It's Monday! What are you reading?

Welcome to Monday.  For once, quite liking this Monday as it is a long weekend and so instead of working I get to enjoy reading some of the many books I have received in the last couple of weeks.  So today it is more than appropriate to say  It's Monday!  What Are You Reading? This is a weekly meme hosted by A Book Journey where we talk about the books that we are reading and have read this week.

Been very good with my review book reading this week.  I have a number of blog tours coming up that I needed to prepare for so those books have taken priority this week. Started the week by finishing off Phantom Eyes, (Witch Eyes #3) by Scott Tracey. This was the third and final book in the series and I really need to write the review for it this week.  Next up was Soul Taken (The Life After #1) by Katlyn Duncan which I am reading as part of the the blog tour for book 2, Soul Possessed.

Soul Taken (The Life After #1) by Katlyn Duncan
Goodreads  | Amazon
Book 1 in The Life After trilogy from Carina UK.

After-life just got a lot more complicated

Maggie is a Soul Collector. It’s her job to transport souls from the Living Realm to the After – but during a mission to find a stolen soul, she ends up stuck in a teen mean girl’s body.

Trapped, Maggie’s soul is catapulted into Ally’s life – and the human world she hasn’t experienced for one hundred years. But, as a descendant of the most powerful beings in the After, Maggie must rescue Ally before the girl’s soul dies…

To survive, Maggie must uncover devastating secrets – because with one soul taken by a terrifying enemy, Maggie’s could be next!

After reading Soul Taken, I quickly read Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes as I needed to supply some possible guest post topics for my stop in the blog tour and so I wanted to get a feel for the book in order to come up with as relevant guest post topics as possible.  It was also a really good excuse to read it earlier than I had intended :-P  I won't be reviewing it for my stop on the blog tour but I will be reviewing it a little later on so keep your eyes peeled.

Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes
Goodreads  | Book Depository
Olivia

He tilts my chin up so my eyes meet his, his thumb brushing lightly across my lips. I close my eyes. I know Z is trouble. I know that being with him is going to get me into trouble. I don’t care.

At least at this moment, I don’t care.

Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school. Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elite—break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents. As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv…

Z

I can picture Liv’s face: wide-eyed, trusting. Her smooth lips that taste like strawberry Fanta.

It was just a kiss. That’s all. She’s just like any other girl.

Except that she’s not.

Thanks to Z, Olivia’s about to get twisted.

Next up I read Soul Possessed as I will be reviewing this for my blog stop tomorrow so wanted to read it ASAP.

Soul Possessed (The Life After #2) by Katlyn Duncan
Goodreads  | Amazon
Now Maggie has been given the chance of her after-life to become a Guard, nothing will stand in her way. Not even the undeniable attraction she feels for her trainer and past love—Jackson. But when the battle between Shadowed and Guard begins again which side will she choose?

When her boss, Felix, partners Jackson and Maggie up with Ally and Cooper to investigate terrifying Shadowed activity, she doesn’t think it could get any worse. Jackson and Cooper barely tolerate each other and this time, Maggie isn’t just proving her loyalty to the Guard during one mission...she has a side mission too. One so secret and so dangerous she can’t tell a soul...

Book 2 in The Life After trilogy.

I bought some new books this week, one of which I have been dying to read forever but just not gotten round to buying it.  Because apparently that can actually happen. The book I am talking about is Oath Bound (Unbound #3) by Rachel Vincent.  I loved books 1 and 2 and after reading this one almost as soon as I got it, not surprisingly, I loved this one also but was sad that this is the last book in the unbound world.

Oath Bound (Unbound #3) by Rachel VincentGoodreads  | Book Depository
The Tower Syndicate will fall...
The secret daughter of the head of an infamous Skilled crime family, Sera Brandt has hidden her past, her potential and especially her powers. But when a tragedy strikes her other family, Sera needs justice. And the only way to get it is to reveal her heritage–including a rare Skill–and take the reins of the Tower Syndicate from her cunning and malicious aunt.
If he can figure out how...
Kristopher Daniels might have the answer. He's fought the syndicate to protect his sisters, but he'd never realized just how close to the new heir he needed to get....
And if they can survive
Neither is used to trusting. But there's something between them that can't be ignored. And so Sera is on the run with a man she can't figure out, a target on her back and the new knowledge of just how powerful she really is....

I am trying to sneak in Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8) by J R Ward in at the moment.  This is my guilty pleasures read.  This series is hugely long but so much fun to read so I like to sneak a book from the series here and there into my reading schedule where time and mood permit.

Lover Mine (Black Dagger Bortherhood #8) by J. R. WardGoodreads  | Book Depository
In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. Long divided as a terrifying battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.
Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

However while I am enjoying Lover Mine, I have been reading it quite slowly so may have to put it down briefly to read Arbitrate (daynight #2) by Megan Thomason, also for a blog tour in November.  I participated in the blog tour for book 1, Daynight, at the beginning of the year and so am extremely excited to be part of the Arbitrate Blog Tour as this is another series that is different and that I have enjoyed immensely as a result.

Arbitrate (Daynight #2) by Megan Thomason
Goodreads
The release date for arbitrate has been set for October 29, 2013.

Remember The Second Chance Institute (SCI). Earth's benevolent non-profit by day, Thera's totalitarian regime by night. They’ve stepped up their game on Earth and on Thera—infiltrating political parties, preying on the downtrodden, and planning offensive maneuvers. And they’re handing out more “second chances” than ever before. The SCI’s abuse of their charter leads to Arbiter oversight and bitter consequences.

Remember Kira Donovan. Broken, burdened, and evading those who wish her harm, Kira enlists the Arbiters’ help when forced to return to the clutches of the SCI and her angry, estranged love.

Remember Blake Sundry. Exiled, determined, and packing an agenda, Blake seeks assistance on Earth and Thera to use his newfound knowledge to bring down the SCI.

Remember Ethan Darcton. Overworked, emotional, and holding a grudge, Ethan hunts down his stolen property, but finds himself in awkward territory, stuck between the Arbiters and the SCI.

Full of action, competing agendas, romantic entanglements, humor, twists and turns, arbitrate is Megan Thomason's third installment in the award-winning daynight series after daynight and clean slate complex (a daynight story).

Last but not least i really need to read the Alice in Zombieland and Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter, which are due for review this month. I have put them off a couple of times now so its definitely time to read them.  It's one of those series where I know I will enjoy it once I get started.  I am just having a little trouble actually getting started i.e. actually picking up the book and starting to read at page 1 as I have yet to get that far even.

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.
Her father was right. The monsters are real….
To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

Inspired by the childhood classic Alice in Wonderland, this harrowing and romantic story features teen zombie slayer Alice Bell who has lost so much—family, friends, her home. After a strange new zombie attack, Alice fears she may be losing her mind as well. A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do wicked things. The whispers of the dead assault her ears and mirrors seem to come frighteningly to life. She’s never needed her team of zombie slayers more—including her boyfriend, Cole—than she does now. But as Cole strangely withdraws and the zombies gain new strength, Ali knows one false step may doom them all.

It's Monday! What are YOU reading?  Don't forget to let me know in the comments.

Have a great week!