Fallen in Love, by Lauren Kate

Series: Fallen, #3.5
Publisher: Delecorte Press
Release Date: January 24, 2012
Hardcover: 201 pages
Genre: YA - Paranormal Romance
Read it in: 7 days
Source: Library
Challenges: None
Rating: ★★★

Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story.
And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine's Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce will spend a night together like none other.
Lauren Kate's FALLEN IN LOVE is filled with love stories . . . the ones everyone has been waiting for.
True love never says goodbye. . .

If you're a fan of the Fallen series, I recommend reading this. While it wasn't AS addicting as the first three books, it was enjoyable. It's four short stories compiled into one book. Each short story is with a different point of view, but they all happen on the same day; Valentines Day.

The first story, in my opinion, was the cutest. It was Shelby's point-of-view and it was about Shelby and Miles. It was my favorite story of all four of them. It was the start of something and I can't wait to read Rapture to see if it continues! I was hoping Shelby and Miles would get together!

The second was Roland's point-of-view. It was weird reading through Roland's eyes, but also a great opportunity to learn more about him. This one completely broke my heart. I've always seen Roland as this strong, cool, mysterious sort of character. He's hilarious sometimes, really. But seeing him completely tormented by a choice he had to make for him and the woman he loved, just tore me apart. I feel for Roland so much. I think this one was the saddest one.

The third was of Arianne. I've always loved Arriane and to see this side of her made me understand why she tries to help Daniel and Luce so much. She had a forbidden love too, and it ended badly. You also get to see how she got her scars, and I'm glad we get to find that out because I've been curious about that since the first book.

The final story is, of course, Luce and Daniel. You can't have a Fallen novel, even if Novella, without Luce and Daniel. While their story wasn't very long, you do get to read about the only Valentines Day they've ever been together for. It's always fun to read about Luce and Daniel, but I really hope they get a break in Rapture. They've been through SO much and it just isn't fair!

Overall, this was an enjoyable extra to the series. It's quick paced and I could of read it pretty fast, but I've been in a bit of a rut so it took me a week. Can you believe that? Ha! If you're a fan, definitely read it. It's not the BEST, but it IS a compilation of short stories. Not an actual novel. Read it! :)
                                                                                                                                       
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository 
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

The final book in this series is Rapture. It was released on June 12, 2012. 

Read my other reviews for this series: 

• Fallen
• Torment
• Passion 

Passion, by Lauren Kate

Series: Fallen, #3
Publisher: Delecorte Press
Release Date: June 24, 2011
Hardcover: 420 pages
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal Romance
Read it in: 6 days
Source: Own
Challenge: None
Rating: ★★★★★

Luce would die for Daniel.
And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn't need to be that way....
Luce is certain that something - or someone - in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of thislifetime...going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel...and finally unlock the key to making their love last.
Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames...forever.
Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

Okay, I know a lot of people have had issues with this book. But I didn't. I loved it. I know that it's basically just Luce stepping in and out of Announcers in different times and places, but I loved seeing her past lives with Daniel.  I loved seeing them fall in love so deeply each time, it was so romantic. As you should already know if you've read the first two books (Which you better have if you're reading this review!!!), Daniel has had to watch Luce die over, and over, and over again with each reincarnation. He falls in love with her as a different person, with the same soul, each time and she falls in love with him and just as they start to proclaim that love, poof. She dies. It's so tragic, but such a romantic tragic love story.

Also, in this third installment, you get to read Daniel's point-of-view. Every other chapter is Daniel's. I really loved seeing through his eyes and getting an insight on his feelings and the way he thinks. It also adds a lot to the history of him and Luce, and the fallen angels.

The only thing that I can remember really bugging me was the fact that it seemed like Luce STILL needed to know about her love with Daniel after so many past lives. She knew after so many of them that their love was true, and she kept whining about missing him. I know, though, that this book was about learning about the past with them. But I hated how she basically whined through the whole thing.

And ugh, Bill. I knew something was up with him as soon as Luce met him. I was always suspicious of him, even when I kind of liked how he helped Luce. But the whole time I was waiting for him to do something. Not going to go into too much detail about him, ha. Or I'll give away everything with him and rant on and on and on about how...nevermind!

Overall, I loved this installment. I'm dying to read Rapture, but I want to save some time and read Fallen in Love. I'm really sad that Rapture is the last book. These books make me cry so hard. They make my heart hurt. The writing flows well and you fly through SO many pages so fast, even though the chapters are super long. Which I don't mind in these books. If you haven't tried this series yet, please do! I know a lot of people stay away from them because they are the type that is either a love, or a hate relationship. Can't be so-so about it, or at least I haven't seen anybody with a "Ooh, yeah I liked it. It was okay." feeling about it.
                                                                                                                                
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

There is a novella called Fallen in Love that was released after Passion, it was released on January 24, 2012. The fourth book is called Rapture, it was released on June 12, 2012. 

Read my other reviews for this series: 

• Fallen
• Torment

Past, Present, & Future, #31

Past, Present & Future Reading Pile is a feature I do on my blog every Sunday to keep track of the books I read the week before, the book I'm currently reading, and the books I'm hoping to read in the upcoming week. 
                                                                                                                                        

My Soul to Take, by Rachel Vincent
(Soul Screamers, #3)
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: June 1, 2010

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.Until something does.Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that reallycan kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.And so is someone else…

I love this series and I love Rachel Vincent's books. It took me a bit to get into this book, but after a while I was sucked in and couldn't stop!
You can find my review here.   

                                             Total: 1

                                                                                                                                

Passion, by Lauren Kate

(Fallen, #3)

Publisher: Delecorte Press

Release Date: June 14, 2011

Luce would die for Daniel.
And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn't need to be that way....
Luce is certain that something - or someone - in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of thislifetime...going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel...and finally unlock the key to making their love last.
Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames...forever.
Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

I only have about 100 pages of this left, so I'll probably finish it tonight or tomorrow morning. It's really good! I love this series. My review should be up tomorrow sometime, so watch out for that! =)
                                                                                                                                  

Pretty Crooked, by Elisa Ludwig
(Pretty Crooked, #1)
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Release Date: March 23, 2012

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.
Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.
The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.
But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?

After I finish Passion, I'm going to be starting on this one. I'm really excited because it sounds really good.

Fever, by Lauren DeStefano
(The Chemical Garden, #2)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: February 21, 2012

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.
Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.
The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.
In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

I started this a couple of weeks ago, but got into a rut and didn't want to read anything. So now I want to start it again because I know it'll be amazing.
                                                                                                                     
What did you read this week? Was it great? What are you currently reading? What's up next on your reading list? I'd love to know, so let me know in the comments so I can add more books to my TBR list. =)

Torment, by Lauren Kate

Series: Fallen, #2
Author Info: Website / Twitter / Facebook
Publisher: Delecorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Paperback: 452 pages
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal Romance
Buy: Amazon
Read it in: 6 days
Source: Own
Challenge: TBR Pile, ABC Reading
Rating: ★★★★

Hell on earth.
That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.

What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

 I'm so happy I was finally able to read this! I read Fallen in 2011, but never moved on to read Torment. So this year I re-read Fallen and FINALLY dove into Torment. Though Torment wasn't as good as Fallen, it was still amazing and gave you a lot more history on things and Luce was able to find out a lot more about her past lives than she knew in the first book.

Daniel, unfortunately, wasn't in it as much as I was hoping. Boo! BUT after starting the book and learning about the truce, he was in it more than I expected after all that. Which I was happy for. I love Daniel! I'm starting to like Cam again after all the crap at the end of Fallen, but I'm still team Daniel!

I know a lot of people think that this series is a "Been there, done that." series. But I don't think so. Yes, some parts have been done before, but a lot of it is unique and extremely addicting. EXTREMELY. So much that I went ahead and ordered Passion and Rapture.

You meet a lot of new characters in this book as well. Miles and Shelby, whom I absolutely ADORE! At times I was getting mad at Miles, since I'm team Daniel, but at other times I was all "Awww..." and falling under his spell. He's a great guy. =) Shelby is a great friend, at first I was a little annoyed by her, but as soon as she started opening up and being nice to Luce, I started really liking her.

Overall, this is a great series. The writing and plot is addicting and the characters are well developed and you find yourself flipping through pages faster than you think you can even read. You go through so many emotions as well, at least I do. I'll be happy and then I'll be heart broken and it's just so emotional with Luce and Daniel and heart-wrenching at times and sometimes I really need a box of tissues sitting beside me when it involves them.

Read my review of the first book:

Yes, I'm aware this is the Australian book trailer, but I couldn't find a US one. Still the same book, so who cares? Ha!

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Series: Fallen, book #1

Next Book in Series: Torment

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Release Date: December 8, 2009

Hardcover: 452 Pages

Age Group: Young Adult 

Add to Goodreads

Buy: Amazon

Source: Library

Rating: 5/5

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can't let go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep a secret. . .even if it kills her. 
(Summary from Goodreads.)

I have heard so many great things about Fallen and I wasn't disappointed! I've wanted to read it since I first saw the cover. Kate got lucky with her cover artist. Seriously. The cover of this book inspired a new feature that will be premiering on the blog soon. Still getting some things together, but I will tell you this Fallen will be the first featured cover!

But anyway, enough about the gorgeous cover, let's talk about the book. It was completely amazing and I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to finally read this book.  One thing I'm glad about though for waiting so long is that the second book, Torment, is out and I don't have to wait forever for it in agony. Just got to wait for it to be available at the library because there are no copies available right now because of all the hold requests on it. See? This series has to be THAT great!

Fallen was a great start to a new series.

The characters were pretty awesome. I really love the main character Luce. And, of course, the gorgeous Daniel. Even though he bugged me with his hot one minute and cold the next nature throughout the whole book. All the other characters had pretty eccentric personalities too, which I love. Even though not all of them were good.

I love how Fallen was written in third person. A lot of times it bugs me, but it didn't this time. Kate's details were gorgeous and made me feel as though I was right there along with Luce seeing everything she saw and experiencing everything she did.

The love story is beautiful and heartbreaking. Which you don't really find out until the end, though it is pretty obvious sometimes. The buildup to the climax annoyed me a bit, but that's just because I kept thinking something was going to happen, and then I didn't. But the ending was completely awesome. It was just like it kept building up and building up and then everything started happening so fast and it just leaves you breathless and waiting for the next in the series.

Overall, the book was amazing and beautiful and I just can't really explain much about it because I loved it. It's definitely in my top favorite series now. I think I'm starting to like fallen angels a lot more. :) They are becoming the new fad in the YA book world.

Can't wait to get my hands on Torment. Don't worry, that will be soon! And don't forget to watch out for my new mysterious blog feature that will be up soon on the blog!

Cover: Love this cover. The end.