Happy dance...

A few more great reviews came in this week! Yeah! Which has been very encouraging because sometimes it's hard to believe in yourself and your work. I'm very honored to share with you a 4 and 5 star review of The Emerald Talisman this week.

Katie's Book Blog

The Emerald Talisman was a fantastic vampire novel. I don't usually like a lot of vampire stories but this one was nowhere near as typical as some. I was entertained by it and the book kept me interested until the last page. Sadly now I have to wait for a sequel.

Julia Parker is a normal teenage girl or at least she seems to be. Well, other than her ability to read people's feelings. All of that changes one night when she almost dies. Luckily Nicholas saves her. Julia is drawn to him and hopes to see him again. What she doesn't know is that becoming friends with Nicholas will change her life forever.

Julia was not my favorite character in the book. I preferred Nicholas. Julia acted really naive and kind of whiny at times. Of course, she was naive because she didn't know vampires existed but it still bugged me. Nicholas, on the other hand, was sexy and competent. He was also very protective, which I loved. I look forward to more of them both in the next book.

The plot was the best part about the book. It was very fast-paced. I never once wanted to put the book down. It was super fast to read and very entertaining. I was at the edge of my seat by the end of it.

Overall, The Emerald Talisman is an awesome book. If you love vampire stories, this one is for you!

Jennifer from Extreme Reader Book

I am always excited when I find a book that I know nothing about before reading and end up loving! Well, that is what happened when I read The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading this book! Brenda Pandos did a wonderful job creating a fresh and exciting new vampire world. I loved the characters in this story (good and evil) and the suspense had me turning pages way too late for a few nights! I found Julia (the main character) very interesting. She was an empath, meaning that she could sense and feel the emotions of those around her. Her gift definitely came in handy on more than one occasion in the book, but remained a secret to everyone. Her family doesn't even know that she possesses this gift. She also seems to be a magnet for vampires- which sucks (bad pun I know:D)- unless you have your own super hot half vampire/half human vamp slayer as your knight in shining armor! Nicholas is the gorgeous, yet dangerous, bad boy that Julia falls for. At the beginning of the book she finds herself in a pretty hopeless situation that Nicholas saves her from. They spend a little time together that evening and then he disappears for quite awhile. Julia is immediately consumed with thoughts of him. She finds herself completely in love with him, despite the fact that she only spent a few hours with him. I found this a little confusing, but as I read on, I began to understand the connection between Julia and Nicholas better. Both of them had mysteries in their lives that I really wanted the answers to. Julia had the mystery of her mother's disappearance, her empathic gift, and the mysterious message given to her by a fortune teller concerning her destiny. Nicholas' character didn't lack in the mystery department either! As the only known half vamp/half human in the world, and the only vampire slayer, he is one of a kind. That definitely holds some major intrigue! I enjoyed learning about the emerald talisman that he wore, and about the reasons behind his connection to Julia. His character is really cool, calm, and collected in the face of danger and is quite a force to be reckoned with! Did I mention that he is completely gorgeous too? Oh yes... totally swoon-worthy!

The book moved at a good pace and the ending was fantastic! The stage was set up perfectly for another volume in the series. There was enough resolution at the end to be satisifying, yet the unanswered questions make me pine for the sequel! Some of the things that I am anxious to learn more about include the history of Nicholas' parents (especially his vampire father), Julia's true destiny in the fight against the vampires, and the course that Julia and Nicholas' relationship will take after the events at the end of the book (hint.hint... Brenda PLEASE cover these in the sequel!:D) I really did love this book and would recommend it to all YA readers that enjoy good vamp fiction!

Thank you ladies for taking the time to read and review my book!

Hugs, Brenda