Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Blood Oath introduces Zach Barrows, young political hotshot, to Nathanial Cade, the vampire working for the United States Government. Zach is suddenly immersed in a world he never knew existed where the things of horror stories come to life. It is now his job to work with Cade, ensuring the safety of the United States while preventing its citizens from stumbling onto the truth.

Blood Oath combines elements of political thrillers (which I do not normally read) with elements of horror and fantasy. The result is a book that is completely compelling while defying description. Blood Oath is intense from the first page to the last, although the constantly shifting beginning chapters took a little while to settle into the main storyline.

Christopher Farnsworth does a great job at providing background information on the characters while keeping the present storyline moving along at a fast pace. The characters' histories have a direct tie in with the threat to the White House and how all the pieces eventually fall into place.

Farnsworth also uses politics and science to make this book scarily realistic. The conspiracy angle is intriguing and offers a lot of material for future books in the series.

Overall Blood Oath was a great first installment and this series is now on my 'must read' list.

I borrowed this book from my local library and there was no expectation of a review.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

Book Blogger Hop 5/6

Each weekend, Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books hosts the Book Blogger Hop.  It is a great way for book lovers and book bloggers to find new book blogs and get to know each other.  It has been quite a while since I've been hopping but I'm looking forward to checking out some new to me blogs and visiting some old friends!

This week's question is from Melissa at Miel et Lait:  Which book blogger would you like to meet most in real life?

This is a tough one!  There are so many bloggers who I really admire and would love to meet.  I'm going to go with Jennifer from Reading With Tequila because I know I can count on her book recommendations.  If she liked it there is a good bet that I will like it too!

Thanks for hopping by!  I hope you will take a little time to look around and see what is happening here at Library Girl Reads.

Recent Reviews:

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Mini Reviews of Side Jobs by Jim Butcher, The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen, and The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

Upcoming Reviews:

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth


Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

OTL: Mega #Swagbucks Friday

The first Friday of each month, I post about Swagbucks.  That is because every Friday means Mega Swagbucks for searching (but I don't want to overwhelm people with reminders every Friday)!  Haven't tried Swagbucks yet?  It is super easy - simply use the Swagbucks search engine to do your normal Internet searching and sometimes you will be rewarded with Swagbucks which can then be redeemed for some great prizes. My theory is that if I'm going to be searching the Internet anyway, I may as well get rewarded for doing it.

My favorite prize is the Amazon.com gift card.  I earned almost $200 in Amazon.com gift cards through Swagbucks last year.  There are also tons of other gift cards available plus you can redeem for various merchandise as well.

On Fridays, Swagbucks gives out more Mega Swagbucks (anything over 10) than usual which means you can earn your desired prizes even faster.  The most I've gotten from one search so far is 59 Swagbucks.  I'd love to hear if one of my readers finds a high value one today or any other day!

Swagbucks has added a lot of options for getting bucks on a daily basis even without searching.  There are Special Offers, Daily Polls, Surveys, Tasks, Swagbucks TV, and games to play.

With all of these great ways to earn Swagbucks and get gift cards or other items that you really want, what are you waiting for?!  Sign up and start searching :-)

Swagbucks links contained within this post are referral links and I will earn some Swagbucks if you sign up using those links.


Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Emma Corrigan keeps a few secrets from her family, boyfriend, best friends, and colleges.  Harmless little secrets that she spills to a stranger on an airplane when she thinks she is going to die.  Then Jack Harper, the company CEO, comes into the office and Emma realizes he holds every one of her secrets.  Jack seems to enjoy letting little bits of knowledge slip as if they share an inside joke.  But will those secrets bring them together or tear them apart?

It isn't often that I read "chick lit," not because I don't like it but because I tend to forget about it.  It isn't the type of book that I think to seek out when I'm in a library or bookstore.  So I'm always glad when I read something for a book club that I wouldn't have picked up on my own and rediscover why I enjoy something.

Can You Keep A Secret? was just that kind of book for me.  It reminded me that sometimes I need to take a break and read something that is fun and light on the surface even when it does examine some deeper aspects of relationships.  I was hooked on Emma from the beginning of the story.  Her chatty voice drew me in and I listened along as if I were on a journey with a close girlfriend.  Sometimes I struggle with books that are supposed to be funny when the main character has everything go wrong because I don't see the humor in the suffering.  With Emma, I was totally mortified right along with her as Jack hinted at her secrets in various situations but I was able to find it funny as well.

My heart dropped with Emma's when there was a twist that I didn't see coming and I wondered if miscommunications and secrets really would be the end of things for Jack and Emma.

Can You Keep A Secret? was a fast read and a bit of an emotional roller coaster with more depth than seen at first glance.

I borrowed Can You Keep A Secret? from my local library to read for the Reading With Tequila online book club.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

3 Mini-Reviews

I have not been sleeping well at all recently and many things have suffered because of that.  One of those is my blog because I am just too tired to write a full review of my recent reads.  Instead of waiting so long to review the books until I've forgotten what I read I've decided to do a few mini-reviews giving you my overall impression without all the details.


Side Jobs by Jim Butcher is a book of short stories from The Dresden Files series.  Most of these stories were originally published in other anthologies but Butcher pulled them all together into one book.  I love having short stories by one author in a book instead of having to search for them in multiple anthologies!  Butcher also gave a little introductory information for each story including some information about his inspiration, what anthology the story was originally in, and where it fits in the timeline of the books.  I enjoyed every one of these stories, especially the last one because it takes place after Changes and before Ghost Story which isn't out yet.  If you are a fan of the Harry Dresden books, Side Jobs is a must have for your collection.  (Side Jobs is in our personal book collection.)

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen is a story of friendship lost and regained, of finding one's path, and finding love in unexpected places.  Allen brings sights, sounds, scents, textures, and flavors off the page in a way that I have not experienced with any other author.  She uses beautiful phrasing that places you in the heart of Walls of Water experiencing everything alongside her characters.  I fell in love with Sarah Addison Allen's writing in The Girl Who Chased the Moon and I'm happy to say that The Peach Keeper provided me with the same magic.  Allen breathes life and magic into her words, giving me hope that anything is possible. (I received an ARC of The Peach Keeper from the Amazon Vine program for review.)

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern brings tomorrow into today with a diary that seems to write itself in advance.  This gives Tamara Goodwin the opportunity to try to change events as they happen. Each evening she reads about the next day discovering clues along the way to family secrets long buried which will change what she knows about her life forever.  Cecelia Ahern writes interesting but very flawed characters and wonderful description. The book started a bit slowly and unevenly but that felt like it mimicked Tamara's emotions as she struggled to find her footing in the strange and uncertain world after her father's death.  The Book of Tomorrow was a very fast and interesting read. I enjoyed the story, the writing, and the way the characters changed throughout the book.  (I received an ARC of The Book of Tomorrow from the Amazon Vine program for review.)

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.