Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Hardcover, 1st Edition, 387 pages

Published January 3rd 2012 by Feiwel & Friends

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

Synopsis: In a futuristic Earth, a plague ravages the people. The Lunar people watch from the moon for their chance to take over the people of earth with their powers of the mind. There is one hope of a lunar princess who may still be alive to stop the lunar queen. Of course, the odds of that are very small. Meanwhile, on earth, is a young girl named Cinder who is a Cyborg, a second class citizen who meets Prince Kai when she, being one of the best mechanics of New Beijing, repairs his robot and learns of something she should not be privy to. Soon, she finds herself in an impossible situation as she discovers information about her past and must made decisions about her future that could affect the rest of the world.

Who doesn't love a good fairy tale....er.... a good sci -fi.... er.... a good romance.... er... this book!  I seriously LOVED this book. It's the first of a series and I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of it. It's based off the story of Cinderella only it's much more gritty and intense than the fairy tale we are all used to. I love reading stories that are based off fairy tales, I love sci-fi and fantasy and love a clean romance. This had all of them rolled up into one book. My perfect dream book! haha! I totally recommend this book.

Author: This is Marissa Meyer's debut novel. She lives in Washington with her fiance and cats. To learn more about her, visit her website here http://www.marissameyer.com/

Rating: ***** FIVE STARS

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The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis: This is a trilogy consisting of three book, Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess. A young woman, Tessa, crosses the ocean from America to find her brother, Nate, living in Victorian England. When she arrives she is quickly snatched up by the Dark Sisters who know of a power Tessa has but is completely ignorant of. They work for one who also wants to claim the power as their own, or as belonging to his wife. Tessa finds herself in a world she never knew existed. She also finds herself pulled between two young men whom she never would have met if she hadn't learned about this power. Meanwhile, dark forces are created an indestructible army that only her new found power can defeat. She must learn to control it before the entire world is destroyed and the love of her life disappears forever.

I really did enjoy these books. They weren't a fictional masterpiece or anything but the story was fun. I enjoyed this series more than the City of Bones series which is based in the same world but at a different time. It was fun reading about the ancestors of some of the characters also in the City of Bones books. This was a very fun read that I will give FOUR STARS **** to. :)

Author: To learn more about the author, check out her site here http://www.cassandraclare.com/

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Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Hardcover, 360 pages

Published July 13th 2010 by Scholastic Press (first published 2010)

ISBN

0545123283 (ISBN13: 9780545123280)

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Romance

Synopsis: This is a sequel to Shiver, which I read before I started a review blog. :) So, this could contain spoilers to Shiver so I suggest that you go and read Shiver first. :)

Grace is a 17 year old girl who lives in the quiet little town of Mercy Falls, Minnesota. The year before she met Sam, a wolf, well, a human, well.... a shapeshifter. But, they cured him of that so at the beginning of this book they are both typical humans. Sam is now responsible for the pack after the last one, and adopted father to Sam, decided to return as a wolf and may never become a human again. Sam must figure out how to make it on his own and settle into his new life of caretaker of the shapeshifting pack. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Grace is finding that her parents' new overbearing methods are suffocating. She is fighting with them and ignoring symptoms that could change her life forever. There is also a new pack member -- Cole. The first one to return to human and has a questionable past that could be detrimental to the secret of the pack. This odd trio must find a way to survive and perhaps risk everything to save one of their lives.

Review: I still love this story, this world Maggie created. It's original but still fits in the ever popular category of fantasy-romance. You know that moment you realize you are siding with the parents instead of the heroine of the story? Yeah, it's not a good sign. It means you're getting old (30 next year). That was the feeling I got while reading this story. There were a few instances where the main characters got in trouble and I thought, "DUH!" Anyways, this is young adult but I don't think I'd let my daughter read it. There is teen sex and the language is a little heavier than what I'd feel comfortable having her read.  I am not giving it that fourth star because of a couple of reasons but the main one is the romance. Ack! Sometimes it's a bit too cheesy for me. They're 17 and they're proclaiming their never ending love together in ways that made me feel entirely uncomfortable. Otherwise, it was a pretty good story.

Author: From Goodreads Author Page: All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

To learn more of Maggie then go to her page here: http://maggiestiefvater.com/

Rating: **** Four Stars

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Destined by Aprilynne Pike

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061668125
• ISBN-13: 978-0061668128

WARNING: This is a Spoiler if you have not read the other 3 books of the Laural series.  For a review on the other three then click here. If you have not read those three first then do not read this review. :)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy - Romance

Synopsis: Book three ended in a very bad spot, Luki is captured and they discovered she is a Winter Faerie... the strongest and rarest of all fae. Laurel and her friends must figure out what to do with her. When things don't go quite as planned, Avalon is in danger and Laurel, Tamani, Chelsea, and David are their only hope. Okay, that's kind of all I can say with giving away any spoilers.... trust me, this is hard. :)

My Thoughts: I know, being a Laural Series fan, it took me a really long time to finally get to this book. I just had so many other books that I needed to read. I finally could take it no longer and bought this book. Of course, I had to re-read the previous 3 so that I would know exactly what was happening. This book was just as good as the other three in the series and Pike was able to wrap up all the loose ends. She did leave it open for another story (oh, I hope she does!) or you get to use your imagination and figure it out yourself. I know that doesn't really make sense -- wrapped up loose ends but left it open too but, trust me. She did! Read it and you'll get it.
The biggest question I and most of my friends had was, "Does she choose David or Tamani?" I loved both of the guys but, I won't tell you who she ended up with. hehe!
The first thing I noticed about this book is the beautiful cover. I just love it! I loved re-reading the previous three books. I was able to see the amazing growth in the characters throughout the series. I love that they didn't just stay the same through out. They grew and evolved and learned from their experiences. The characters at the end of book four were not the same as the characters at the beginning of Wings. This book made me laugh and cry. It was such an emotional ride but still amazing. The story is just amazing! The writing is very simple and there is a lot of mushy romance stuff in it but the story is just so awesome that I am able to look over those. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and was sad to finish and end my adventures in Avalon.

Author: (from Goodreads) Aprilynne Pike has been spinning faerie stories since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found at the gym; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne currently lives with her husband and three kids in Utah, and dreams of warmer climates.


Rating: ***** Five Stars

Purchase Book: Click on link (hover for details)

 
Destined (Wings)

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The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

Genre: Amish Fiction/Romance

Review: Mattie's childhood sweetheart, Gideon, broke off their engagement suddenly. Now, Mattie has started a new life for herself with a new boyfriend, Sol, and her own cake making business. Then, one day, the life she knows is destroyed and she must start over again at her home town. She must face Gideon and learn the secrets of what really happened the night they broke up.
Gideon is still in love with Mattie and when she returns he fights even harder to keep his secrets secret and distancing himself from others. Will the truth come out and will Mattie choose to go back to Gideon or remain with Sol?

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No Holly For Christmas by Julie N. Ford - Blog Tour

 This is a stop on No Holly For Christmas by Julie N. Ford's blog tour.

Genre: Romance Thriller

Review: Brian is a carefree attorney who has been divorced twice because the women never seem to measure up to his first love. Holly is a widow, and the six-digit income life style she was used to is no more. She is forced to raise her two daughters in a less than ideal situation (at least, in her opinion). These two come together through Holly's sister, Margo, who is also an attorney.

Margo and Brian work together and Holly is a social worker working with a murder suspect. Holly is asked to be bait for a criminal which leads to a whirlwind of danger and suspense as Holly and Brian fight for their lives and develop a relationship that neither of them were ready for.

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Flashback Friday: Evernight by Claudia Gray

Flashback Friday is the day that I get to review the older books that I want to read instead of the new releases that are given to me. There are some great older books out there that should get some attention, too. :) Today's Flashback Friday book was published in 2009. Enjoy!

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The Pentacle Pendant by Stephen M. DeBock

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review: Claire Delaney is a senior in college when she meets Lukas. Lukas decides he loves her shortly after they meet and decides to turn her into a werewolf. Together they are test subjects for a doctor trying to find a "cure" but Lukas calls it a gift. Werewolves are not the only paranormals out there and it quickly becomes very tense.

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Flashback Friday: Evermore by Alyson Noel

This week's flashback Friday review is on one of my giveaways. I thought it was appropriate to publish it this week since it has the whole Halloween theme going... kinda. Well, paranormal anyways. Those of you who may be new to my blog, Flashback Fridays is when I get to review a book that is not a new release. There are so many great older books out there and I always receive new releases from publishers and authors so this is my chance to review some of those. :)

Genre: YA - Paranormal - Romance

Review: Ever has recently lost her entire family in a car accident and is moved from her home to live with her aunt in California. Not only is her home and family different but she has some new abilities after the accident that she hadn't counted on. She is suddenly able to hear people's thoughts, see dead people, and see aura's so she tunes them out the best she can -- with shades and ear-buds giving her the title of "freak" at school. Then all the voices go silent when she comes into contact with the "new guy", Damen. She needs to learn how to control all the stimuli around her and figure out who this Damen is and what he is and why everything stops when he's around.

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The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo

Genre: Fiction/romance/historical

Review: Charlotte Beck is a feisty American young woman who is being introduced to British society in the 1800s and soon learns that her horse riding and gun shooting ways are frowned upon in the high European society. Her father wants her to find a husband and spend her days painting but Charlotte has other plans. She wants to go to a four year university and study mathematics to become a business woman. Her father agrees to allow her to go to school if she agrees to marry Alex Hambly, a young man whose family has lost all their money and Mr. Beck wants to help them out but only if he weds his daughter. The two do not like each other and their interactions are hilarious! They agree to this "ridiculous" plan with their own plan... annulment. Plans change... will they make it work or will the marriage be annulled? 

This is such a funny book. I enjoyed every word of it. I loved the relationship between Charlotte and Alex... Charlotte succeeds in embarrassing herself and her family but somehow schemes her way out of everything. Charlotte did annoy me a bit with her spoiled rich girl self but I still fell in love with the characters. Kathleen did an amazing job at bringing these characters to life. Apparently there are two other stand-alone books in the series that I now want to read. I loved this book!!

Author:  Y'Barbo is a tenth generation Texan and the mother of four children -- 3 adult boys and 1 teenage daughter.

Rating: **** Four Stars

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

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Ecstatic Evil by Amanda McNeil

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review: Tova is a half demon and trying to decide which half of her she wants to embrace -- her evil demon half or her less evil human half. She has two months to decide but is distracted by the pull of another creature of the underworld, Greg.

I wasn't too sure about this book from the cover. I though, "Oh my! Is this going to raunchy?" haha! Yeah, I can't help it. It looks that way. I read reviews on it and it sounded good and others talked about how the cover was deceiving so I decided to open it up. I was a bit disappointed. I received it as a PDF and converted it to epub. It ended up being only 54 pages and I made it to page 20 and stopped. Here is why. In the first three pages there were about five uses of profanity. It didn't get any better. Then, I was in their bedroom reading about everything they were doing in there. Sorry, I'm just one of those people who likes what happens in my bedroom but not other people's so I decided to close the book. The story sounded promising and the writing was fun to read. I just have a hard time getting through writing like this so, it wasn't for me but probably great for other people.

Author: She currently lives in an attic apartment in Boston. She spends her days working and her nights writing. Ecstatic Evil was her first book and published in July of 2011. She is planning on the publishing date of the sequel to be in November 2011.

Rating: * Star

It is available for purchase through Amazon for the kindle here.

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A Change of Heart by Louise Armstrong

Genre: Fiction/Romance

Review: Nikki is sent to shut down a baby carriage company but when she gets there she finds the people willing to fight for the company they love and gives them a chance to prove they can get the company back up to what it once was. Meanwhile, she finds herself putting a wall up between herself and the company owner, Alex. Will Alex succeed in breaking down the wall and will Nikki succeed in saving the company and her job?

I found this to be a sweet read. The writing is pretty good. The only reason I could tell this was a self-published book was because of the number of typos, grammatical and punctuation errors. The characters were extreme though. Nikki was incredibly um... pre-menstrual throughout the book. She was yelling at people and then she was crying then she was happy and content and then she was yelling again. Then, there was Alex, who was perfect. I mean, if you could dream up a guy then you'd have Alex. He seemed to have no flaws and while Nikki was drowning in her own. Overall, the writing was well done and if the author had someone read over it before publishing it then I'm sure it would have been better. If you enjoy a good, clean romance then this would be your book.

Author: This is all I could find on her, "The first story Louise Armstrong ever finished and sent off won the 1993 Crystal Heart Award from the Guild of Romance Writers, and she's been writing sweet romantic comedies ever since. 'I like to look on the light side of life,' she says. 'All my stories feature fun and adventure, and of course, they all have a happy ending.'"

Rating: *** Three Stars

If you would like your own copy then go here.

This was a complimentary copy from the author for an honest review.

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Indelible by Kristen Heitzmann

Genre: Fiction, Romantic-Suspense, Christian

Review: Trevor, a search and rescue volunteer, rescues a toddler from the jaws of a mountain lion because of his need to save people from a dramatic experience from his childhood. Natalie, a very talented sculptor with eidetic memory, is new to this small mountain town and trying to make it on her own without having to rely so much on her brother. Trevor and Natalie find their lives entwined as something evil threatens the peace of their small community and Trevor and Natalie are both challenged in ways they never imagined.

I truly enjoyed every page of this book. It had me glued to it from the beginning and at the end I was flipping the page trying to find more... anything! I wanted it to keep going. I did feel that there were some minor plot lines that were left unanswered -- they were minor but still enough to annoy me. Other than that... I can find nothing to complain about this book. The characters were all original and fun. My poor husband and mom were probably so excited for me to be finished so that I'd stop talking to them about it and maybe wash some dishes for my family. Yeah, it was one of those books for me. I loved it!

Author: Heitzmann was born in Indiana and later moved to Colorado. She played classical music on the violin and rode horses.She home schooled her four children when she wrote her very first novel (this totally gave me hope as a homeschooling mom!). When asked why she writes she says, "to get the stories out of my head."



Rating:  **** Four Stars

I received this complimentary copy of Indelible from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

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Healing Hearts by Beth Wiseman

Genre: Fiction/Amish/Romance

Synopsis/Review: This book is actually 3 novellas so I'll talk about each novella separately.

"A Choice to Forgive" - Lydia is a widow and mother of two in an Amish community. Suddenly, a man from her past, Daniel, shows up on her doorstep. He was her first love and vanished one Christmas Eve. As the mystery unfolds as to why he left in the first place, Lydia must also find the power in her heart to forgive the man she once loved.

"A Change of Heart" - Leah is the second of four girls but she is not the typical Amish girl. She is a writer and that's all she wants to do. She can't cook, sew or garden and has no desire for a husband. Aaron knows this and doesn't seem to care that he may have to live off chicken salad for the rest of his life but their personalities are so different. Aaron is told that he is "boring" and Leah is too free-spirited for him. Are they mean to be or is the relationship going to blow up in their faces?

"Healing Hearts" - Levine and Namaan successfully raised their five children and found themselves alone in their home. The realization that they hardly knew each other anymore hits Namaan too hard and he runs away for eleven mos. Upon his return, he finds that some of his children have decided they have no father anymore and his wife has trouble finding the trust she needs for their relationship to work. As the rumors and secrets start unfolding of what Namaan did while he was gone the community starts talking and Levine finds herself doubting her husband even more.

Let me just say that I have NEVER read any type of Amish fiction before in my life but these books were amazing. I think "A Change of Heart" was my favorite. It had me in tears several times but all three stories were great. There really isn't much more that I can say about them. They were just awesome. Wiseman did an incredible job of writing them so the reader continually wanted more. I had to learn some Deitsch but there was a glossary in the front to help me figure it out and I only had to look back at it once or twice.

Author: Wiseman was a journalist and then in 2008 she decided to quit and become a full time novelist. The most surprising thing for me to learn about her is that she is not Amish. She said that she has Amish and Mennonite contacts in Pennsylvania and Colorado who read over her manuscripts to make sure everything is accurate. She currently lives in Texas with her family.

Just for Fun: Here is a list of Amish recipes found in some of Wiseman's books. :) http://bethwiseman.com/?page_id=21

Rating: ***** Five Stars

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Laurel Series (books 1-3) by Aprilynne Pike

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Romance

Author: She is the mother of four children and lives with her hubby and kids in Arizona. She earned her BA in creative writing in 3 years. She says that she is very lucky in that her children are very low maintenance so she is able to write even when they're awake and home. (What a blessing, right?) Her blog is here if you want more info on her.

Synopsis: These are the first three books in a four book series.

1. Wings: This is the first book in the series about a young woman named Laurel. She was adopted by her parents when she was 3 and living a normal life when something incredibly not normal happens. Suddenly she finds herself face to face with creatures she thought were completely fictional. They've been keeping an eye on her and making sure she was safe her whole life because she was one of them. She finds herself in danger and learns that she is what is standing between the enemy and home of her kind. Does she have the ability to save this magical world?
2. Spells: *SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ WINGS* Laurel spends her summer in Avalon, learning about the magics that she should have been learning her whole life. She is given the task to protect her human family and the land of her inheritance. Soon, she finds out that the trolls are back and someone knew is in town. A troll hunter named Klea. Is she what she claims to be? Has Barnes returned?
   Here is a video I found that sums up both Wings and Spells in preparation for Illusions:
3. Illusions: *SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ WINGS AND SPELLS YET* Drama is going on between David and Tamani -- fae vs human -- when Tamani enrolls in Laurel's human high school to keep a better eye on Laurel. Tamani has been assigned as her guardian because trouble is brewing. Big trouble that is bigger than any of them could ever guess.
   

Review: If you loved Twilight then you'll love Wings. It was a fun, quick read. There is, of course, the cliche love triangle going on with a girl, a human boy, and a non-human boy. There are mythical creatures who are enemies of each other, magic, and your regular teenage drama. I will say that Pike's world of the fae is very original and I love the idea of it. I won't go into detail here b/c I don't want to ruin anything but I love the idea. It kept my interest... in fact, I have a huge pile of dishes I need to wash now b/c I didn't want to stop reading long enough to wash them. ;) This would be a great read for people who have small children and have to constantly stop and start or for teenagers. It's definitely not a literary work of art but it's definitely fun and entertaining. I, personally, really enjoy this kind b/c I am one of those with small children and need something that I can pick up for small intervals so that I am able to care for the kids. hehe! I don't need anything that will make my head hurt right now. There was minor language and some "make-out" scenes but nothing inappropriate.


Rating: ***** 5 Stars

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