter for various things and we've had fun teaming up for blog tours, ARC tours and various other things. One of the things I've enjoyed most this is the book challenges. Unlike last year, this year I actually hit my goal of reading over 100 books for the 100 book reading challenge on Twilight Moms/Eve's Fan Garden. Last year I read like 70 something and this year I read 162 books by 149 different authors and 34 debut authors. We also took part in The Story Siren's Debut Author contest and collectively read close to different debut authors. Our list of to reads for debut authors next year is already bigger than this year's reads. You can see our list for our 2011 Debut Author Challenge here

Don't forget to enter to win our Favorite 2010 Reads Giveaways (see the giveaway box on our right hand side bar). Thank you for such a fabulous year!! We hope that you have a wonderful New Year and we look forward to all that 2011 has in store.

What are some of your favorite highlights from 2010?

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