Beyond the Standline by Linda L. Zern

**I was given ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Publication Date: August 5, 2015
Publisher: LinWood House Publishing
Pages: 324

Seventeen-year-old Tessla and her teenage sisters, Ally and ZeeZee, live by one rule: don’t venture beyond the perimeter of the family ranch. Years ago, solar flares burned the power grid to ashes, plunging the country into mayhem and instability, but as long as the girls stay behind the line of their grandfather’s property, they remain protected from savagery. 

But when the call of the unknown proves too alluring for rebellious Ally to resist, Tessla must enlist mysterious Richmond Parrish to help rescue Ally from the trouble she’s walked into. 

The Florida coast is overrun with warring tribes and pirates, and orphaned children-turned-soldiers roam the land. 

The quest to find Ally leads Tess and Richmond into the epicenter of this barbaric new world, but even if they find her, now that they’ve left the safety of life at the S-Line Ranch, will they really be able to go back?

Beyond the Strandline is a thrilling story about the struggle to stay human in an inhumane world, the importance of emergency preparedness, the illusion of safety, and the power of love to redeem even the most desperate.

My Thoughts:
When it comes to indie authors I am VERY selective in whom I choose to read from. Simply because in my experience they are generally poorly written and full of content I am uncomfortable with. HOWEVER, with that said, I read another book by this author called Mooncalf that was amazing. So when I was contacted to read this book I hopped to the chance.

This book is unlike her other work that I read, you could see the progression in her writing. It's a YA story with everything you could possibly want in a book. Swoon worthy romance, action that is non-stop and keeps you at the edge of your seat, as well built post apocalyptic world that is relatable, plus it gets a person to think and put one-self in these situations and you find yourself questioning ,"would I do that if I were in this situation?" seriously!

This books grabs you from the get-go, you're immediately hook and leaves you wanting more. DANG IT it's going to be a trilogy which mean I'm going to have to wait for book 2! grrrr.

Tess was a great character- relatable in every way, she is a typical
teenage girl with spunk that was at times annoying but hey she's had a hard life and lives in this time so, can you blame her?

I really like Parrish- I LOVE male characters that are kinda dark and brooding, I liked his audacity and his character that leaves a bit of mystery as to why he is the way he is.

I REALLY liked the romance, because for the love of all that is holy it is NOT insta-love! WHOOT! I like the chemistry between Tess and Parrish which totally kept me interested in the rest of the story. TEAM PARRISH!

I absolutely loved the whole idea of this story and the fact that it's completely believable. As in, the fact that this could actually happen. There were no sci-fi/dystopian aspects to this, no machines that could read people, no fantastic guns that shoot lasers. No, this was complete and utter survival that is realistic which is refreshing, yet the story itself was fascinating.

Overall: I would recommend this story to anyone of all ages who is in need of a good story which great romance that leaves you wanting more.

Sexual Content: mild (talk of rape-not graphic, mild kissing)
Violence: moderate (disturbing scenes of death-not too graphic)
Language: mild
Drugs/Alcohol: mild/none

The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski

Published: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 416

Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really belonged anywhere—but she couldn’t have guessed that she comes from an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn’t happen and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.

Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn’t thought possible. But Conn’s interest in her is confusing. It doesn’t line up with the way he first looked at her.

As if she were his enemy.

When Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can’t rely on anything—not herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades’ latest terrorist plot. What she finds out will change her world forever . . .

In this smart, compulsively readable novel, master storyteller Marie Rutkoski has crafted an utterly original world, characters you won’t soon forget, and a tale full of intrigue and suspense. 

My Thoughts:
I fell in love with Marie Rutkoski when I read her books The Winner's Curse & The Winner's Crime so I went ahead and bought this book, luckily it's a standalone and it was awesome.


The story follows a girl named Darcy who has been in and out of foster homes since she was five. Darcy was found at age five with no memory of who she was or where she came from, so they gave her the name Darcy.

Darcy isn't a bad kid, but there have been instances that have caused her file with child services to be a thick as a brick and so she has gone from home to home as each family had a complaint about her.
Darcy doesn't understand why she is so different, why she can't remember anything. However in her new place of residence she finds; almost a home. She has friends at school and a foster mom who is pretty cool.

Then a new kid comes to school and the first moment she sees him, she knows he doesn't like her but for some reason she is intrigued by him and he then imposes himself in her life and she has no idea why.... until she is arrested.

Intrigued? you totally should be! I liked Darcy, she wasn't this horrible character with a bad mouth and bad reputation. Darcy loves art and her friends are amazing.

I loved the different personalities that were put in this book. Holy cow, and Marie Rutkoski does a fabulous job of keeping the unique and their voices separate. I so enjoyed her friends, they were just a great comic relief to the story.

The romance was great too, NO INSTA-LOVE which is a must for me, but it had its complications that kept me completely interested and invested in the characters and the story.

The overall idea of the story was GREAT and unique. With plenty of action and mystery that would keep any reader riveted.

Sexual Content: mild (some kissing)
Violence: moderate (talk of past mass killings-nothing graphic)
Language: mild/none
Drugs/Alcohol: none

Crimson Bound by: Rosamund Hodge

Publication: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 448

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

(This is a standalone novel, not part of the Cruel Beauty Universe.)

My Thoughts:

Can I just say that I LOVE Rosamund Hodge. She is now on my "must read" authors list.

Here we have another dark fairy tale retelling. Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
I was utterly impressed with the amount of imagination and creativity that went into this story.

The characters in the story weren't simple, or even black and white. They were all complex and there was a lot of gray in here.

Rachelle (Little Red) thinks she knows what she is doing. Over estimating herself and a man she meets in the forest she ends up making a deadly mistake, one that would not only cost her, her life but that of another-one whom she loved dearly.

To atone Rachelle throws herself into training and killing evil creatures that come out of the dark forest. The Dark forest is getting stronger and eventually it will take over the kingdom and the world.

Regardless of Rachelle and the fact that she has become part of the forest and bound to an evil king that is trying to return, she fights herself constantly and the evil that is trying to overtake her.

I really liked Rachelle and her constant battle, however I am sad of some of her mistakes. It irritated me that she lasted so long and held out so long but ended up making some pretty stupid choices.

The romance was good and I really REALLY liked Armond and his story, I loved the mystery behind a lot of these characters and the twist Hodge took in regards to a few of the main characters.

Overall this is a very dark retelling and if you enjoy battling evil and fantasy then give this a go.

Sexual Content: moderate (PG-13, kissing, sexual tension, knowledge that 2 characters had sex)
Language: moderate
Violence: moderate (fantasy killings, talk of blood and gore, fighting)
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley (Coming April 28, 2015)

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this fantasy about a girl caught between two worlds…two races…and two destinies.

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

My Thoughts: No spoilers because I REALLY want you to read it! 

Same, Emma Stone.  Same.

I picked this book, solely because of the feather on the cover (don't judge me).  Yes. I like feathers.  Some might even go so far as to say I “love” feathers.  I think they are beautiful and amazing.  But I digress… 

I have never, ever read a book like this one.  This story was just so completely original that, despite my initial disdain for Aza (which lessened as the book progressed - I loved her in the end) I was entranced after a few chapters.  As for her name? Aza Ray = beautiful.  Even if she was referred to only as Aza, I called her Aza Ray in my head through the whole book.

Aza is dying of a disease that is so rare it bears her name – although she prefers to call the disease Clive.  Her parents and sister practically live their lives on pins and needles because the smallest thing can set off an episode that will send her to the hospital. 

In the book, it all starts when she sees a very real ship floating in the sky and no one believes her.  They all think it is a hallucination brought on by her medication(s).  She starts to hear her name in the wind, so to speak.  Someone or something is calling to her.  Things continue to get worse until finally, in a horrific, can’t-stop-reading episode - Aza dies.

She wakes up in Magonia (which, by the way, is a place that she and her bff/love interest Jason had discussed (but dismissed) shortly before her death, because he is the only one who will listen to her).  She is a brand new person with strong lungs and a strong body.  And: she’s blue.  *The creatures that inhabit Magonia are simply amazing.  When you read it (which you should) you will understand.*  She is reunited with her mother, from whom Aza was stolen when she wasn't even hatched. (Yes. Hatched.)

Chaos, danger, and high fantasy adventures ensue as Aza tries to discover who she is and where she belongs in her new-found life.  Where are her loyalties?  Who can she trust?  YOU HAVE TO READ IT.

I believe this will be a “love it or hate it” book, whenever it finally catches on.  I sincerely hope it does, because this book deserves so much attention!  I’m totally fangirling over Headley’s writing and I will be finding other works of hers to devour asap.

PS - HarperCollins picked up Magonia & "a sequel", so I can't wait to see where this goes!!!!!

Sexual Content: very mild

Violence: moderate to heavy (depending on your gore tolerance)

Language: mild/moderate (I don’t remember it being that bad)

Drugs/Alcohol: mild (there may not be any at all, but I can’t be 100% sure, sorry)

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

**An ARC of this book was received in exchange for an honest review. Release date April 28th, 2015.**

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 368

For readers of Cassandra Clare's City of Bones and Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, The Girl at Midnight is the story of a modern girl caught in an ancient war.

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

My Thoughts:
Alright, so it was not City of Bones or Shadow of Bone I was thinking of when I read this book, it was more of Daughter of Smoke and Bone (do you see a bone pattern??? huh.) And looking at other reviews on Goodreads, it seems I am not alone in thinking this.

The reasoning behind the Daughter of Smoke and Bone relation is because you've got two "monsterous" groups of people, the bird people called the Avicen and the dragon people called the Drakharin and they are at war with each other, hate each other. The war has been going on for centuries and they all want blood.

Bring in the legend of the Firebird that could bring order to the chaos of these two groups and you've got this book. I did enjoy the treasure hunt and the hunt for the next clue to bring them closer to finding this supposed Firebird but it took a long time to get there. The first HALF of the book was a little slow and I even put down the book for a while until one night I couldn't sleep.

Echo is a fun character as she left home and she learns to fend for herself. She lives in a library (every book nerds dream) and is a quite good at being a thief. She is spunky and I completely enjoy her sarcasm. She is independent a bit selfish, strong yet relatable at times and I enjoyed that.

The romance wasn't that bad for me but I saw it coming a mile away. So it lost a bit of spark and mystery for me. Even the gay romance of two side characters was obvious.

Some of the side characters were fun while others were a bit annoying. You have all types of characters in this book and you got to see choice, good and evil, kindness and forgiveness, cruelty and pain. It was over all pretty cool and fun.

Overall if you like Daughter of Smoke and Bone you'll like this one as well. I enjoyed the "treasure hunt" and Echo's sassy character.

Sexual Content: moderate (PG knowledge that some characters had sex, kissing)
Language: mild
Violence: moderate (fighting scenes, knowledge that characters have been beaten)
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

Rook by Sharon Cameron + GIVEAWAY

Publication: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 464

History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she. 

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse.

My Thoughts:
Can I just go ahead and just rant and rave about how awesome this book was?! Well, it was amazing! I couldn't put it down! I was so impressed with how Sharon Cameron redid her own version of The Scarlet Pimpernel (which is a favorite of mine book and the 1982 Jane Seymoure movie adaptation). It was BRILLIANT, she took apart characters and created different/new characters with individual aspects that were in specific characters from the original telling.

I enjoyed how this story takes place MANY years from now where the world went through a technology-earth destruction that killed many people as they relied so much on technology that they didnt know how to survive without it. So technology has been outlawed and those that fund, use, or any way get access to technology are put to death. This society has decided to revert back to the 17th century style of living. With big hair, lots of makeup and ridiculous outfits.

We have Sophia who is our main character and she is a completely fun, I had a blast reading her adventures and character development. She's normal too, with all the feelings and emotions  of any normal girl. Yet with a bit more adventure than the average girl she is just cool.

I completely enjoyed the brother/sister relationship between Sophia and her brother Tom. I loved reading their interactions and what they were willing to do for each other.

The action was crazy and had me biting my nails and sitting at the edge of my seat holding the book 2 inches from my face because I had to know what was going to happen next.

LeBlanc our villain was INSANE, literally INSANE, his logic, way of thinking the world should be and the sickness in his own mind was fascinating! I was creeped out and disgusted by him which made him completely fun to read about. Creepy creepy man....

I was floored with the twist and turns of this story. I kept second guessing myself with pointing the fingers to every character who I thought was the "bad guy" and when all was reveled...whoa. didn't see it coming.

I actually didn't mind the romance in this. There is a bit of a love triangle that wasn't bad to read at all! Plus the romance didn't overwhelm the story. It was a nice undertone which kept you interesting which I prefer!

Overall the author did a GREAT job of writing her own version of this story and I thought she was brilliant!

Sexual Content: mild
Violence: moderate (PG-13 not too graphic)
Language: none
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

Meet the Author:

Sharon has been a classical piano teach, genealogist, chair of a non-profit local theater group, coordinator of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Midsouth Conference. Sharon has been awarded the 2009 Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award for her debut novel The Dark Unwinding. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her family and loves to shoot her longbow and search for secret passages while traveling the world.

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Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Thoughts:

I really wanted to like this more…  Sadly, that’s not what happened.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it!  It was an easy, fast paced read, but I just didn’t get all the “edge of your seat” action that was tauted. 

I really like Tris.  Her inner struggles about who she is and where she belongs are relevant to pretty much everyone at her age, so she’s very relatable.  She’s not some curvy, gorgeous, super human girl that gets everything she wants.  She struggles between doing what’s right and what she wants to do.  I love her.

I also like Four.  I like that he isn’t all goo-goo ga-ga over Tris.  Yes, he likes her, but he doesn’t seem like the typical YA love interest.  He isn’t easy on Tris because he has feelings for her.  He pushes her harder, instead.  He knows that she is capable of great things and won’t let her give up, even when she is so homesick and wants to leave.  In short, I like their love story.

Also, I liked that this book was mostly clean.  It was violent, but there wasn’t a whole lot of language that I remember.  I don’t know why that bothers me so much.  Maybe it’s because most of the time, I feel like bad language is thrown in just for shock value or to be “cool”.

Overall, I give this a 3.  I haven’t decided if I will continue to read rest of the series or not. (Thoughts?  Is this a series that gets better as it continues?)  My problem is that I love the characters, but not the writing.

One more thing:  Excellent casting!

Language: mild

Violence: heavy

Drug/Alcohol: mild

Sexual Content: mild to moderate (there is kissing, talk of feelings, and desires but no sex)

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of

those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

My Thoughts: (Here there be spoilers)

Where do I begin?  I love love LOVE this book!!!  I read somewhere that it was tagged as Graceling meets The Selection.  Hmmm, I thought of it more as Hunger Games meets X-Men.  Am I alone on this?!  Anyway, I give this one a definite 5! I can’t wait for the next installment!!

So, Mare lives in a crappy little town called Stilts, passing time before conscription by picking pockets and other forms of thievery.  Through a somewhat tragic chain of events, she finds herself with a job in the palace working as a serving girl while Silver families offer up their daughters to marry into the royal family.  These daughters showcase their abilities in an in-ground arena with an electric roof barrier.  During this spectacle, Mare is thrown from her balcony down onto the barrier.  All. Hell. Breaks. Loose.  Mare isn’t hurt by the electricity.  She discovers that she’s a Red with Silver abilities.  She can feel electricity around her and use it as a weapon.

As damage control, (the ridiculously evil) Queen Elara hatches a story that Mare’s real name is Mareena Titanos, a Silver whose parents were killed in the front lines of the war when she was a baby.  Thus begins Mare’s life as a Silver, betraying every instinct she has as a Red.  But she won’t go down without a fight.  She joins the Scarlet Guard (SG) and works with them in secret, all while juggling feelings that she has for Maven and Cal.  Maven even joins the SG because he can’t stand the way the Reds are treated.  No one should be forced to live in such squalor.  She and Maven go to secret meetings and he gives 4 names of Silvers to be killed in order to start the revolution. 

At the ball (can’t remember the exact function), the 4 Silvers are shot by the SG and a bomb is set off.  After things calm down, Mare and Maven discover 4 members of the SG have been captured and are being questioned in the dungeons.  Mare, with some help, breaks out the prisoners and gets shot in the process.  She is healed but her blood is everywhere and there is no time to clean it up.

They find themselves up against a wall, with no viable way out.  Unless, at Maven’s request, if Mare can convince Cal to give up and choose her over his army and over this war.  The SG blows up the bridge between the two sides of the city and Mare, in all the mayhem, confesses to Cal who she really is and what she has been doing.  Cal is shocked and heartbroken, obviously.  He takes Mare and Maven prisoner and has his army attack the SG, who were hiding in the tunnels below ground.  Mare is devastated.  All her work, ruined in an instant.  Cal (with man-who’s-name-I-forget that subdues abilities) takes Mare and Maven to the King and Queen to be dealt with.  During this “meeting” it comes out that Elara and Maven are working together and Maven has played Mare like a violin.

 (Honestly, I kind of saw this coming, but I was floored by the execution)  

Tiberias is just as dumbfounded as Mare and Cal when the truth comes out, but Elara isn’t done yet.  She has all the cameras off and, with her ability, makes Cal kill his own father (this is when I slammed my book closed and called Elara a name or two… or ten.)

  

Cal and Mare are then sent to fight to their deaths in an arena, against 5 very powerful Silvers:  a Nymph, the Samos siblings, who control metals, and 2 other Silvers.  With Mare’s abilities still subdued, she isn’t much help, until she cleverly has her subduer killed.  With her abilities back, she is able to help Cal and they kill all but one Silver, and that Silver runs for his life.  When the guards come in with weapons drawn, they think all is lost until a familiar face appears below deck.  Farley and the SG are there and they pull Cal and Mare to safety and disappear.

Mare wakes up on the underground train to find that Shade, her brother she was told was dead, is in fact alive and well!  Cal is there, too, but in handcuffs.  They are on their way to safety.

Sexual Content: very mild (kissing)

Language: mild

Violence: moderate

Drugs/Alcohol: mild (only a couple instances, I think)

PS - Film rights for Red Queen have been optioned by Universal!!!

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

Publication: January 6, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 321

Bryn Aven is an outcast among the Kanin, the most powerful of the troll tribes.

Set apart by her heritage and her past, Bryn is a tracker who's determined to become a respected part of her world. She has just one goal: become a member of the elite King’s Guard to protect the royal family. She's not going to let anything stand in her way, not even a forbidden romance with her boss Ridley Dresden.

But all her plans for the future are put on hold when Konstantin– a fallen hero she once loved – begins kidnapping changelings. Bryn is sent in to help stop him, but will she lose her heart in the process? 

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed the first book of Amanda Hockings Trylle trilogy that I really should finish.  So being stuck in an airport I saw this book and decided to try it out. I LOVED IT!

I really liked seeing the world from the Trylle trilogy expanded. We get more insight on the other groups, not just the Kanin tribe. We get a complete backstory and history of this group and it was brilliantly done! Something new and creative. Plus you get to see some characters from the original Trylle trilogy peak in. Bryn an outcast in the tribe due to the fact that she is only half Kanin. She is a tracker but her her biggest desire is to become part of the King's Guard and does everything she can to prove herself to everyone that she is Kanin and that she is part of them and what she deserves to be part of the King's Guard. However, when young changelings who are about to be taken back to their Kanin families, keep getting kidnapped, things take a turn for the worse. Then Bryn finds out that the man kidnapping them once tried to kill Bryn's father and was once Bryn's idol.

Bryn bothered me... a lot. She is a great strong female character. We get to see all sorts of wonderful sides of Bryn as she is placed in different scenarios. She is strong, smart, and you get to see her make mistakes and she that she is "human." Relatable too, she even fights and argues with her parents even though she loves them to no end! However I wanted to slap her most of the time and thought she was being silly or ridiculous  Quit fighting with your parents over stupid things, quit being silly in the romance department. GAH.  

I enjoyed the romance but found it to be no surprise. It was typical. It did exactly overwhelm the story but still a pretty good part of it which I liked. There looks to be a bit of a love triangle but not 100% sure which I hope there is not, I wouldn't mind seeing it dragged out a bit either. 

Overall this is a great start to this new spin off series and I definitely look forward to the next book. It also makes we want to go back and stinkin finish the Trylle series, even though I know what's going to happen! 

Sexual Content: moderate (some kissing)

Language:  mild

Violence: moderate (some fighting)

Drugs/Alcohol: mild

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

Publication: December 14, 2012
Publisher: self-publish
Pages: 150

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.

A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

My Thoughts

I decided to check this out because Facebook was advertising this book like CRAZY and it was only $.99 so I figured, why not. It has HIGH reviews on Amazon so I took the plunge and bough it....

ummmmm......

I knew it was about vampires, I knew it wold be a romance. The first book was better than the second, I gave up on the second.

So Sofia is kidnapped by a vampire. She doesn't know where she is after waking in a dungeon but she knows she is going to die. When she brought before a vampire they thad raised from eternal sleep  Sofia knows her life is over, then...she does something small and simple that brings her life and those other women who were kidnapped for the same thing to a halt. 

The Prince also known as Derek is  brought back from his sleep to rule their coven group of vampires in this place called the Shade. Finds Sofia to be a small link toward his humanity that he just refuses to give up. He finds himself constantly torn between his humanity and his life as a vampire and what it requires of him. It was because of him that he was able to save his people from death by the hunters who hunt vampires and nearly succeeded. However he has no wish to really rule and yet he doesn't necessarily want to die either so he was placed under a spell to sleep- same as dying right? I dunno well he is awake and falling for this human girl-Sofia.

However Sofia has also caught the obsessive attention of Derek's older brother Lucas. Lucas is as childish and cruel as any child without a parent to discipline him. He is ruthless and creepy. 

For a quick book I was drawn in and definitely wanted to know what happens next. However book 2 I ended it because it turned into a very VERY unhealthy relationship and I ended up becoming so sick with how this was turning out I stopped reading it. 

Started of great with this 81 page book and turned into something I would not recommend to anyone. Sorry.

Sexual  Content: book 1-moderate (PG-13) book 2-heavy

Violence: book 1-moderate (very PG-13 almost a rape and vampire suck the blood out of people) book 2-moderate/heavy (almost a rape)

Language: mild-I think, can't remember

Drugs/Alcohol: mild/none

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

Publication: January 13, 2015
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 336

A fast-paced international escapade, laced with adrenaline, glamour, and romance--perfect for fans of Ally Carter

Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.

To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family--but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with.

My Thoughts

I had some high hopes for this book! The cover is amazing, the book sounded amazing! And I honestly can say there isn't really anything WRONG with the book, it just....didn't do it for me like I'd hoped. 

It started off really cool, and I really enjoyed that there were these families who really are in control of the world, and how this girl, Avery was hidden away all that and then all of a sudden her life is just thrown for a wild ride as she learns that she has family, she has power, she has money and everything someone could ever ask for. Anything she wants, all she has to do is snap her fingers and it's hers. I loved the gowns, the shopping, the sights, the historical aspects weaved into the story, I love the masquerade ball, I loved the chase and the action, plus the mystery.  

Avery is very likable but there were times I was like, "come on! you aren't a baby! DO SOMETHING!" I dunno, I liked her but there were times I just rolled my eyes. She's naive, gullible, nice, sweet, and normal-almost. 

There there are the two ridiculously hot guys vying for her attention. Hot guy #1 who is sweet, kind, fiercely loyal and takes his job seriously. I like Bishop but then he made me roll my eyes because of course he makes decisions based off of his feelings even though after YEARS of loyal to his family he is able to just chuck that out the window for his feelings. gah! where is the tension and hardship there?! boo. I really liked Bishop at first there was so much mystery behind him and loved that he was "all-about-the-job" and then his feelings got in the way and I didn't like him that much anymore. He became a bit boring to me. 

Then there is hot guy #2 who is the "opposite" of Bishop-rebel, mysterious, brooding, "bad-boy" Stellan-who I was interested in way more almost immediately after I was introduced to his character. I was more interested in him because he has more mystery, and he broods. I like a guy who is charismatic and yet with his feelings he broods. I liked that he tried but Avery was so Avery that he was tied. I loved his and look forward to more of him.

Overall the idea of the story was great but there was-about half way through-a lot of eye rolling for me.

Sexual Content: moderate (PG-kissing)
Language: moderate
Violence:  moderate (some fighting, killing, bloody scenes)
Drugs/Alcohol: moderate (PG)