Review: Savor by Megan Duncan

As some of you might know, I'm in the market for a new cover designer. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I've suspected this for a while now. What might not seem quite so apparent is the fact that I've been looking at the other books some of the designers I'm considering have designed covers for.

Aside from the above, Savor caught my attention when I looked up reviews and people claimed that it was a vampiric version of The Princess Diaries. I loved the Princess Diaries movies, I love anything with vampires (gasp!) and the sample was great. So I decided to go ahead and download this for my kindle.

So, does Savor get the royal stamp of approval or does it totally bite? Read on and I'll tell you what I thought. :)

The Plot: (Summary from GoodReads)

When Claire Miller turned eighteen all she wanted to do was celebrate her birthday, but after a night on the town with her best friend she awakes to a visitor she never expected. The rulers of her region, a vampire royal family, have chosen her to be turned as their new heir and vampire princess. Claire quickly discovers the royal family is not what they seem and that she has secrets in her past, she never knew existed

The first thing I can tell you about this book is that people who say this is The Princess Diaries with vampires are right--in both the best and worst ways possible. In many ways, I felt that this book had the kind of fun and whimsical feeling that I had when I watched those movies (I must admit I've never read the books. I bet that sounds weird coming from me.) I had fun exploring the world that Megan created for Claire and her friends and had no trouble staying interested in what was going on.

The problem is that sometimes--like when we learn that her cat is named Fat Louie--the homage to the source material seemed a little too close for comfort. There were a couple other situations like this and as they added up I must admit that I found myself feeling a little uncomfortable.

On the plus side, the book moved along at a good pace and keep me clicking forward. I have a lot of trouble focusing on reading when I am editing my writing, so it's saying something that this held my atttention. 

There is one other thing that struck me as a rather big problem here. The book felt like it was only half complete. It did not really seem to follow a logical type of plot structure. Yes, I suppose it could be argued that Claire does have her 'moment' at the end and that she accomplishes something. I don't want it to come across as if I don't want to read the next one. On the contrary, I'm very eager to see what will happen. But it seemed like it could have been wrapped up a little better.

The Characters:

I found Claire quite likable. She was a fun lead and I was consistently interested in what was going to happen to her. I did find the way things were between her and her mom when she went to the palace a little odd, but considering the mother's background and the disconnect that seemed to exist between them I suppose this is not totally surprising. 

I wasn't so impressed by the villains, Luca and Ana. I like my villains filled with depth and complexity and they just didn't have that. That does not make the book 'bad'. It's very much a personal thing. But it is my opinion.

I did like Robin and Claire's two potential love interests, Dmitry and Arrick. Robin is a totally awesome friend and I love her vibrant and fun personality. Definitely the kind of person (vampire?) I would want to hang out with. As for Dmitry and Arrick, they are both great. But the build up for Arrick is just so fabulous (even though he does add to my irritation about the plot structure) that by the time we met him he completely swept me away. I really hope that he and Claire end up together. <3 

Characters can often make or break a book for me and this is an area where Savor totally delivered. I found myself growing genuinely attached to these story people and I want to spend more time with them.

The Romance: 

I think that the dynamic that is set up by the end of this book is genius. I'm doing my best not to go into too much details about what happened even though I have named both guys. If you like love triangles, this is something I would strongly recommend. If you like well constructed and lovable male leads, yet again, look no further. I would place this at the sweeter end of the scale, but there is definitely chemistry between Claire and her two potential LIs. I really want to see what happens. (I keep saying that, don't I?)

In General: 

For less then a good cup of coffee, you can own a fabulous paranormal romance with an interesting take on vampires, a great heroine, two awesome love interests and an overall stellar cast. Every book has it's strengths and weaknesses, and Savor is no exception. But considering the level of quality, the fun of the story and the practically free asking price Savor is not to be missed. If you love vampires or have ever dreamed of being a princess you need this book. 

Shopaholic Sunday (August 26th)

Shopaholic Sundays are my opportunity to share what I bought this week, what I'm thinking of buying soon and if I have anything interesting planned here at I Write, I Read, I Review. Curious what I've picked up or found waiting in my mailbox? Read on to find out.

Hey guys!

This month has been totally insane and I haven't had a lot of time for anything. (Especially reading, which makes it very hard to update a book blog.) But I always have time to shop, don't I? Well, here are a bunch of the things that I have picked up in the last few weeks. Hopefully I'll get the chance to really sit down with these soon. (Between grandma and Sealer's Promise stuff that's been hard)

I'm hoping I can get things here back to some semblance of normalcy once I have the book out with betas, but I don't want to make any promises. To those who have stuck with me despite all the craziness, thank you. 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's book Reviews where we get to share the fabulous things we bought borrowed or received. Curious what I got? (No video this week, guys. My parents have been on vacation and I've been spending 90% of my time at grandma's -- meaning my whole schedule is messed up.)

For Review:

Katya's World

by Jonathan L. Howard

The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.
Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.
There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.

Ever received something for review and went "Uh...what do you want me to do with this?". That's sort of how I feel here. While I am always grateful when publishers send me books, this one has me totally stumped. I opened and read a bit of it and it reminds me of the Science Fiction class I took back in university and I mean every ounce of weight those capital letters can carry. A very "don't call me sci-fi" kinda deal. That kind of Science Fiction tends to make me nervous. We shall see, though.

Shifted Perspective

by Margaret Bates

Caleb Byrne is a bright high school senior who has enough to deal with between college choices, taking care of his single dad, and dealing with both a headstrong girlfriend Joanna and an eccentric set of cousins in California. Mostly, he was managing to get by before the day he woke up a Cocker Spaniel. Even if it only happens monthly and is more embarrassing than painful, the so-called ability is something that he's anxious to be rid of.

He didn't realize his transformations would drag him into a hidden society of canine and lupine shape shifters as well as a family legacy he hates. He's working to "get by" in Los Angeles, after moving there to learn more about his heritage from his Aunt Moira and his cousin Kalista. Caleb now struggles through more life-and-death matters. He keeps angering the werewolves in charge of the shifter world, especially Kalista's boyfriend Peter, the Southern California alpha's son and grade A sociopath, who already loathes him. Worse, Caleb's floundering to keep his secret from Joanna.

While his family offers him some support, they may not be enough as Caleb realizes that the rules in shifter society---number one supposedly being don't kill humans ---are not so ironclad. Some werewolf out there is leaving a blood-soaked trail across the Midwest and it might just be with the alpha's blessing...

How could I say no to such a funny and original premise? I've read about 1/3 of this so far and while I'm not head over heels in love with the book, I am enjoying it and it is funny. I should have a review up soon.

I Bought:

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1. Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake -- I've heard way too many good things about this from way too many of my friends. When I saw this at WalMart I had to grab it. Now who's going to pay the therapy bills when I have nightmares after I read it? That's anyone's guess. :p 

2. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter -- You'll likely want to bring something to protect your clothes when I review this one. Greek Mythology can be a very touchy subject for me. I've avoided this book for a long time because I know I may not be the right person to weigh in on it. But I saw it at WalMart today and I couldn't resist picking it up. 

3. Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman -- This looked relatively interesting and I was already getting Temptation and Pushing the Limit so I figured why not? I'm never sure if being easily lured by a bargain is a blessing or a curse, but 25% off makes it hard for me to say no if something seems intriguing. 

4. The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter -- Okay! I started writing this last week, never loaded it and I'm adding to it. *shakes head* I've finished The Goddess Test and The Goddess Legacy and I totally loved both. Reviews will be up soon. If you're going to read this, you will need to let go of expectations that the Gods will be perfect mirrors of Greek myth, but if you can deal with that these books are fabulous. 

5. Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins -- You're probably going to laugh at this. I had a serious reason for getting this and a not so serious one. The serious reason, of course, is that I love studying how different people live and what happens when different lifestyles intersect. Since the Amish exist within our own time, yet mirror very different views then we do that makes them fascinating. The silly reason? Two words: Weird Al's "Amish Paradise". Yes, I know I'm awful, but that's how I remembered what this was about when I saw it at the store. 

7. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry -- I've heard nothing but rave reviews for this and that's from friends who all love different genres of books. So I absolutely had to nab this up when I saw it at Shoppers' Drug Mart. I haven't sat down with it yet (been too busy reading The Goddess Test, The Goddess Legacy and Savor) but I'm sure I'll get to it soon. 

For My Kindle: 

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Savor by Megan Duncan -- This caught my interest when I read a review where someone claimed it was The Princess Diaries with vampires. Now, I've never *read* The Princess Diaries. I've only seen the movies. But the premise sounded sorta cute to me and this book was only $1, so I figured why not? Needless to say, I've read it from start to finish and while there are some things I'll want to point out when I review it, on the whole I thought it was pretty good. 

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter -- You've got to know if I got a sequel for my kindle of a book I bought in print, I wanted that book *bad*. That's definitely the case with Goddess Interrupted. I'm sitting on my hands and trying to keep me from devouring this and The Goddess Hunt since I know the next book isn't out until next year. But it's very, very hard to resist and I'm sure I'll break eventually. 

The Goddess Hunt by Aimee Carter -- Okay, I think I've squeed enough about this series in this post to last until the reviews go up. :p Needless to say, this is an eBook only novella, so I had to grab it for my kindle. How long before I break down and read it? Gods only know. :p 

So, what did you get this week? Leave a link and I'll drop by and check it out. :)