text:
Originally from Wisconsin, B. Kristin currently resides in Ohio with her husband, two small children, and three cats. When not doing the mom thing of chasing kids, baking cookies, and playing outside, she is using her PhD in Biology working as a scientist. In her free time she is hard at work on multiple novels; as each day passes, she has more ideas for both current and future novels.
Review by:
on July 26, 2014 :
This is the link to The Legend of Blue Eyes on Goodreads. Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
(reviewed 9 days after purchase)
Review by:
Ashton Brammer
on June 10, 2014 :
My first thought when I began reading this series was "Oh no, it's another vampire, teen romance series." However, even in the first book and introduction entering the world of the Blue Eyes Trilogy, McMichael uses a great blend of Celtic lore and variety in the night humans to avoid just that. Although I found this first book still weighed down with the cliched, romance angle at times, the book sets up the challenge for Arianna as she discovers her true identity in the world of the night humans, and introduces a cast of great, developing characters that make for an overall enticing read.
(reviewed 2 years after purchase)
Review by:
Cheryl Duval
on Feb. 21, 2014 :
I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the "Lovers of Paranormal" Group on Goodreads.com and the Author.
Once I started reading I could not put this book down. The night human world the author created was different then any book I have read. The characters of Arianna, Devin and Turner are great. On her 16th birthday Arianna is thrown into a world that she could never possibly imagine and she discovers that her entire life has been a lie. She finds herself in the middle of a war that has been going on for centuries. The story is well written and captivating. I can't wait to read the next book. I highly recommend this book.
(reviewed 9 days after purchase)
Review by:
Christina Gomez
on July 07, 2013 :
(no rating)
Here is my review:
(reviewed 4 months after purchase)
Review by:
Crystal Tadlock
on June 16, 2013 :
Omg!!! This book was sooo amazing that I could NOT put it down! The reading was easy and fluid, I didn't have to stop and re-read. I love the neat new touches the author used in lieu of the same old boring terms for werewolf, vampire, etc. This started out having even me wonder what the heck was going on just as the main character was. I love the explanation of the family and how everything happened. I have been trying to win this book forever and when this opportunity came up I was EXHILARATED! I love the characters relations with each other and just loved the whole feeling of the book. One part that I did become confused on was this character named Thomas at the end. Where did he come from and who is he?? Anyway, lovely writing, great introduction to these new terms. I can NOT WAIT for the next book to come out!!!! B. Kristin McMichael You are a great storyteller and a wonderful weaver of words!
(reviewed 38 days after purchase)
Review by:
Casie L
on June 04, 2013 :
My Thoughts - 4 out of 5 unicorns - I really liked it!!
First OMG, the cover is absolutely beautiful and very intriguing. I really liked this story with all the twists and turns and mysterious back story that you only learn bits and pieces as you go keep you intrigued. It did have some boring parts here and there, but this is the first book so it is needed to make sure we understand what's going on. I absolutely love Arianna though at the beginning she is a bit of a cliché blonde where everything goes over her head, but it is because she's very naïve and been kept in the dark. It is amazing to watch her learn about night humans and grow as a character. I was laughing with her, irritated, worried, and cried with her. I know I'm sucked into a story when it makes me cry. I also want to mention that I love her name because if I ever had a daughter her name would have been Arianna because I always thought it was beautiful (oddly enough I found the name in a romance book which is amusing to me).
I think anyone who enjoys paranormal fantasy would fall in love with Arianna and this world that Kristin created.
I absolutely can't wait to read book 2 because I think it is only going to get better as a series.
****This book was gifted to me by the author for an honest review
(reviewed 73 days after purchase)
Review by:
Brenda Ayala
on June 03, 2013 :
The Legend of the Blue Eyes was good. I liked it. But if I'm being honest it's not something I would pick up again.
Basically the entire book is about Arianna being doted upon by almost every young male she comes into contact with. Very little focus is on the actual plot, which is the legend. While I do recognize that this is the first in a series and therefore more of an introduction rather than a continuation of a plot, I felt more time needed to be spent on progressing.
Instead, the only progression we get is her kissing Devin, then Turner, then Andrew. Then Thomas comes into the picture, who she hasn't kissed yet, but I'm willing to bet that it's coming soon. I know virtually nothing about Jackson and Micah and yet I liked them because they weren't fawning all over this girl that really hasn't done anything to deserve all the praise. Yes, she's pure blood, but that's genetic. Her best character trait is that she's not snooty about sharing her blood. And the fact that this is such a small part of the book just doesn't make me think she's anything special, especially not to have all these guys falling at her feet at the slightest whim.
Also, why is no one embarrassed about her unbuttoning all of their shirts in random public places? I get it, she needs to hear a heartbeat, but you don't need to get topless to do that.
I don't know. I didn't dislike it, but I wasn't really impressed either. I wanted to skim through a lot of the whole "Devin is so calm all the time but I like Turner because he's carefree" paragraphs.
What I did like was the relationship between her grandfather and her great uncle, and I wish the prejudices of the two different races would have been played up more. I also really loved the transformations! They weren't grotesque (which I didn't expect anyway) but the changes were radical enough that a change was actually noticeable. I think this is a great way to distance the book from other vampire books out there, where they still look human and don't change at all. With the exception of being ridiculously gorgeous of course.
Edit: it's not clear who Thomas is. I can assume he's the tengu, but that's never actually told to us.
Edit 2: The baby talk while she was drunk on blood was downright annoying. She doesn't want to be treated like a child and then proceeds to act like one.
One more thing: I counted at least 5 instances where the sentence went like this:
"But," Arianna complained. (It got to the point where it was a bit distracting for me. I'm probably the only one that noticed, but hey. Just thought I'd mention it)
(reviewed 22 days after purchase)
Review by:
Kaitlyn Plemmons
on June 03, 2013 :
This is a very solid 3.5 star book. The author did a fantastic job of world building in the book. The characters are well thought out and the plot moves at a nice pace.
This is the story of Arianna an orphan who is raised by her Aunt and Uncle in average small town. Everything in Arianna's life is pretty normal -until it isn't. She quickly finds out that her heritage is a bit more complicated than she has believed. Her parents were from the head families of feuding vampire races. She is thrust into the middle of a world that she doesn't even begin to comprehend on her 16th birthday when her transformation from human to night human (the preferred term for supernaturals in this world) begins.
Arianna is given a protection team because, being the heir to two prominent families, she is a prime target for assassination. As it turns out a large number of the people in her life are other supernatural beings that have been watching over her. She is often led around by her team because she has no idea what is going on in her life.
I did have a few issues with this book. The first of which is that Arianna seems practically narcoleptic. She falls asleep at least once every other chapter if not every chapter. The given explanation for this is that she does not know how to use her power properly so she exhausts herself often. Because there is a plausible reason for her constant passing out I note it as a minor annoyance instead of major flaw. The other issue I take is that this girl must have some serious pheromones going on. Every male character around her age is madly in love with her and would do anything to protect her based on very short periods of interaction with her.
As the plot progresses we find out that Arianna is at the center of a prophecy that will dramatically impact the supernatural world. Neither the reader nor Arianna finds out what the prophecy actually is in this book.
The world building done by the author is very well thought out. She has created a world with four prominent races of night humans who are similar but still very different. I am eager to find out more about this world and the characters in it.
This is a very solid novel and I definitely suggest picking it up if you get the chance.
I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review.
(reviewed 23 days after purchase)
Review by:
Sherry Knack
on May 26, 2013 :
This review and others can be found on my blog.
The Legend of the Blue Eyes by B. Kristin McMichael. It is the first book in The Blue Eyes Trilogy. I received a copy of this book for free in return for my honest review, through the Never Too Old For Y.A. Books Group on Goodreads. However, I received a copy of the through through Smashwords using a special coupon code from the author. This in no way effects my final review of this book.
In the Acknowledgements the author thanks her husband for pushing her to go further with this novel. It would seem she originally wrote it two months before Twilight came out. We all know how that went down with crazed girls, sparkly vampires, and a slew of similar books. So, before we go into what I thought of the book, I just want to thank the author for listening to her husband and taking a chance in publishing this book.
Aah, the world/creature building in this book is wonderful! I love the four different types of night humans the author came up with. We all know about vampires, lycans, and the such, but Mrs. McMichael manages to put her own unique spin on them. I will admit the whole warring races in this book, did remind me a little of Underworld, but I was okay with that.
Basically, you have this "hidden" world filled with four different races of night humans, that live among us regular folks. You have the Dearg-duls, who are basically vampires. They need to feed on blood and are sensitive to sunlight, mostly between the hours of 10am-2pm. The Lycans or werewolves who are sided with the Dearg-duls. They look a little different than other versions of werewolves that we know. They can travel during the day time. Then there are the Baku, who can only fully manifest at night. They turn into these big pale creatures with long hair. In my head I picture a cross between the Castithan and Biomen on the Syfy show Defiance. Aligned with them are the Tengu. They are a night human with bat like wings. Both the Dearg-duls and the Baku need blood to survive and the Lycans and the Tengu are more of raw meat eaters. The disagreement between races originally started over their food sources.
Now poor Arianna, on her sixteenth birthday gets thrown into this whole mess. She never really knew a whole lot about her parents, but it appears they had a whole Romeo and Juliet type of relationship going on. At the age of sixteen she manifests as a vampire or Dearg-dul, but that's not all she is...What side will she ultimately chose?
I really liked this book. I'm actually quite sad that the author didn't manage to get this published BEFORE Twilight. Mrs. McMichael's world is so much richer and intriguing than the one Stephenie Meyer's created. I would rather see young adults read this book over that one. While Arianna does tend to get rescued in this book I can see her coming into her own in future books and being more than able to take care of herself and even do some of her own rescuing (of herself and others).
I look forward to reading the rest of this trilogy and recommend that you check it out too!
(reviewed 17 days after purchase)
Review by:
Sarah Thomson
on May 23, 2013 :
I would just like to thank the author
1- for giving me the book to review
2- For writing this book in the first place.
I was keen to read this after reading To Stand Beside Her and fell in love with the way the author creates a story and she didn't fail with this book either - i was captivated and entranced throughout the book. It carried a perfect balance of everything that the author introduced to the story. It takes a talented writer to absorb me into the story and thats exactly what happened.
With chapter one she had my intrigued
By chapter 2 I was getting excited thinking 'what on earth?' (I hadn't read the blurb, I went into this book blind)
Bu the end of chapter 3 I couldn't put it down.
I loved that it was a different from the usual books with vampires etc and was filled with a suspense and drama that had me eagerly turning page after page.
I would highly recommend everyone to read this book! I know I will be telling all my friends to read it!
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Sarah Thomson
on May 23, 2013 :
I would just like to thank the author
1- for giving me the book to review
2- For writing this book in the first place.
I was keen to read this after reading To Stand Beside Her and fell in love with the way the author creates a story and she didn't fail with this book either - i was captivated and entranced throughout the book. It carried a perfect balance of everything that the author introduced to the story. It takes a talented writer to absorb me into the story and thats exactly what happened.
With chapter one she had my intrigued
By chapter 2 I was getting excited thinking 'what on earth?' (I hadn't read the blurb, I went into this book blind)
Bu the end of chapter 3 I couldn't put it down.
I loved that it was a different from the usual books with vampires etc and was filled with a suspense and drama that had me eagerly turning page after page.
I would highly recommend everyone to read this book! I know I will be telling all my friends to read it!
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
on May 22, 2013 :
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This book was an enjoyable, easy read that kept me interested throughout the whole story. The book begins with the main character, Arianna Grace, living a care-free teenage life. Her world shifts dramatically on her sixteenth birthday when she changes into a vampire. This is when the drama started and with the help of her Personal Protective Unit (PPU) she survives a kidnapping to discover she is not what she thought she was and neither is the world she has been living in. She is introduced to a world of night creatures, including Baku, Tengu, Dearg-dul and Lycan. Along with the Legend of the Blue Eyes and all that it entails including boys and lots of them.
The characters in the book are easy to like and all the characters were integral to the story. Arianna is a sweet, innocent girl trying to figure out how to live in this new world she knew nothing about. As she had been kept secret from this world with her adopted parents, she did not have access to her family including a grandfather - the leader of the Derg-dul and Uncle - the leader of the Baku. Arianna was introduced early in the story to Devin who was prepped to be her protector from a young age. I was interested in how Arianna and Devin's relationship would develop and it was not what I was expecting at all. With the revelation of aspects of the Legend other male figures become involved. I am intrigued as to how this will all turn out.
The Legend of the Blue Eyes enjoyable and recommend it to all YA fans. The story was fascinating especially the different types of night creatures and how they interrelate. I love reading paranormal books that alter the common perception and learning about what the authors beliefs are on the topic. I would have liked more details on the Legend in this book but as this is a trilogy I will be awaiting the next book to see how this world develops.
(reviewed 12 days after purchase)
Review by:
Minerva Ceja
on May 15, 2013 :
I would like to Thank the author for gifting me this book in exchange for a honest review.
This a different twist on Vampires and werewolves. It was a good different! We meet Arianna shes your regular teenage girl, she was raised by her aunt and uncle and lives a preety normal life. Then on her 16th birthday her life turns upside down and she turns into a vampire a night human thats what their called in this book. There are 4 types of night humans: dearg-dul, lycan, baku and tengu. Arianna is very special, very powerful. Theres a legend of the Blues eyes and she happens to be the only one of her kind with blue eyes. What the legend is about Im not very sure it didnt go into to much detail. We also meet Devin, hes always loved her and he is part of her security, we also meet Turner and Andrew. All are very different types of guys, who would do anything to protect her. Not everyone likes Arianna and what she is and want her dead, so she has to have alot of protection.
This book was great!, I was never bored or lost.Great story! Just it just seemed a little weird that she has 2 guys in love with her and shes not sure who she likes more, I personally love Devin. But the guys are alright sharing her! Like she has 2 boyfriends, three with Andrew. I hope she makes some kind of choice in the next book. Another thing she seemed to sleep alot, I know drinking blood and using too much blood can make a girl sleepy, but it just seemed like she was always sleeping. Still this book was great! Cant wait to read the next one. Thanks again to Kristin McMichael!
(reviewed 2 days after purchase)
Review by:
Ana Carter
on May 08, 2013 :
Okay! WOW! This novel is amazing!! I'm surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this novel!
The Legend of the Blue Eyes is the first novel in the trilogy and let me tell you, its worth a read! B. Kristin McMichael has a new and original take on Vampires and the Vampire World. Divided into clans the Vampires or rather 'night humans' are at war and Arianna(main character) is the only hope of uniting them. Arianna is an captivating character, she's sweet, kind, and strong. Of all the characters in this book, I really liked Devin! He was tough, deep and complicated. He's a fierce warrior who has his own secrets and duties to Arianna and the world of the night humans.
The Legend of the Blue Eyes has a great story-line and the characters are so lovable, fun and in a sense made the book come alive. Overall, it's a captivating story with romance and danger, and I really think this novel will develop into something great, I cannot wait to see what happens in the next novel! I highly recommend it!
-Ana @SoManyBooksSoLittleTime
Review is also posted on my blog
(reviewed 22 days after purchase)
Review by:
Carmen Pacheco
on May 07, 2013 :
B. Kristin McMichael dips her foot into the genre of Young Adult PNR, with The Legend of the Blue Eyes. Our heroine, Arianna Grace, has no idea that turning 16 will change her forever: SHE is the legend come to life. In a rather rapid transformation (literally), Arianna cannot seem to catch her breath before being flung into this supernatural culture.
"You need to feed, or the pain will get worse."
"Feed?" she asked, confused. Arianna felt a jolt of pain rip through her body and she closed her eyes. With one fluid movement, the young man pulled a knife from his pocket and cut his own wrist. "What…?" Arianna began to ask, as she opened her eyes to find his bleeding wrist near her face. Arianna felt an urge come over her. Her eyes glazed over as she stared at the blood. Without thinking, she reached for his bleeding wrist and licked the blood away. Arianna felt the pain inside her subside. The world around her dimmed, and she passed out.
Welcome…not! A mysterious person whom has been communicating via discreet notes confirms a meeting to deliver answers about her family. Arianna's mother died after giving birth and her father died when she was four; she is being raised by her aunt and uncle. The revelation is more than Arianna could have anticipated: Great Uncle, Gabriel, one of TWO living relatives, tells her she will be meeting her mother's father, Lord Randolph, and will now live at his estate. Arianna is the product of a paranormal Romeo and Juliet: Her mother was a purebred dearg-dul (aka vampire) and her father was a purebred Baku ("night human" aka demon). The two clans have been at war for hundreds of years (because they both feed on blood) and Arianna has reached the age where she must convert into the new species. As you can imagine: BOTH sides want her! So much for Sweet 16.
Before I get into the love story(ies), I should explain the legend itself (though I didn't learn of it until about 57% into the book!). The legend states that for the blue-eyed one to reach full power, he or she must take five companions: each of a different race. And just like that, this is no straightforward love story. Devin is the first person attached to Arianna. He is a "day human" (nothing supe about him) and groomed by Grandfather Randolph to be Arianna's guardian. Their attraction is almost immediate, but Devin is hot and cold with his feelings; completely frustrating/confusing Arianna. He supplies her with blood, he even kissed her, but is that because she's an "assignment"? Does he like her or doesn't he? This part didn't bother me so much because I swooooon for first love (YA or otherwise!); those insecurities are universal and relatable.
What I didn't enjoy, though I'm not the exact demographic for YA, is that by adhering to the "collection" of custodians (those who will supply Arianna with blood and become irreversibly connected to her), there is an influx of feelings from every new custodian she takes on. Forget about the YA love triangle. Enter Turner the Lycan, Andrew the Baku, and Thomas the Tengu (he flies). Even as I'm writing this, I'm wondering: Aren't we missing the Dearg-dul? Or is Devin fulfilling that role since he supplies blood? Perhaps she doesn't need that race, because she is already part vampire, but then again she's also Baku and so is her custodian, Turner. Questions…lots of questions. Not to worry! Ms. McMichael is set to release the sequel, Becoming a Legend, in June. I'M FIRST IN LINE!!!! ☺
Arianna learns she has been surrounded in a supernatural environment all along (vampires, lycans and bakus, oh my!). Problem is, under Lord Randolph's instructions (Uncle Gabriel's pretty guilty, too), no one was allowed to advise Arianna of the monumental legend she would come to fulfill. Arianna finds herself embroiled in kidnappings, poisonings, and nefarious plotting to undermine current leadership. With little choice but to embrace this new life, Ms. McMichael keeps you interested in Arianna's rise to glory and pursuit of adjustment and happiness. The story is far from done.
In "P.S."-mode, while I am no fan of lycans, I did like Turner's approach (he is the second person attached to Arianna and has a really great role in the story). Uncertain of Arianna's feelings for Devin, Turner moves with intention and lets Arianna know he is interested. Maybe if Jacob had approached Bella li…nah, even then, Edward was clearly the better choice! :D I hope Ms. McMichael trusts me to continue this series…I need to reconnect with this group.
(reviewed 51 days after purchase)
Review by:
Brandy Musick
on April 20, 2013 :
(no rating)
I absolutely could not put this book down!! (Hence the 5:22 a.m. review!) FIVE STARS without a doubt to what will become one of my top favorite YA PNR series!
Being a teenager is never easy for anyone, but Arianna will soon realize that "she" is not your everyday anyone... The daughter of the paranormal version of Romeo and Juliet - a young girl who felt that she never truly belonged will begin to not only find her true self, but the strength and power that many covet, and some despise. She is a legend that has only been whispered about, and the hope (of her two remaining living relatives) that will finally unite the Night Human community.
Romance, danger and realizing that the future may hold more than you ever thought possible... I am anxiously awaiting June and the next chapter in Arianna's tale....
(reviewed 4 days after purchase)


text:
Market news wrap
Bell Potter's Charlie Aitken joins The Business to discuss the latest news on the markets.
TICKY FULLERTON, PRESENTER: It was a bad day on the local bourse. Earlier I spoke to Charlie Aitken from Bell Potter.
Charlie Aitken, four days into winter and the discontent has been palpable on the local share market.
CHARLIE AITKEN, BELL POTTER: Yes. Actually almost considered wearing a hard hat and a safety vest to do this interview, Ticky, but I thought better of that; we'll get through winter. But, look, unfortunately nowhere to hide really today. Most of the leading stocks under heavy pressure after the offshore lead. And obviously the S&P futures again pointing to another bad night so we just couldn't get out of our own way. But, you're dead right: winter has started pretty ordinarily in weather terms and market terms.
TICKY FULLERTON: Now the worst hit were the energy stocks.
CHARLIE AITKEN: Yes, the energy stocks all getting hit, down about 4 per cent also across-the-board. The oil price down about 4 per cent, so they're matching there. There did seem to be a switch out of oil into gold in America on Friday night and that was replicateed in the Australian equity market today. But pretty much indiscriminate in the oil equities today, all down 4.5 per cent. But if you think about it, the oil price falling is actually a good thing for consumers eventually, but that didn't matter today.
TICKY FULLERTON: OK. Telstra on the other hand has emerged as a bit of an island in the storm.
CHARLIE AITKEN: Well Telstra was about the only top 50 stock physically up today, you know, up one per cent to 3.66. One of the key things today, Ticky, was the long bond market in Australia down to a 2.74 per cent yield for a 10-year bond. Thee-year bonds yielding 1.94 per cent. They're record low yields. So anything with a decent equity yield actually saw some support today and Telstra's the obvious alternative to bonds and it saw some sort of support today.
TICKY FULLERTON: Now the other stock clear of carnage for today at least was Brambles because it was in a trading halt, the industrial pallet company. It was unable to get a suitable price we hear for its information management business Recall. How might investors react tomorrow, do you think?
CHARLIE AITKEN: Well it's interesting. I think they'll still be trading halted tomorrow ...
TICKY FULLERTON: Oh, do you?
CHARLIE AITKEN: ... so it's a bit of a godsend for the company. You usually get a couple of days to be halted to sort out capital raisings. I think this was a little bit of a surprise. I think the market was expecting them to sell Recall and then have a little bit of extra cash on their balance sheet. But clearly in these global conditions we find ourselves in now, Ticky, it's almost impossible to sell assets on a trade sale basis. So, look, probably a little bit of a godsend for the company that they were in trading halt today. The stock probably would've been down 3 or 4 per cent like all other cyclicals today. So, we'll see what comes. I think the deal will be supported at a price.
TICKY FULLERTON: And so what's your take on what the Reserve Bank might do tomorrow with rates?
CHARLIE AITKEN: Well it's going to be interesting. The bank bill market is telling you there's almost a 90 per cent chance of a 50-point cut. But back-to-back 50 points cuts would be a sign of panic from the Reserve Bank - that's genuine panic. Look, I think there'll be a rate cut tomorrow. Hopefully it's 25 points, but I think that the market expectations are a little bit more than that so we probably need to see 50 to get the share market off its lows. We'll see what comes.
TICKY FULLERTON: Charlie Aitken, we can only wait and see. Thank you very much for joining us.
CHARLIE AITKEN: Thanks, Ticky.
Author Ticky Fullerton

subset: commoncrawl