"Masquerade" by Melissa De La Cruz

Two Stars

Mimi Force is throwing a party, THE party of the year. It’s the hottest ticket in town and all of the details are top secret. The only way in is to receive the coveted text message moments before the party begins. That, and you have to be a vampire.

Schuyler doesn’t trust The Committee or believe their story that the dreaded Silver Bloods are only a legend. She and her best friend Oliver have traveled to Venice in search of her grandfather who went into a self-imposed banishment after the last reports of Silver Blood encounters, centuries before. He is the key to finding and defeating the Silver Bloods once and for all.

But that’s not her only problem. There is the upcoming annual 400 Grand Gala that she must attend and the social pressure getting an invite to Mimi’s exclusive Masquerade after-party. Then there’s the boys. Jack Force, Schuyler’s long-time crush who alternates between kissing and ignoring her. And things with Oliver have been getting weird and she’s considering a move that would make it even weirder forever. And to top it all off The Committee has just placed the life of her arch-nemesis, Mimi Force, in her hands. With everything going on Schuyler has pushed herself so far beyond her limits, she may not survive.

I’m losing interest in this series. When I finished I had to sit and really think “Now, what was it about? What happened?” It’s a lot of hanging out, then suddenly something huge happens at the end. The only problem is you know how it’s going to end, you know there is no real threat to the character, so it’s hard to buy into and not feel like they just needed something to happen.

I'm going to keep going but I just feel like nothing really happens or progresses in this book. It's the same conflict as the first book but doesn't do much to move that story any further than the first book. I was worried after the first book because I really liked it and wasn't sure how it would progress. Here's hoping book three picks it up a bit.

"Wicked Appetite" by Janet Evanovich

Four Stars

There are seven ancient stones, each one representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins. No one knows when they were created or by who. But it is known that they hold great power. Treasure hunters have sought them for centuries, and now it is rumored that all seven stones have found their way to Salem, MA.

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Tucker has settled nicely into her new life in Salem. She has a new old house (recently inherited from her Aunt Ophelia) and a fantastic new job as the pastry chef at the local bakery, her specialty being cupcakes.Yep, everything is great, until a guy named Diesel, a one-eyed ninja cat, and an offensive monkey all move in to her house.

The monkey and the cat are okay, but Lizzy has no idea what to think of Diesel. He says he's there to protect her from his cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, a seriously scary guy with the power to burn skin with his touch, who is searching for the stones and needs Lizzy to find them. Now Lizzy doesn't know what to fear more, the strange effect the stones have over her or the exciting effect of Diesel.

I read this book because I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, and I loved it! I keep wanting to use the words "cute" and "fun" to describe this book and, when it comes down to it, that's what it is. It's surprisingly PG-13, with a lot of "What the heck?" and "Geeze Louise"'s going on. I am not opposed to sex in books, but it was kind of cool to read one with some sexual tension but nothing more.

The actual plot moves a little slow but it's so quirky and unexpected that you don't mind. There's a good guy and a bad guy but they don't fit the typical molds or act exactly as you would expect them to. Everything about this book is just a little casual and a lot of fun.

This book only deals with one of the stones and sets itself up to be a very entertaining series that I look forward to following.

Highly recommended as a great summer read.