The Iron Queen - Julie Kagawa - 3.5 stars

This is book 3 of the Iron Fey series. This one was not my favorite of the series by any means, but it did have enough to it to keep me reading. I thought that it was much slower paced than the first 2 even though there still seemed to be plenty of action. I am not sure how it worked out like that.

In this installment Meghan and her team have to take out the False King who is claiming to be the newest Iron King. Meghan had learned earlier from Machina, that it was not possible. Iron glamour can't be taken, it must be given.

The world building is still wonderful in this book. I love the imagery that Julie Kagawa uses in her books. Makes the world seem so realistic and believable even though we know it could not possibly exist. She has a great gift of creating the scene and laying it out before her readers.

I absolutely love Ash and the relationship he has with Meghan. It is so beautiful to see the loyalty and love there. Puck on the other hand totally got on my nerves in this book. He seemed so much more selfish. He already knew that Meghan looked at him as her best friend but he had a hard time accepting that. Also a little twist is thrown in there involving Puck. I also really enjoyed watching the relationship between Meghan and her father Paul. Meghan looks out for everyone but herself and I love her strength and devotion to those around her. She is an amazing character. All of them are very well developed.

I am rating this one 3.5 stars. I liked it, but did not love it. I look forward to reading The Iron Knight and revisiting all my favorite Characters. I recommend this series to anyone who likes YA fantasy. It is a god way to get into the genre.

Pick 5 Reading Challenge with Shannon (LeaningLights)

For 2015, Shannon over at LeaningLights, and myself decided to challenge one another  with reading 5 books for the year that fall outside of our comfort Zone, why? Because it is always good to broaden our horizon's and expand our literary goals. So we decided this would be a really fun challenge. I chose for Shannon some of my favorite books of 2014.

What you must first understand is that Shannon and I read very different genres much of the time. I read more Adult books in the genre of Horror and Mystery, my 2 favorites. Don't get me wrong though, I can enjoy a good YA as well. Shannon reads more YA than I do, but she also reads a little Adult as well. So this will be a super fun way to challenge ourselves. Here is the list I pick for Shannon. And maybe this whole thing will also get y'all to learn more about Shannon who just happens to be a great booktuber as well. You need to click right here and go visit her channel. She is such a pleasure to watch. She also has a great weebly blog that you can follow here. Ok so lets get on with the show. Here are my picks for Shannon.

5. Dolores Claiborne - Stephen King
Let me first say that I could not make this list for Shannon and leave out Stephen King. However, this is not a horror book as I first thought it would be coming from Stephen King. It is, in a way, a mix of historical fiction and mystery. I loved that and I have to say that it was very engaging, very fluid and easy to read. King tells a very powerful tale with this book. Dolores is a character that you will not soon forget and I think Shannon will feel the same way once she meets her. I look forward to hearing what Shannon thinks of the story telling of Stephen King since he is my favorite Author.

4. Alice in Zombieland - Gena Showalter
This is the only YA that I chose for Shannon. I think I talk about this series as much as I do The Joe Ledger series. I just really enjoyed this series a lot. The Author uses a lot of different elements in this story which makes it relatable to a large audience I think. It has such a unique cast of amazing characters and the writing style is fluid and easy to read and follow. A great story with a different twist on Zombies that is very welcoming. I think Shannon can really indulge and enjoy this trilogy. I myself am ready for the last book.

3. Before I Go to Sleep - S.J. Watson
I have to say for a Debut novel this one was fantastic, very engaging and a little crazy at times as well. I was completely immersed in the story from beginning to end. This is an adult novel bordering on contemporary/mystery. It was almost like 50 First dates only it was more serious and complex. It had captured my attention right from the very first sentence. The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don't know where I am, how I came to be here. I don't know how I am going to get home. That was enough for me to continue the book. This one is chock full of one of my favorite elements, Mystery. It is a great story that is full of amazing twists that readers never see coming. I think this will give Shannon a good taste of some solid mystery with enough thriller to keep her entertained.

2. Left to Die - Lisa Jackson
Lisa Jackson is one of my favorite female mystery writers and she is a real treat to read. Since I love her style so much I wanted to introduce her talent to Shannon and maybe become a fan herself. One thing that Lisa Jackson does so well is engaging her readers with great imagery as she sets the scene. Once readers become engaged and are immersed into the story the ride never ends from the first page to the last. They are always so full of thrills and chills you can't help but to keep turning the pages. This is book one to a 6 book series right now. Books 1 and 2 are the must reads in this series because they go together, the case carries over, but I will leave that decision to Shannon. If she likes this first one, which I think she will, then she can choose to move onto  Chosen to Die.

1. Patient Zero - Jonathan Maberry
Now I know what you must be thinking. You must be getting tired of hearing me ramble on about this series, and that series being The Joe Ledger series. I just can't help myself. I really can't and Jonathan Maberry is the one that made me this way. Can I say it again? I LOVE JOE! I love his character, his personality, his flaws, everything. I love the Echo Team. It was almost instantaneous love for me. And can I also say again, for someone to be able to write a book on terrorism and make me like it, they are someone special. Jonathan Maberry is that person, he is now up there with Stephen King, and THAT is saying a lot. There are so many elements in this book series that it is near impossible for someone to NOT like it. I just had to get Shannon started on her journey with Joe and the Echo team. And poetic, Oh my goodness Maberry is poetic. So many things in this series to like and I am not embarrassed to say every one of these books I have read so far, 5 star ratings. Yep! So now I want Shannon to experience this and I am hopeful that she too will enjoy it.

Blood Magic - Tessa Gratton - 4 star

I have had this book for awhile and decided to read it for my "why have I not read these books" challenge, and I am so glad I picked this one. Usually I don't like witch type reads, but this one was pretty good. I was very fluid and also very engaging making it a pretty quick read. I am suspecting there will be a sequel to this book. I am hoping so anyway because I feel like this has great potential to be at least a trilogy.

In this story we have Silla who lost her parents. It was said that her father had gone crazy and murdered her mother and then killed himself. Silla refused to believe that especially after she received a book in the mail, a very important, mysterious and magical book. Silla tries a spot of magic with a simple spell, and discovers it is real along with Nick who catches her in the cemetery. What does Nick know about Magic?

At first I did not think I would like the book because I don't tend to read too many books on magic and witches and such. But the book was really good, so much better than I first expected. Tessa Gratton is a great author. The very first chapter had one sentence and it was enough for me to keep turning the pages. "I am Josephine Darly, and I intend to live forever."

I loved the imagery in this book. It made for a very realistic read. The scenes from the cemetery and the forests I think were the best. So believable, creepy, and alive. I had no problem completely immersing myself into this world the author created, she made the magic come to life by use of so many different elements and I could barely tear myself away from the book at times.

The characters were well developed, scarred and flawed. Three of my favorite traits when it comes to characters. It makes them so much more believable. I really like Silla and Nick. I don't read romance, but I liked this pairing. Even though 'the love element' was pretty quick I felt like like they just fit right together. I also liked the different mix of characters the author used in this story, from sad and depressed characters to happy and then also some hateful characters who were not really the bad guys, but made you think about it. Josephine was a great villain because we got to watch her develop into what she would later become by way of interludes included in the story from back into the very early 1900's. I loved the backstory on her it was great.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes magic and witchery. It has so many elements to the story that I am sure almost anyone could enjoy this story. I really like Gratton's style of writing and I will be looking for more books from her for future reads.

The 13th Gift - Joanne Huist Smith - 5 stars

I was really excited to read this book because for one, it is a Christmas story and I will always love those, and two, I knew it was going to be a very emotional, heartfelt story with a clear message of love and hope. This story is also somewhat dear to my own heart since I have been subjected to death of a loved one at the holidays, my parents.

I don't know how anyone could rate this book anything less than 5 stars. It is a true account of loss, strength, courage, and profound love. It should fill anyone who reads it, with a message of hope. A hope that gets a family through a tough time of great loss and brings a broken home back together. I loved this story and recommend to everyone.

Willow - Julia Hoban - 4 stars

I picked up this book for the "Why Have I Not Read These Books' challenge. I have had this book since summer I want to say and it just sat there on my shelves. I enjoyed the book so I am glad that I finally decided to pick this one up and read it. This is a first time Author for me as well and I will be looking for more from her.

In this story we have Willow who is the main character. At the age of 16 she was in a car accident that killed her parents. The worst thing about it is the fact that she was the one who was driving. Her parents had a bit too much to drink and they had Willow drive them home with only a learner's permit. Now at the age of 17 she has been dealing with the guilt and pain of killing her own parents and just trying to come to terms with all of it. She soon finds herself in trouble because to soothe the emotional pain, she becomes a cutter. Enter Guy, who soon discovers Willow's problem and he begins to open up Willow's eyes and her heart.

I knew that the premise of this book would be somewhat depressing, dark, and sad, but I still wanted to read it. I like stories that touch on real life issues because usually the stories are more believable and realistic. This book does have some pretty serious triggers for those who have experienced these types of issues with cutting, so that should be considered before reading this. I took this book slowly and absorbed every detail of the story. I was confronted by all kinds of emotions and I took away from it many thoughts. The desperation of a person who needs to feel pain to be able to deal with emotional traumas is serious and this book brings that out and I think, gives the readers a better understanding as to why. And we as human beings must stop judging people who have issues such as this because we do NOT know what they may be going through or dealing with.

The characters were very well developed and very believable. I had one issue with Willow and that was the fact that she tended to think the worst before truly knowing someone's thoughts, and at first I did not think that I would be able to connect with her or any of the others, but I found that the further I read the more I connected. With Willow, I found I was able to relate to the thoughts of being parentless and that feeling of abandonment. It does not matter the age, the feelings are the same, it is maturity that determines the actions that result. Being parentless means no more asking mom or dad for advice, it means no more being the child of someone, and even though these thoughts might not mean the same thing to someone who has not lost there parents, it is still a very real feeling. With David, it was the feelings of responsibility as he had to take on Willow who was only 17 and how this impacted his life. And to hear is explanations to Willow near the end of the story was heart wrenching. It gave the story a different meaning after that. Is gives the message that everyone feels things differently and we don't know what those feelings are and before we judge someone and their issues, we need to realize those things first.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic, emotional stories. It has both negative and positive elements and it is too heart wrenching to pass up.

The Woods Are Dark - Richard Laymon - 4 stars

Apparently this book was first copywrited in 1981 and the editors for Warner Books butchered the book. Taking out full paragraphs, whole chapters were removed, bad grammatical errors, and so on. Laymon often referred to this book as the one that ruined his career. Then in 2008 after painstaking work, his daughter, Kelly Laymon pieced the book back together and had it published as the restored and uncut version, fortunately this is the version I have. Sad that Laymon did not get to see what his daughter had accomplished since he passed away in 2001. His daughter wrote a little story about all of this and published it into the first few pages of The Woods Are Dark. So there may be some bad reviews of this book if the 1981 version is what was read. If you read the 1981 version, do yourself a favor and read the one published in 2008.

When I first chose to read this book, I really liked the premise of the story and knew that I was in the mood yet again for a Laymon book in full Laymon style. In this story we have Neala and Sherri who find themselves tethered to a tree along with the Dill family waiting for the Krulls to come and get them. They knew what it meant to get this visit from them. They get escape and have to survive the dark woods. The story goes on from there.

There was so much action and just plain insanity in this book, it was just non stop. I really enjoyed the premise of this story and I think it was executed so well. I read this book in 3 and a half hours because it was so engaging and flowed really well. There was also great imagery to describe the Krulls and their life style in a very harsh, woodsy setting. Made me wonder who could really survive the terror among these savages. I knew I would not want to be one of the victims.

I really liked the characters in this story, not because they were greatly developed, because they really were very simple. I liked the characters because of how they were changed so much throughout the story. You could actually see them evolve from what they started out as, due to the harshness of the terrain, and the savagery of the dwellers. I never knew what one of them would do from one moment to the next, so it became rather shocking at times. But placed in this situation, people will do what it takes to survive and you wonder who is turns bad and who is good anymore.

Of course I have to recommend this book to anyone who loves Laymon's writing. We all know he is not for everyone. He is on the scale of 'you love him' or 'you hate him'. There is no in between. Also those who like a dark, shocking, disturbing tale of insanity may enjoy this book as well so go ahead and take the plunge, you won't be sorry.

Zombie Day Care, Craig Halloran - 2.5 stars

I read this book for my A-Z challenge. I found it on Amazon and it just happened to be free so I thought I would give it a shot. It is not a very long book, it is just over 100 pages so it was a pretty quick read.

In this book we pretty much have a zombie apocalypse going on and we start out with Nick having saved the world and then we go further into the future and we have a small group of people trying to actually cure the zombies.

In all honesty, this book is really kind of ridiculous, but it was entertaining at the same time. The characters in the story were not really very well developed and I did not really care all that much for them, but it did have a fun plot that I thought could go a lot further. It also has quite a different twist on zombies. I always applaud authors who take that step towards making content completely their own and that is what the author did with this book because he stepped far away from cliché.

I am not sure who I could recommend this book too. Like I said it was a bit ridiculous but still was entertaining to read. So I guess I say 'Enter at your own risk'. There is also a book 2 and 3. I actually think I will read them both. I am giving this book a 2.5 star rating.

Your Heart Belongs to me - Dean Koontz - 3 star

I decided to read this book simply because I needed it for one of my challenges. I found the book some what engaging, but I also found myself confused at times as well. The story that was being told had a great premise, but it was not everything I expected it to be.

We have Ryan who is a very active, athletic, and health conscious guy. One day he experiences what he assumes is a heart attack, and at the age of 34 that was not good for him. He decides to go get checked out and discovers that he has Cardio Myopathy. A heart condition, if not taken care of, is fatal. So he needs a heart transplant in order to survive. He gets the transplant and then a year later he starts getting odd gifts with a note attached saying 'your heart belongs to me.'

I find that Koontz was very poetic in this book and also used some pretty good imagery while painting the scenes for the readers to enjoy. I liked that aspect of the book. I felt immersed in the story most of the time. And then there were times I found myself confused and had to go back a reread portions of the story to figure out what I had missed. I feel like some of it could have just been left out.

I really liked Ryan, and he is the only one that I really liked. He seemed to be the best developed of the characters. He had kind of an Odd Thomas feel to him and I really liked that. The other characters I really did not connect very well with. I also was disappointed in Samantha. I did not really see much use for her in the story.

I think the end of the book fell a little flat for me, I did not really like the way it ended at all, almost unfinished in a way if that makes any sense. I don't feel like there was closure to the story. I guess I recommend this to anyone that likes Koontz and his writing style.

Nothing Lasts Forever - Sidney Sheldon - 5 stars

Sidney Sheldon is a first time read for me and I have to ask myself why I had never picked up one of his books before now. I think that he is a brilliant writer and I am glad that I finally had the opportunity to pick up one of his books. I was totally engrossed in the story and really hated for it to end.

In this book we have the stories of 3 different female doctors working in the same hospital. Dr. Paige Taylor, who is on trial for the murder of a patient that she testifies was a euthanasia, Dr. Kat Hunter, who gets involved with a deadly bet, and Dr. Honey Taft who feels forced to becoming a doctor and does everything besides her job. Each one of these doctors are fighting their own separate demons and trying to overcome some horrific obstacles while at the same time causing some serious problems with the hospital they were all employed at.

Most of the story has a setting inside of the Embarcadero hospital in San Francisco. The author writes the hospital with such realism that readers can visualize themselves there among the doctors, patients and their families. It seemed like with the turn of every page something new came to light for these 3 women wreaking havoc in their lives and the lives of other surrounding doctors they worked with. This story also had a lot of great back story on each of the women that allows the readers to connect to them better and also made them become far more believable and realistic.

I loved the characters in the story. They were so well developed. So much better than I could ever explain in this review. They were less than perfect, but perfect with their flaws and shortcomings as the dealt with the everyday problems they were faced with both in the hospital setting and in their own personal lives. I felt so strongly for them, each one in a different way, and I love when an author can do that for his readers. I felt so much emotion and three women will not be easily forgotten.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves adult medical thrillers, and mysteries. This story has so many different elements to it, love, friendship, rage, hate, jealousy, envy, honesty and trust. I think really anyone could enjoy this book because the writing is amazing. I will be sure to pick up more from Sidney Sheldon in the future.

Rebels - Safelands #3 - Jill Williamson - 3.5 stars

I got this book through Book Look Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. This is the third book in the Safe Land Series. On my quest to review this installment, I did not have time, nor the opportunity to read books one and two so this on was a little confusing with the setting and all of the characters. I know my experience with this book will be better once I can read the other books.

In this third installment of the series Mason and Omar discover the true meaning of Liberation, a long time secret that the Safe lands have kept from the people, and it is not all it is cracked up to be. They go on a quest to spread the information they have gathered and lead the rebels to overthrow the government, with the help of some very interesting characters.

I did really enjoy this book even though I started with the last one first. But there was enough action and excitement to push me to read books one and two in the near future. I thought the beginning of this book was a little slow to start but gradually picked up making it a very interesting read and it became quite engaging. The imagery of the book was quite good which made the read very visual for me, I really enjoyed that.

Since I don't have a lot of backstory for the characters in this book, due to reading only the last one, it really has affected my take on the characters and making it confusing for me. But even though there were so very many characters to sort through I really did enjoy them, I think they were developed quite well. All of them far from perfect and quite flawed. I think once I read the first two books the characters will be even more enjoyable for me.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars and I recommend this book to anyone who likes Dystopian, apocalyptic, or fantasy novels. I think it is really well written with many different elements to keep it interesting. I look forward to reading books 1 and 2 in the near future.

A Legend Trilogy read along + Giveaway!

CourtneyReads is hosting a great read along of the Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu, plus a give away. Here is the video with all the info! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8UHmNA5TU&feature=youtu.be. Also there is a GoodReads group set up that you can join for the read along. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/149893-legend-trilogy-marie-lu-read-along Hope to see you join us.

Where She Went - Gayle Forman - 3.5 stars

This the 2nd book to the If I stay duology. I read this one directly after If I stay. I think this book was just as good as the first one, but I still kind of like the first one a little bit more. I am glad that I have read both of them, and I look forward to more books from Gayle Forman.

In this book it is three years later and life is moving forward for Adam but it feels like it is missing something, Mia. Again this story is told in both flashbacks and present and is told through Adam's perspective and his journey back to Mia and into her life once again.

Again I found this book to be simple, but it is a good simple, one that tells a big story. I liked the flow of this book like I did the first one. It is very engaging and pretty fast paced. Where it lacks in action and excitement it overflows with a lot of heart. It will definitely make you feel. I liked that about both of the books. I also liked being able to read from Adam's perspective this time. It gives it a different spin on things.

As far as characters go, I think Adam is the one that comes out on top, the one that seems to be a bit more sincere, and the one who sacrifices. Mia seems like she likes being catered to. She does not seem to realize that Adam also suffered loss as well as she did. But in her defense she does pretty much admit that. All other characters are pretty much null and void in this book which could come across as boring to some readers.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars as well. I enjoyed the first one a little more though, it made me feel more I think. I feel like the subject matter had a bigger impact on me. I recommend this book to anyone because I think both of them are worthy of being read since they are pretty quick reads and they do tell a pretty sweet story.

If I Stay - Gayle Forman - 3.5 stars

I am glad that I finally decided to read this book. I have had it for quite some time and a visit to our local library and checking out Where She Went got me to finally pick it up. It was a very engaging, thought provoking and heart wrenching story not easily forgotten.

In this story we have Mia and her family. They have a horrific car accident and Mia is caught in between life and death and this story is her account of one day contemplating a decision she must make and which would be the right one.

I really liked the premise of this story and how it was played out and also how it touched on so many emotions. Once in awhile you come across a pretty simple story that has a whole lot to tell. I like stories like that, they feel real and believable. They give you so many of the feels and quite often are left unforgettable with the reader. And that is this story.

The wide array of characters in this story are not over the top, they are not extravagant, they are normal, every day people like you and me and because of that they become so real to the reader. As if they are your own friends and family and I loved myself loved every one of them. Each character added a little bit of something to the story and it could not be the story it was without them.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes YA contemporary and maybe even you don't, but I know those who read it will feel something.

The After House - Michael Phillip Cash - 2.5 stars

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I like paranormal horror books quite a bit so I was happy to discover this one. I was looking forward to a creepy story, but it was a little disappointing though in the creepy aspect. I expected so much more from this book after reading the synopsis so it ended up just being ok for me.

In this story we have Remy and her daughter who are trying to pick up the pieces after Remy's failed marriage. They move into a 300 year old historical cottage and discover that they are not the only residents of this house, then enters Eli an old whaling ship Captain who died back in the 1800's.

I thought the premise of the story was fantastic which is what drew me to it in the first place. I was however disappointed a bit in the story since I was expecting a nice creepy ghost story, but that is not at all what this book is about. The book did have a ghost and it did flow very well and was even entertaining at times, but I just felt like the synopsis was misleading. I also found the story to be somewhat predictable in parts and was not executed very well. I also was not sure if the author knew exactly what he was aiming for with this book.

I liked the characters ok, but I feel like they lacked depth. There was not much of a story on them except for Eli. The story switched back from present to past and you learn a bit more about Eli, his family and his life aboard a whaling ship, and I liked that part of the story a lot. I would have to say that Eli is probably my favorite character. I also found that a couple of other characters in the book were not really necessary to make the story work.

I am really not sure who to recommend this story too. If you like paranormal, but you don't expect a scary side to the story then this would be good for you. Because I liked Eli and his story I am pushing this rating to a 2.5 star.

Dark Prayer - Natasha Mostert - 4 stars

I got this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. The book sounded intriguing to me since it had to do with memories. I find that topic rather interesting so I was really happy to discover this book for review.

In this book we have Eloise Blake who is running from a life she has no idea existed previously due to memory loss linked to dissociative fugue state. Jack is then contacted by his somewhat overly arrogant father requesting him to help Daniel out with his ward who happens t be Eloise. He is asked to help her to rediscover a past life while at the same time discovers that Eloise's life is at risk from some other force.

I really enjoyed this story a lot. I liked the surprise, the excitement and the mystery that surrounded this story along with the lust and greed of outside influences for the sake of science. I found the premise of this story intriguing and found myself trying to imagine a life such as this. Living a completely different life while having lived a different life in the past without even being aware of it. It all came together so well. It is such an engaging story, very thought provoking as well.

I really liked Eloise and Jack a lot. Those were my favorite characters. I loved the trust that was formed between them. As far as the rest of the characters go they were actually pretty cold hearted and cared only for the science aspect of things. I think the characters were all developed nicely, plenty about them to love and hate.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes both science and mystery. Two great elements that came together to tell an amazing story. "One step at a time, but every step forward."

Traceless - Joanne Clancy - 3.5 stars

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was pretty excited to get it since I am a huge mystery buff. This is also a first time read for me with this Author.

In this story Adam Stoltz disappears and his girlfriend Darcy is the last person to see him alive while she also fights for her own life. She appears to be a bit unclear at times as to what happens. Gina, a reporter, thinks that something is amiss and forms her own investigation to get to the bottom of Adam's disappearance.

I really liked the mystery aspect of this story. It really made me do a lot of thinking since so many scenarios were formulated from Darcy, Gina and George who is the detective on this case. So it really kept me on my toes for most of the story. It is definitely unclear as to who is responsible and is in no way predictable, however I feel like the story was incomplete with a lot of ideas still up in the air. I feel like it is not quite solved. Now I ask is that the Author's intent because another book is in the making? Or was it just left that way for the reader's imagination? I actually wish that it would have been wrapped up better because it feels rather incomplete to me. Also in the synopsis is says "Some people should never be found." I felt like that added a lot of excitement to the story but it was kind of misleading as well since I did not think it really played out well in the story.

I did not really like any of the characters. I think Gina was the better of all of them. She did fight to find out what was going on but I think that was to just better her career as a journalist. I felt like Darcy was not really mourning the loss of her boyfriend which makes her appear more than guilty and I just could not really feel sorry for her. She had a way of making people suspect her. She also had to be the center of attention all the time and that screamed 'feel sorry for me'. The detective, George did seem interested enough in finding out the whole truth. He seemed to be a little wishy washy about all of it, too up and down on the whodunit aspect. I don't fel like there was enough of his side of things in the story.

I would still however recommend this book to those who like mystery because it had a lot of that going on. I just felt it was incomplete and needed a little more closure. So hopefully there is another book to follow this one that can better wrap things up. I am giving this a 3.5 stars.

The Fifth Vertex - Kevin Hoffman - 4 stars

I received the book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I have to say I was not too sure about this book since it is a fantasy. I don't do well with fantasy, but since this was a YA fantasy it was much easier for me to grasp. Although I would class this more towards adult fantasy since it was a rather violent read.

In this story you have Urus who was born Deaf and felt like a failure because he could not pass the warrior tests for Kest and would be branded a burden because of that. So he plans his suicide as he climbs to the rooftop to throw himself over. His suicide fails and unlocks magic that is thought to have been extinct for many years. Urus and his friends must stop a dangerous bunch of blood mages from destroying the 5 vertices that protect their world.

This book has some great imagery and great world building. The author constructed some very vivid scenes not for the faint of heart. There was also a lot of action and adventure. The book flowed very well and was very fluid and easy to read, especially for a fantasy novel. This was a nice surprise for me. There is also some nice twists in the story and also a pretty good cliffhanger.

The characters were also pretty well developed although a bit more backstory on Cailix would be great, I feel like she was a but more incomplete although her growth was good. She is one of my favorite characters in this book. She is a very strong female protagonist. I also enjoyed Urus as well. He had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get where he was by the end of the story, so he had really good growth I think, as did Cailix. The antagonists in the story were also developed very well and were the perfect villains. They were very powerful and also spiteful and relentless.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, but as I stated earlier it is definitely not for the faint of heart with some of the more descriptive scenes in the story, and I would definitely say this is geared more towards Adult fiction.

They Who Fell - Kevin Kneupper - 4.5 stars

The Author sent me this e-book in exchange for an honest review. I knew I wanted to read it because it was about angels. I first thought this was a YA, but it definitely leans more towards adult fiction. I have to say I thoroughly loved this story and look forward to the next in the series.

This is about the fall of the Angels in a kind of post apocalyptic setting. The Angels felt that 'the maker' had broken promises to them and then the angels were tossed to the earth once they proclaimed this in rebellion. They wreaked havoc upon the earth and made the humans their slaves. Jana who was had been in 'the perch', the tower that belonged to the Angels, her whole life being mistreated and punished by the angels, finds herself particularly intrigued with Rhamiel, one of the rebellious angels. The story goes from there.

I really liked the world building that the author brought to us in this story. He definitely has a great a great talent for imagery in everything that was described, including the world, the angels, and the characters as well. The scenes were pretty vividly painted in my mind as I read the book. And I really loved the feeling of being there in the middle of all the chaos that was going on.

The characters were pretty amazing and well developed and I look forward to watching them continue to grow throughout the series. Jana was definitely my favorite character. She has an air of being both meek and strong and she knows which best suits her at the time. The Angels are among some of the best villains I read in a long time. I also really liked Rhamiel, he is a bit of mystery for me right now but I look forward to much more of him.

There was a pretty big cliffhanger at the end of this book and it drives me towards the next in the series. And I will be looking to have these all in physical form ASAP. I am giving this book a 4.5 stars and recommend this to anyone who loves a good thriller involving Angel apocalyptic stories with a lot of action.

Release - Hope Russell Nunki - 2.5 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I have to say that this book was just ok for me. It was also really up and down for me and felt a little drawn out. It may be just that this is not a book for me. I think the author is a strong writer but I feel like the story needs better execution.

I liked the storyline of this book. We have Mandelyn who suffers a miscarriage and feels inadequate because of that which results in a strain on her life and marriage. This story is her journey to find some happiness, self worth and forgiveness of others and more importantly herself.

I feel like there were parts in this book that did not need to be in the story because it did not really impact the story itself. It made the story more complicated and confusing which led to being a bit boring at times. I almost put the book down a couple of times, but persevered and read a couple more pages and the pace picked up again. It could have easily sufficed being a smaller novel which would have made the pacing better. I thought the imagery in the book was good but sometimes it was a bit much with the descriptions.

I was annoyed with the main character, Mandelyn, much of the time. Men treated her poorly or tended to play games with her and she did not really react or stand up for herself, like it was ok. She came across as weak and I wanted her to be much stronger. As the book went on she did become a stronger person but it seemed a little late at that point. But then again it is a 'learning' story so that was probably the Authors intent. I really did not relate to any of the characters, nor did I like too many of them. I guess I favored Joshua more than any of the others. I think he was written pretty well and enjoyed his character.

I am giving this book a 2.5 stars, if it were shorter then I think it would have easily reach 3.5 or 4 stars. I feel like you need a substantial amount of patience to read this book. If you have that then that is who I would recommend this book to.

Lone Wolf - Jodi Picoult - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend. I had been wanting to read more Jodi Picoult books and I think now, that this was a good choice after first reading Between the Lines, also by Picoult. I am so glad I read this book it was a profound, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable read.

In this book we many characters perspectives. Our main character Cara is in a car accident with her Father, Luke and she harbors some secrets as to what really happened that fateful night. It all snowballs and causes hard decisions to be have to be made and her brother Edward also harbors his own secrets that caused other hurtful decisions to be made leaving a family torn apart as a result.

I thought this book started out rather slow but still held enough interest for me to keep reading. Then finally it picked up and I enjoyed it immensely. I really liked the mystery that surrounds this story and the premise of the story was not something I had read before which is why it kept me intrigued. I love the imagery in this book, especially when Luke's perspective was being told. There are many perspectives in this book, but it did not become confusing because the author named the chapter to whose perspective it was. However, it did annoy me a little when the font changed for each perspective. I think we could have done without that.

The characters were very real to me, except maybe Luke. I could not imagine anyone making the choices that Luke made and I have to disagree with those choices and the sacrifices that arose because of those choices. Cara, the main character, to me, was just annoying. I wanted to slap her throughout the entire book. I really did not find any redeeming quality about her to make me like her, but she was a rebelling teenager and I think the author wrote her as such for a reason, maybe a learning experience if anything. Edward, Cara's brother, was my favorite character of the bunch. I liked his realism and his thought process, he brought a lot to the story and kept things balanced.

I do recommend this book to anyone who likes Picoult's style of writing which is more realism than fantasy. Because of the few issues I had, and the slower start I could not give this a 5 star rating, but it certainly does deserve 4 stars.

"This is what I like about photographs. They're proof that once, even if just for a heartbeat, everything was perfect."

Spirit Walk - Richie Tankersley Cusick - 3.5 stars

This is a bind up of two books called Walk of the Spirits and Shadow Mirror. I did not find these to be as good as her Unseen series but they were good enough to read through both of them.

Walk of the Spirits

In this story we have Miranda who just survived hurricane Katrina and has moved to another town called St. Yvette and discovers that she has special talents to see, help and speak to the dead. At first she is pretty unsettled over this whole affair but gradually is able to handle things and help those on the other side who have lost their way. In the midst of this she makes some great friends who try their best to help her while they put together a project called Walk of the spirits for school. They learn a lot more about Miranda's abilities and who she is supposed to help.

I think that this story is more plot driven with some good bits of history thrown in. It had a good tale to tell but I felt like it lacked depth and did not have enough action or excitement. I think it could have been so much more than it was. The love triangle in this story Between Gage, Miranda and Etienne just felt odd to me, kind of off. It did not seem like any of them really wanted to fight for anyone which made it feel pretty unrealistic and really kind of non existent.

The cast of characters were pretty good, with plenty of protagonists, but it lacked antagonists. I feel like a good story needs both good and bad characters to be successful. However, my favorite character ended up being Roo. She is quite the girl. She is strong, vocal, and sometimes annoying, but she knows what she wants and she is not afraid to speak her mind. It really bothered me that there were no villains in this book and I think it would have been so much better with bad guys running amuck.

I rated this first story 3 stars because it flowed pretty well, and I feel there was enough to keep my interest and to continue on to the next story in the bind up.

Shadow Mirror

In this story we have all of the same characters plus a couple new ones, but still no villains of any kind. This one I felt was better than Walk of the Spirtis. It has more action and excitement and still more plot driven than character driven. Miranda discovers new spirits that she needs to help by way of mirrors and a plantation called Belle Chandelle.

I liked the premise of this story much more than the first story. I think it flowed better and had a better, more exciting tale to tell. A lot more was going on in this one and it had a creepier air to the story. I do like how the story carried over from the other one and improved in doing so. It felt a bit more realistic.

The characters were pretty much the same although they did grow a little bit. I still think it would have been better if we would have had a villain of some sort in the story. The love triangle was still quite dull until more towards the end of the book, so it is not very memorable at all. I feel like the characters were just playing each other, and not just the ones in the love triangle.

I rated this story a 4 star based on the excitement of the plot which gives my overall rating of the book a 3.5 stars. If you want a YA ghost story than this is probably good for you, but if you want a believable creepy tale you might need to try something else like her Unseen Series which I feel is much better than this one.

Trauma - Graham Masterton - 3 stars

This book was nothing like I thought it would be and that was a little disappointing. I was expecting a good, chilling, paranormal horror story as he usually writes, but it was more a mystery with a small paranormal element. The book was still pretty good and still engaging. I also found that it was very fluid and easy to read.

In this story we have Bonnie Winter who cleans up the crime scenes once they have been searched and evidence has been collected. She has all the best cleaning agents to make a scene seem almost normal again. Bonnie starts to find things becoming a bit odd among some of these horrific, chilling scenes, something is amiss when she starts to discover black caterpillars on the scene and she tries to figure things out.

When I read the synopsis of the story it seemed like a really good premise but I felt it was a some what predictable. I thought though that it would still be ok as long as it was a good solid paranormal horror. It wasn't exactly what I had expected it to be and I think it could have been so much more than it was. It was not boring by any means but it lacked depth and excitement.

I did not like the characters very much in this story at all, including Bonnie. I found that they could have been developed so much better than they were. It was hard to connect to any of them. Bonnie went through a lot with her job, and then also on the home front with her husband Duke and son, Ray. It seemed like nobody really cared about that and it was about what Bonnie could do for them, and then Bonnie would just go along and say everything was just fine. She was weak natured lot of the time and then other times she wasn't. I got mixed vibes where she was concerned, she just did not seem to be very solid.

I am still going to give this book a 3 star because it as actually a quick fun read that anyone who likes paranormal, mysteries or even urban legends could still probably enjoy.

Dolores Claiborne - Stephen King - 4.5 stars

This was the first book I chose to read for the Spookfest Read-A-Thon and one of the few I have not read of Stephen King's works. Let me first say that this is not a horror book as I first thought it would be come from Stephen King. It is, in a way, a mix of historical fiction and mystery. I loved that and I have to say that it was very engaging, very fluid and easy to read. King tells a very powerful tale with this book.

In this book we have a woman named Delores Claiborne whose husband died 30 years ago, and is now being questioned for the death of Vera Donovan, a woman that she worked for as a housekeeper. This story is her account of the time spent with Ms. Donovan up till her death. Since the people of Little Tall Island have been waiting for 30 years to find out what really happened when her husband had died, she felt she had no choice but tell everything she knew and give her own testimony to these events.

I really enjoyed this story a lot but I did have a couple of issues with the book itself. I did not enjoy the style of writing for this one because it was wrote in a way that Dolores was flashbacking as she shared her account of everything to Andy Bissette, the detective handling this case. So there was not much dialogue to the story. Thankfully it did not hinder the fluidity all that much. Also there were no chapters to this book so really no markers or divisions in the story at all. Other than that I loved the premise of the story, the imagery and the characters. I also loved the historical elements to the book as well. Taking us back to the 1960's where women were not really viewed as the stronger sex and had to be 'taught' certain lessons in their homes and kept in line. Hard to believe things were like that and I think King did well with bringing these issues to light.

I really found that I loved Delores, and to me she is one of the most unforgettable ok King' characters. She did not live a simple life at all. She had a drunk as a husband and she had to work hard her entire life just to make ends met. She makes horrifying discoveries within her family and has to deal with that as well. Despite these issues she deals with, she is still very strong. She also learned from mistakes, she stood up for herself and her children, and she told it how it was most times. She had a great love for her children, and had great family values until things would go a bit far and then she was hell on wheels. I find that she was probably the only character that I really liked in this story even if her actions were sometimes questionable.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a bit of history, mystery and a little thriller thrown in. Stephen King is so diverse I am convinced that he can write anything and this book is sure to please just about anyone. I am giving this book a 4.5 stars.

Chocolate Covered Forbidden Fruit - Trista Russell - 4 stars

I was really not sure about reading this book because it is way out of my comfort zone, but I decided that I would just go with it and give it a try. I have to say that the book was well written, engaging and it flowed very well. I thought it was easy to understand and was quite enjoyable. I am glad that I decided to go ahead and finally read it.

In this book we follow a girl named Thalia Tyree and her near obsession with the Pastor Isaac Flack, who just happens to be her best friends dad. So this is pretty much a story about her life, her ups and downs, in and outs, failures, mistakes and accomplishments. She also gets herself into some pretty sticky situations. She goes on a vacation with her friends to Daytona Beach, things get a little wild and stuff happen while they are there. There is some dark content to this book that I did not expect at all, and of course a few 'sexy times' as well.

I really like Thalia a lot and the fact that readers watch her grow throughout the story. At first I was not to sure about her and did not like her all that much. But she grew on me pretty quickly through all of her mistakes and short comings. There are a lot of interesting characters to sort through in this story, most of them are very likable and then there are a couple that I would prefer to shoot, but they make great, believable villains.

This book presents a pretty powerful message and also had a lot of different elements such as religion, romance, love, darkness, and recklessness and it really made the story more interesting to me and presented some unexpected events. I found that it also made the story unpredictable and that is always good.

I recommend this to anyone as long as you can handle some darker issues and a few rather descriptive sex scenes. I think this is a pretty decent read since the story is more about Thalia maturing and making some bad decisions along the way and how she deals with some rather severe issues in her life.

The Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa - 4.5 stars

I am reading this series for a read along with friends. One of the concerns I had for the series was that they would not get increasingly better than the last because I had been told that book 1 was the best of them. This is book 2 in the series and I liked it even more than the first one and that made me very happy. The only real issue I had was trying to figure out why the book was titled The Iron Daughter. I guess I had expected in some weird way she would instead end up being Iron fey rather than the Summer Princess, daughter of Oberon. I fel like that was left wide open.

After the death of Machina and the rescue of Ethan, Meghan's brother, she now becomes a prisoner of the Winter Queen. Fighting feelings that she has for Ash, the son of the Winter Queen, and getting increasingly tired of being in Faery, she must decide what her next move will be as she finds herself thrown into the middle of a war between kingdoms. She must learn who she can and can not trust.

One thing I love in this series is the world building and the imagery used to do that. I think the world building has improved so much from the first book. All the details of the world are brought to the reader's attention and you cant help but find yourself there among the creatures, the characters, and all the magic of the world. This series could definitely be among the greatest of fairy tales.

I find that the characters grow so much more in this installment which is what I was hoping would happen. Old characters come back to the story and new ones are introduced. Among my favorites are of course Meghan, who is no longer whiny, Ash, Puck, and surprisingly the Ironhorse who I actually fell in love with in this story. The villains are much more villainous and the readers will absolutely love to hate them.

I really think the Author took this in the right direction and I am so excited to continue on with this story and jump back into this world of magic and intrigue. I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone who loves any genre. This book gets a 4.5 star from me.

The Haunted House - an original poem

Ok so awhile ago I wrote this Halloween poem and I decided to put it to some creepy Halloween sounds and Music. So I am  sharing the link. Here ya go, enjoy!

The Haunted House

Blue is for Nightmares - Laurie Faria Stolarz - 3.5 stars

I have had this book for awhile and finally decided to pick it up hoping that it would be a nice creepy book for the Halloween. And it really was a creepy book and I enjoyed it. This is a first time read for me with this author and after reading this book, I will continue on with the series.

In this book we have Stacie who is a practicing Wiccan. She and her friends attends a prep school. She has many nightmares each night warning her that her friend Drea is in danger and will ultimately be killed. Stacie must try to decipher these nightmares and save her friend before it is too late to do so.

This book was pretty fast paced and easy to read and understand. I liked the whole prep school mystery themed plot that this story is based on. There is also some pretty good imagery in this book that allows the readers to place themselves in the story, but also, on the same account I found it to be just a little predictable at times.

The only character I really liked was Stacie. I think she was pretty strong but then again I think she was weak at the hands of her friends wanting to do things that pleased them. I found that her friends were kind of cruel when it came to Stacie. They did not know what kind of friend they had in her and that bothered me. They would get into a funk or a disagreement and take it out on her. So I ended up not connecting to them and not even liking them. I was at a point of wishing Drea would just get killed anyway.

I feel like this book was more plot driven than character driven. I would have liked to have seen better developed characters, but with it being a first book I am hoping the author develops them more throughout the series. I am giving this book a 3.5 star rating, had I liked the characters I would have rated it higher. I still recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery or even boarding school stories. I do look forward to the rest of the series.

Between the Lines - Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer - 4 stars

This is the first time read for me with this Author. I have had several of her books for quite awhile and I finally decided to pick this one up. I have to say that I am so glad I did. I also thought that it was pretty amazing that this was the idea of the Author's teenage daughter. It was such a pleasure to get immersed into the pages of this beautiful fairy tale. It has actually been a long time since I have read anything remotely close to a fairy tale, so this book was indeed very refreshing and definitely very engaging.

In this story we have Delilah who is pretty much a loner. She has a father who really does not care about her and has started a new life with a new family. She is not a part of the popular crowd in school and gets picked on. She has one friend who she shares everything with. But when that is not enough she immerses herself into a fairy tale that she has read over and over. She discovers that the characters in the story are real and she falls in love with the Prince. The story goes on from there.

One thing that I thought was brilliant about this story was the perspectives. We of course have the perspectives of Prince Oliver and Delilah, but also you get the fairy tale as the fairy tale was written. So you are getting two separate stories in one book and I really liked that. I felt like I was experiencing both worlds at the same time, but without the confusion you would suspect would go along with that. It made me think that the Author should create the pseudo name Jessamyn Jacobs and write the original fairy tale as it was created for this book.

I love the characters in this story. I think they were well created and thought out. I think they are very easy to connect to. None of them have perfect lives, in fact I feel like they wanted to live different lives. Even though Oliver is a character in Delilah's favorite fairy tale, he still appears to be very real and believable. I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book they were a joy to get to know and love.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves Jodi Picoult, or even loves a good fairy tale. I dont think it could really disappoint anyone. I am rating this book a solid 4 stars.

One Rainy Night - Richard Laymon - 4 stars

Been a long time since I have read a Laymon book so this was certainly a pleasure to embark upon. As I have said before as far as Laymon's stuff goes, you either like him or you don't. I happen to like most of his stuff. He writes with a dark, dry, almost humorous at times with grotesque/horror elements thrown in.

In this book we start out with a murder of a black teen, he was burned to death. Shortly after the investigation starts, a storm comes to the town of Bixby and with comes a black rain. The rain causes people to go crazy with murder and cannibalism if they are caught out in it. The townspeople of Bixby who have not been affected are forced to fight for their lives.

This is definitely wrote in Laymon style. Lot of gore, sex, murder and the like and done up with imaginative, vivid and grotesque imagery. So much so that the images refuse to leave the mind once the story is over. The scenes in this one really were quite graphic. So keep that in mind if you are planning on reading this.

The characters are like they usually are in a Laymon book, quite simple and non descriptive which really does not allow readers to connect with the characters of any of his books. They are not all that believable or realistic, but it is almost ok because this is really just his style of writing. You come to expect the more you read his stuff. Almost all of his books are plot driven, and the time is put into that instead of the characters.

I thought the premise of this story was pretty awesome and per normal the book flowed very well no matter how over the top it might or might not get. If you like Laymon but have not yet read this one that you really must try it out. This book is not for the faint of heart, so if you don't like horror books then this is probably not a book for you.

Before I go to Sleep - S.J. Watson - 4 stars

I wanted to read this book once I discovered that the movie was going to be released soon. I have had it for awhile and finally started a buddy read and got to it. I am so glad that I did. I have to say for a Debut novel it was fantastic, very engaging and a little crazy at times as well. I was completely immersed in the story from beginning to end.

In this story we have Chris who has had a bad accident which caused her to have amnesia. She could not retain new memories or even remember those from her past. Everyday she struggled and went through the same thing, not knowing who she was or who her husband Ben was, having to learn it all over every time she woke up. Then she was contacted by Dr. Nash, who told her that that had been working on her memory. He had told her to keep a journal, to write everything down that happened and everything she could remember. She decided to keep her visits with Dr. Nash and her new journal a secret from Ben because she did not totally trust him yet. Eventually she began to remember bits and pieces of her life.

I loved the premise of this book which reminded me of the movie 50 First dates only this was a thriller rather than a chick lit. It was wrote mostly as a if you were reading her journal, and when there was change of perspective it was not confusing and I thought it flowed very well. I found that this book made me really think and ask a ton of questions. I did not know who was trustworthy and who was not. I found that I would have done a few things differently had I been Chris. So many thoughts in motion for this book.

As far as characters go I did not really like any of them except for Chris. I felt they all had too many secrets which made it hard to connect to anyone. But I think it was the authors intent to write them exactly that way, to his readers question everything. I do think they were created pretty decently. I have to say that I loved being inside of Chris's head. I had an urge to try and help her figure things out because she had just as many questions as I had.

IMO I think this was definitely more plot driven than character driven, but I think the premise of the story was strong enough to carry it through and make the story quite enjoyable. There was also a pretty good twist in the book that I did not expect at all, but it made complete sense to me when it was made clear to me. I would recommend this book to just about anyone, especially those who love a real good psychological thriller. A solid 4 star rating from me.

Afraid to Die - Lisa Jackson - 5 stars

This is the fourth book in the 'to die' series. And I have to say I have loved every single book in this series so far. With each installment, the stories just get better and better. I don't think I can really choose a favorite between the ones I have read so far. They are all equally good in story telling, writing, imagery and character development.

In this installment there is another psycho serial killer, again targeting women in Grizzly Falls, again in the ice cold temperatures of Montana. This time our villain freezes the women in blocks of ice and then he carefully chisels away and creates, in his mind, a work of art. He then places them around the town in unorthodox settings where they will be sure to be discovered most often by the towns people themselves.

As I have said before I love the imagery I find in anything Jackson writes. It has such a way that I am totally engaged and immersed in the story. I feel as though I know the area as if I lived there myself, and the people who are involved are personal friends of mine. Every detail brings every aspect of the story to life.

The characters, Alvarez and Pescoli, are my favorite detectives thus far. They are so completely different from one another, and somehow they fit together perfectly. Both of these women have some very personal issues in their pasts that has left them pretty scarred while still dealing with present issues as well. I feel like this makes them far more believable and realistic. It allows the readers to be able to connect to them so much easier.

I love how the villains in these stories are brought to the readers. Believable, yet shocking at the same time. Jackson allows readers inside the heads of her villains at different times in the story. Readers get to see what makes these guys tick first hand. I like having the different perspectives that the author writes in, it makes the story more exciting for me. I also love how the author leads her readers along a path that makes it impossible not to try and figure things out. In most cases my ideas get shut down pretty quickly steering me in another direction. And I love that, I love the chase, the mystery and trying to figure it out.

If you love Mystery and have not read any Lisa Jackson, then you definitely should. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Code Zero - Jonathan Maberry - 5 stars

I waited a couple of months to read this installment of the Joe Ledger series. I find that if I wait I don't forget much of the previous book because they are way too memorable for that. So I finally decided to get cracking on book 6 as a buddy read with a couple of friends. I have to say, it was definitely time to read it. This one is by far my favorite of the bunch. And if I could rate it 10 stars I would.

This one is a sequel to Patient zero, you got it, the zombies are back. The team has to shut them down, and their leader. She calls herself Mother Night. She is one heck of a Super Villain. She wreaks havoc all over the world spreading bio warfare everywhere she goes along with her small group of followers like she is having a party and she invited the whole world.

This book was packed with heart stopping action and excitement at the turn of every page. I was totally immersed in this story. The imagery, plot, ideas, and characters were all amazing. I loved how Maberry wrote Mother Night in all her glory and viciousness. I also found myself figuring things out and then going back and doubting my previous ideas. Maberry knows how to keep his readers on their toes, not to mention the edge of their seats.

The characters of course are my favorite part of this series. They are developed beautifully, none are created as perfect individuals. All of them are flawed with their own demons which in turn pushes them to keep on fighting for the greater good. My favorite of course is Joe, and through this series I just love him more and more. One of things I like the best about Joe and his team is that no matter the subject they always puts in 100% towards everything, their job, their friends, the team and the task at hand. And with each effort the scars get bigger and bigger and I find that it make him and the team more realistic and believable.

I can't recommend this book enough, this whole series. I think everyone should read it because there is something for everyone to enjoy. Trust me when I say I don't like books on politics, or terrorism, or war, but if Maberry can write something like this in a way that can make me enjoy reading about all of it, then he has something great going on.

Don't battle with Monsters, lest you become a monster.

The Journal of Dora Damage - 3.5 stars

It was probably not a good idea for me to struggle through a historical fiction and then pick up another historical fiction after that, but that was exactly what I did. I was reading this one for my 'J' in the A-Z challenge. I have to say though that this one was surprisingly good. It started a bit slow but gradually got better. The difference between this one and the one before is the fact that there was a story to be told in this one.

In this story we have our main character Dora Damage in the midst of the 19th century when women's worth meant nothing and slavery was slowly being abolished yet not recognized by many. Her husband owned a bindery company. He had an arthritic problem and soon could no longer do the binding of books and they became pretty poor. Dora took over the business after having to prove to her loathsome husband that she may be a woman but she was still capable of doing the work along side his apprentice. She was approached by Sir Jocelyn Knightly to bind manuscripts for him. Dora agrees and soon discovers that she is binding pornographic material. We read about Dora and her struggles with life.

While reading this book I decided that I could never have survived the 19th century. I think the era was depicted very well by our Author in this story. Women were treated horribly as though they were worth a scrap of paper. It was appalling the way these women's husbands treated them as well. I know I would have never wanted to marry. Being an old maid would have been fine for me. Women were not really allowed any sexual urges, if they did they were considered whores by their own husbands and the rest of society as well. It was certainly a rough time to live. A lot of Self righteousness lived in the homes of the rich. There was no separation of Church and State in England at this time. So crimes of the sexual nature were prosecuted, often by hanging. Interracial anything was of course look down upon as well.

The characters I find were very well created but sadly I could only connect with one and that being Dora. I have a lot of respect for her and what she stood for. I loved the way she fought for what was right and did not just go with the flow of things. How she fought for the survival of both her and her daughter Lucinda. However there were times when she would just go along with the way her husband treated her. She cared for him and did whatever he needed of her to only receive degrading remarks from him. That was really annoying to me. I also liked Din's character as well. He, just released from slavery, was also a very strong character who would fight for what he believed in. He was a huge help to Dora throughout the book. There were also several horrific villains as well whose roles were wrote out perfectly. The perfect villains, that as readers, we all love to hate.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes Historical fiction and maybe even to those who don't particularly like that genre. There were some descriptive 'erotica' parts that Dora read within the books that were being bound but it was not too over the top. Overall enjoyed this book a lot and give it 3.5 stars.

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova - DNF

Wow this book held so much promise when I started it. I really liked the poetic way the author wrote, there was even a creepy scene in the book, but then it just kinda went south for me. It lost that flare and it's edge and then just seemed to be all over the place and really just turned into a complicated, monotonous read for me, therefore I did not finish it.

This is a story of a 16 year old girl, told by her older self. I am guessing the girl in the story is the actual author, since I don't even recall her having a name in the story. She throws herself into the history of her family in pursuit of the truth about Vlad the Impaler or otherwise known as Dracula.

With the synopsis I expected so much more from this book. I had high expectations that I would get a large dose of Dracula mixed in with a little history and it really was not the case. It was more like a lot of history with hints of Dracula, at least in the 300 pages that I read. Also I found the book rather confusing because it was hard to tell sometimes what time period I was reading about because it jumped around so much and I did not find that it was clearly marked letting me know. So I found myself going back several times and rereading portions of the book.

A large portion of the book was told by way of letters that the father wrote to his daughter and then letters wrote to the father, whatever his name was, from Bartholomew Rossi. I had a hard time deciphering what was letters and what was actually happening at the time. The history in this story was mostly research type history which is fine, but I would like to have a little bit of excitement mixed in. And I did not find that with this book. It started to read like an actual history lesson.

I did not really connect to any of the characters or really even like any of them. I found them a little dry and boring. And with all the jumping around from one 'set' of characters to the next, it was hard to keep them all straight at times. I don't know, they were kind of just there, nothing really memorable.


I have read historical novels that have been very good I think largely because there was much more than just history involved. I can't really recommend this to anyone unless you like very large doses of history and less adventure or excitement.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - 3.5 stars

I have had this book for months but wanted to wait till all the hype died down before plunging into it's pages. I had heard some incredible things about the story and why people loved or hated the story so I decided that it was time to judge for myself. All I can say right now is that this book is really messed up.

So the story goes, as most probably already know, there is Nick and Amy happily married and in love. That is until Amy disappears, and who do you think the police want to point their fingers at? You got it....Nick. The story goes on with the police trying to piece the case together, and it does not appear to be very hard for them to do.

Ok so the premise of the story can get a little cliché because we all know when a wife disappears the husband gets blamed, and that is the way the story starts out, of course! But everything is not as it seems. And as I got further into the book I saw the genius of the story and I ended up loving how the plot was wrote. There are some great twists to this story, and then also some predictable ones as well.

So as far as the characters go. I have been told by many, and I have heard from many that they did not like any of the characters. I do believe that was the authors intent. she wanted us to feel poisoned by the characters. I do have to say though that I hated Amy the most. I don't want to mention here in this review as to why I hated them because that would be giving too much away and they may not even be reasons as expected. So we will lave it at I have to agree with most people, I hated the main characters....A LOT! I did like Margo though or better known as Go, and she is the only one in the whole book that I liked. The only one who made any inkling of sense.

I have been stumbling on what I should rate this book, because really, I hated the ending. It is almost left wide open for another book. Is that done on purpose? I don't have a clue. So I decided on a 3.5 star rating because the ending to me is just unjust to say the least. So pick it up and read it, and you decide.

Sundays at Tiffany's - James Patterson - 4 stars

This is the third contemporary I have read by James Patterson. This was co written with Gabrielle Charbonnet. I was pretty sure that I would enjoy this book since I have enjoyed so many books by Patterson. I gotta say, I was not disappointed in the least. The author based this story on something his son Jack told him as a child. "Love means you can never be apart." James Patterson based this story on that. I love that thought.

In this story we have a lonely 8 year old girl name Jane, soon to be 9. She has an imaginary friend named Michael who helps Jane through life with divorced parents. Her father is a little distant to her and her mother, overbearing. She rarely sees her Father and her Mother takes one day a week to spend with her. Michael helps her cope with most of it. When Jane turns 9 it is time for Michael to leave her, it is a rule that imaginary friends must follow. In her thirties, Jane struggles in her life until she meets a man, who to her, is perfect. His name is Michael.

I really enjoyed this story so very much. I found it to be very engaging, fluid and easy to read. The premise of the story, to me, is very unique, with the qualities of a fairy tale and it is very well thought out I think. I have not read a story with this kind of plot before which is why I think I was so drawn to it, and enjoyed it so much.

I also enjoyed the characters as well. I enjoyed Jane and Michael the most. I feel like they were easy to connect to, even when Jane was a young child. I loved getting the back story of Jane in the beginning. It made me understand her so much better throughout the story. I would really have liked to know more about Michael though. How he came about and what exactly he is. The author was a little vague on that information. Vivienne, Jane's mother, was a real tool along with Hugh who I wanted to punch in the face most of the time. I think all of them were created beautifully.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes contemporary romance with a twist. I think anyone who likes romance or maybe doesn't like it could enjoy this book.

Born to Die - Lisa Jackson - 5 Stars

I was anxious to get to this installment of Lisa Jackson's 'to die' series. I knew that I was going to really enjoy this book, because the author has a great talent for imagery and character developement. Again the prologue drew me into the story easily. Such great imagery, great plot and well developed characters.

In this installment Alvarez and Pescoli have to chase down another serial killer. This time the killer is targeting women who seem to resemble one another. We meet two new characters as well Dr. Acacia Lambert and Trace O'Halleran who dangerously gets involved with the case.

Even though this installment did not take over from the last mystery it was still amazing. I just absolutely love the imagery that the author gives her readers. Always so vivid and well constructed. So much so that it allows me to get totally immersed in the story. I am always able to visualize the scene so perfectly. The premise to this story was well executed and very engaging. It has great action the keeps the story exciting. One of the things I like the best is that the mystery builds slowly, it's not just *BAM*, and then it's over. The author has a great talent for leading her readers along making them really get into the story and try to figure things out. I also found myself on the edge of my seat literally. I was sad to see the story end yet excited to start the next one in the series.

The characters are developed beautifully. I love the detectives, Alvarez and Pescoli because they are quite opposite from one another, yet they work so well together. Alvarez is more subdued and quiet where Pescoli is more edgy and in your face. They both have flaws that make them so realistic and believable that they are easy to relate to. Our side characters, Lacey and Trace are beautifully written into the story and are so relatable in many ways.

I recommend not only this series, but just about anything by Lisa Jackson, to all mystery lovers out there. This is an author that needs to be read and if you love mystery as I do, you won't be disappointed.

Fyre - Angie Sage - 4 stars

Well the story now comes to end. It is rather bittersweet for me. I have invested a lot of time with these characters and this world. On the other hand I really liked how it ended, everyone and everything in its place. Lots of adventure and excitement for the Heap family and friends. I have to say that I really enjoyed the this adventure with Jenna, Septimus and Beetle. Such an engaging story. And all good things must come to an end.

In this installment Jenna becomes Queen and Beetle is now our Chief hermetic Scribe and the crew must stop 2 darke wizards from running amuck and causing problems for all. Many obstacles get in the way and it comes right down to the wire.

The world that Angie Sage creates in this series is simply amazing. From ice tunnels to dragon boats it is all so colorful, vivid and magical. It is created with so much depth that you feel as though you could plunge right into the middle of this world while you are reading. It is definitely a place where I could imagine living.

Our characters are all beautifully created, and I love to see them grow in their trades. Jenna fashions herself into a Queens life while Septimus learns both Alchemy and magic. Beetle strives to be recognized for those things he is quite capable of doing to be a chief hermetic scribe. I also like seeing our adult characters grow as people too. Marcia learns to be more accepting of others, Marcellus learns to trust and Silas and Sarah celebrate their time together with their family. So many wonderful characters to laugh with cry with and celebrate with.

I recommend this to anyone that likes the Harry Potter series. Although this one does not really grow on a yearly basis like Harry Potter, and it stays more middle grade, it is still very enjoyable and very engaging.

A Stranger North Henry J. Olsen - 3.5 stars

I got this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I did not know what to expect but saw that is was kind of a post apocalyptic, futuristic type of story. I have to say that I really did quite enjoy this book. I feel like it flowed very well and was easy to understand and follow.

This story is about John Osborne, 9 years after the desolation of the earth. He is traveling across the country that has a minimal amount of people who have survived. Ekimo, a teenage girl who has only her brother, discovers John unconscious and alerts her small community that she found a man alive and asks for their assistance. While John slowly recovers, Ekimo disappears and John then helps her brother Nathan pull off a rescue.

I liked the imagery to this story, the world was pretty well constructed. I could not imagine living in a world so desolate and lost. The author painted the scene well, but I would like to see just a bit more depth. The world created here makes me think of an old western. I also found the many things that are different in this future quite intriguing I also liked that they were not over the top and the characters often made references to the old world.

I also enjoyed the characters, but I wish that there would be a bit more back story, especially on John and his life before all of this. I am hoping there will be more information on that soon and on life before desolation. This is obviously not a complete story so I look forward to more of this story. I am rating this a 3.5 stars and recommend this to anyone who likes post apocalyptic/futuristic stories.

A Bride in Store - Melissa Jagears - 4 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Bethany House Publishers. I was not too sure about this one since it is a Historical Romance. I don't do well with either of those genres. And it was book 2 in a series of books called Unexpected Brides. I have not read the first one. With this one I was pleasantly surprised. I really quite enjoyed it. It was very refreshing and also fluid and easy to read.

In this story We have Will who convinced his long time friend Axel, to order a mail order bride. Apparently this was common on the 1800's. Eliza, the 'mail order bride' decided to show up early to marry her new fiancé with hopes of helping to run his store and be part owner, a lifetime dream of hers. Only problem is the train she was on was robbed and she was hurt which led her to Will so he could patch her up. In the meantime, penniless and scarred, she discovers that Axel is away on business. During his absence she decides to help Will out with the store after discovering that he was part owner of the store. Both Will and Eliza begin to have feelings from one another and the story goes on from there.

I think the story was constructed beautifully. I really liked the great imagery, and found I could really immerse myself into the story, visualize it and get a real feel for this era. I loved the frontier/western feel. It also has great premise and has an amazing cast of characters that I found easy to connect with. The story flowed very well I think and at no point was confusing or hard to follow.

I really loved Will the most I think, he was a great character with a lot of personality. I loved watching him grow into a different person as the story went along. He never felt like he was worth much and even though people would tell him he was, he rarely believed it until he met Eliza. Eliza was a different kind of woman for that time. She great aspirations to be someone big in business and own her own store, but she also was kind of hard on herself. She to learn that life was not always about making the money but also about learning to care and understand unconditionally.

Overall, it was a fun, quick read and I would definitely pick up other books by this author and others in this series. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of history and romance without all the 'sexy times' in it.

Obstacles - Christopher Reardon - 2.5 stars

I received this book from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This book was just ok for me and was a bit of a struggle at times to get through it. I found the story felt a bit unrealistic and not very believable. I also found it to be somewhat predictable at times as well.

In this story Alcott is a live in doctor with Autuna and Gari. Gari is a 9 year old boy who is dying. Alcott gets an opportunity to save this little boy by acquiring an ancient text called "Altering Fate" and then going through several daunting obstacles. He must pass 3 obstacles along with 4 others in order for Gari to live, but he must give up one of his most precious gifts, his own life.

I do feel like it has a great premise but was just not executed well enough. I must say though, it does send along a pretty powerful message of strength and courage and what others are capable of doing to save another. I did enjoy the world that is created here I just feel like it needed a bit more depth to it. I had trouble connecting with the characters. I feel like they did not have enough of a backstory and were underdeveloped and I think they could have been so much more.

Overall the story felt a little rushed to me. I have to say though that I did enjoy the ending obstacle of the story. It felt like the Author took a bit more time with this part and it was quite enjoyable. The ending of the story did come together pretty well and pushed this to a 2.5 rating. I think this Author has a lot of potential and I would read something else by him.

Through the Zombie Glass - Gena Showalter - 4 stars

This is book #2 in the White Rabbit Chronicles. I had wanted to get to this sooner than I did, but it never worked out. So I am glad that I finally got around to this one since I enjoyed the first one so very much. I had hoped this one would be just as good and for the most part it really was and that makes me happy. The beginning was a tad bit slow, but I think that was due to me trying to remember everything from the prior book.

In this installment Alice has a few added struggles to the ones she already deals with. Her and her posse need to take down the hoards of zombies now on a daily basis. But unforeseen events happen to Alice that gets in the way of her accomplishing this task herself but it really spices up the story a bit more. Also there are trials & tribulations where her and Cole are concerned.

The world created here is really pretty good as far as zombie apocalypse tales go. There is not a whole lot you can change or add extra, but the author does manage to keep the story exciting by not creating your basic zombies, but instead, your not so basic Zombies. These zombies like souls rather than blood, brain and guts. It is certainly a very different but fresh idea and I love that.

Our characters are also very interesting. There are a lot to love and hate in this story. We have our regular characters returning and also some new faces are introduced. I really like Alice and I like how the author has developed her in this story. Her growth as a character is amazing. I am a little on the fence with Cole, he seems to be a little wishy Washy in the love department with Alice. I just want him make a decision already!

So overall I loved the story and I recommend this to anyone. Just don't go into this story expecting some souped up fairy tale, because that is definitely not what this story is about. I so look forward to the next book in this series and I am sure I wont be disappointed! Gena Showalter is a great writer and easily one of my faves!

Opal - Jennifer L. Armentrout - 5 stars

I am really glad that I decided to take this journey through the Lux series. I had not read anything alien before I started it and it has been really enjoyable and fun so far. I find myself looking forward to every book in the series. I think this installment is my favorite so far out of the 3 that I have read to this point.

In this installment the crew plan the rescue of 2 captured friends from the clutches of the DOD, and have to risk putting their trust into people that they prefer not to just so they can get the job done. Katy and Daemon fall deeper in love while Katy hopes to rebuild a friendship with Dee and prove her worth to the others.

I am really enjoying the world building in this series. Not a terrible place to live but not completely safe either. I can totally envision myself there and being totally unaware of aliens being all around us. This world has a lot of depth and has great imagery as well, from the classic shops, to the restaurants, to the houses that they live in, and I love that. I love to be able to immerse myself in the middle of all of this. A fiction story being so realistic is amazing.

The characters too are beautifully created and I love all of them, from the antagonists to the protagonists, the author definitely gives the readers what they crave when it comes to great characters. My favorites will probably always be Daemon and Katy. Even though Daemon is egotistical and conceited the care he has for Katy is obvious. I love how the author did not use 'instalove' with these two because it makes it so much more realistic. We also get introduced to some new characters and some characters return.

The adventure and the excitement has been non stop throughout this series so far and I am loving it. A HUGE cliffhanger at the end of this one makes me anxious to start the next one, Origin I have these on my kindle and because of loving this series so much I plan on buying all on them in physical copies. I recommend this series to anyone who likes something different, aliens, or YA.

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas - 4 stars

So I picked this book up not intending on reading it at that moment but I opened the first page and then the next and then before I knew I was hooked. I am so glad I grabbed this book off of my shelf and started reading it. An emotional roller coaster for sure.

This is a love story between a man, wife, son and a bystander named Katie. Katie is in love with Matt until one day he disappears and she has no idea where he has gone. He leaves behind a diary called Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. She opens the diary takes a plunge into Matt's world that she never knew existed and she fell in love with all the characters and even deeper in love with Matt.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book because I read another contemporary by Patterson and did not really like that one. This one was very good IMO and I enjoyed it so much. First of all this was wrote in Diary form for the most part until we come to Katie's part. I was immersed into another side of this love story that made me feel so much.

I had read several of the other reviews with people saying how dumb, dry, and boring this story was, but I just can't see that at all. I see a very heart felt story that makes you grab a Kleenex, a story that you wont soon forget, and a story that made my heart fill with so many emotions. I guess emotional, heart felt books are not for everyone.

As far as the characters go, I think they are beautiful characters, maybe not the best developed that I have ever read, but I can say that reading them makes you love them. I grew so fond of all of them and wanted to know them, wanted to know more about them.

I loved watching Katie go through this diary and feeling those same things she felt at the same time. What can I say about Matt? He is a strong person? Or what about Suzanne or maybe Nicholas, they are beautiful, caring and understanding? I wont say much more about the characters, I will just recommend you read this book and decide what you think about them yourself. Don't let the bad reviews steer you away from this book, because there is truly something special to take from this story.

Isn't it lucky?

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn - 4 stars

I finally picked up this book to read since I have heard so much about it. This is my first book by Gillian Flynn and I have to say it did not disappoint. It was a tiny bit slow in the beginning but picked up quickly for me and then I could hardly put the books down.

In this book 2 young girls were murdered and had all of their teeth removed. Camille, a reporter, who is just released from a short stay at a psyche ward must return to her home town to report these murders as her first assignment. Camille is fighting many issues and tries to deal with everything once she arrives.

Wow is all I can really say about this book. So very messed up on so many levels. But the writing is so well done, so gritty, dark, engaging and even poetic. What a strange town painted in this book with some pretty strange people. The Author writes some very well developed characters, from your hateful and vindictive to your quiet and reserved. I would never in a million years want to live in a place like this with a mother like Camille's. It makes you steadily realize why Camille and her sister Amma were the way they were.

I recommend it to anyone who likes the darker side to a story because this whole story is a dark side of life that happens for real to real people on a daily basis in our world today. The author captures that so very well in this tale. I look forward to Gillian Flynn's other books!

Blue Heaven - C.J. Box - 4 stars

I read this book with a friend for a buddy read. This is a new author for me as well. I really enjoyed this book a lot especially with no idea what the book was going to be about. I have to say that I am glad that I read it and found a new author to enjoy. This is not a mystery but a thriller as there is not a "whodunit' to the story, well not to the reader anyway.

In this book we have two kids, Annie and William, bother and sister, who witnesses a murder. They were spotted by the murderers and are now running for their life until they run into Jess Rawlins. Jess helps the kids by hiding them, and then the story goes on from there.

I loved both the premise of this story and the characters. Both very well developed and wrote. I loved the action and the excitement. My favorite character, hands down, is Jess. Such a strong, well developed protagonist. He is definitely someone I would want on my side of things. For some reason as I read the book, I kept picturing Sam Elliot playing this role of Jess if it were ever a movie. There were several heroes born in this book, Jess being one of them. One of my favorite things about this story was how the relationship between Jess and kids grew. How these kids had to trust someone and how they discovered that they could trust this man simply by him being who he was.

The antagonists were also written very well. I definitely hated each one of them for many, many reasons that I can't get into since this is a spoiler free review. There were the 'bad cops' of the worse kind, a big mouth reporter, of course we have to have one of those. The kind that grate on your nerves and you want to either put them in their place or shoot them. I think the author developed all of them very well.

I have to say that I was a little surprised by the ending of this book. I feel as though the Author left it open for the reader's interpretation. So I feel like there was not any really closure to the end of the story. It can be interpreted in so many ways, one of which I hate to even explore. I recommend this book to anyone that loves a little mystery or thriller in their dose of daily reading.