Category Archives: Book reviews

2014 – Book #28

Posted in Beautiful Creatures, Book reviews, Book series, Books made into movies, Young Adult by

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The twenty-eighth book I read in 2014 was Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/21/14. This is the fourth (and last) book in the Beautiful Creatures series by these authors. The first three books in the series were discussed in my previous three blog posts. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book picks up where the third left off, right after Ethan jumps off the water tower. As I said in the previous post, if you haven’t read the other books yet and you plan to, then I would avoid reading this review as some items mentioned might reveal plot twists from both the first three books in the series.

Unfortunately, Ethan sacrificed himself at the end of the third book so that a New Order could restore the Order that Lena broke when she claimed herself for both the Dark and the Light at the end of the second book. In the Otherworld he gets to see his mom which is sweet. His Aunt Prue though helps him figure out a way that he can get back to the land of the living. Turns out he was never supposed to die. One of the Keepers has been going rogue for hundreds of years and has apparently teamed up with Abraham Ravenwood to try and destroy all Mortals. Ethan was getting in his way so the Keeper got rid of him.

However, after Ethan finds out how he can get back to Lena he sets off on his journey to accomplish just that. Its a multi-step process that involves getting a lot of help from people along the way, including Lena, Amma, the Greats, his mom and friends he meets along the way. I thought it was interesting that this book had sections that were from Ethan’s point of view and then went to Lena’s and then back to Ethan’s. Especially with them at opposite ends of the universe it would have been hard to jump back and forth with every chapter so I liked that there were designated sections.

While I did like this book and I thought it was a great book to end the series, I did have some unanswered questions at the end of it and I hate having items that I can’t wrap up. For example, Ethan goes through this whole journey to come back to the land of the living. But the whole time he’s doing that, his human body is decaying in the ground. When he comes back to Lena’s world from the Otherworld, did he get a new body? Did his old body get magically fixed and transported? He jumps straight back to the water tower so did it just erase everything like his whole death never happened or did he come back after Lena had to live without him still for months? I just don’t fully follow how that whole thing went down and I feel like it could’ve been explained a little better. (I also wanted to know what happened to the whole business with Ethan’s fractured soul, did he get put back together?)

Other than a few open questions at the end of the story though, this book was quite fascinating. I loved the new world that Ethan got to experience as a dead guy, it was very interesting. Great read and what a great series. I would definitely recommend.

I’ve discovered by reviewing the author’s website too that there are 2 novellas connected with this series, one of which leads into the next series starter “Dangerous Creatures.” Stay tuned for reviews of these novellas, I’ll be reading those next!

Link to author website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Redemption-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316123536/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1398170512

2014 – Book #27

Posted in Beautiful Creatures, Book reviews, Book series, Books made into movies, Young Adult by

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The twenty-seventh book I read in 2014 was Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/19/14. This is the third book in the Beautiful Creatures series by these authors. The first two books in the series were discussed in my previous two blog posts. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book picks up where the second left off, after Lena’s Seventeenth Moon. As I said in the previous post, if you haven’t read the first book yet and you plan to, then I would avoid reading this review as soon items mentioned might reveal plot twists from both the first and second book.

So in the end of the second book Macon is resurrected and Lena and Ethan get back together. But as the summer turns to fall, things are turning apocalyptic in the small town of Gatlin. Locusts, extreme heat, and Ethan starts dreaming about rivers of blood. Amma is meeting with a black magic voodoo man for some reason that Ethan can’t figure out, and even worse Ethan is slowly losing pieces of his memory. Things are falling apart in Gatlin because Lena broke The Order when she claimed herself for both the dark and the light during her Seventeenth Moon. And with a best friend who is now a quarter Incubus, a wanna-be Siren trying to start trouble and find a way to get her powers back, and a 500 year old evil Blood Incubus trying to wipe out all of humanity, the End seems unavoidable.

As Lena and Ethan struggle not only through their daily high school lives but also the impending doom that grows stronger with the day, they look for a solution to the visions they’re experiencing and a way to save mankind. Abraham tears apart the town looking for John Breed, his science experiment, and after Lena and Ethan find him they try to use him to figure out what Abraham’s plans are. There were so many interesting magical twists and turns in this book, and I actually liked how the ending just left it all open. Doom and The End are coming and then it all just fades to black and we never find out what really happened.

This book was a great addition to the series. It was a little dry towards the middle but wow what a great cliffhanger ending, I can’t wait to read the next book. Great story with lots of interesting additions to the overall story over the series of books.

Link to author website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Chaos-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/031612351X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397933779&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+chaos

2014 – Book #26

Posted in Beautiful Creatures, Book reviews, Book series, Books made into movies, Young Adult by

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The twenty-sixth book I read in 2014 is Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/16/14. This is the second book in the Beautiful Creatures series, I discussed the first book in the previous blog post. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book continues the story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes after Lena’s Sixteenth Moon (where the first book ends). By the way if you haven’t read the first book yet and you plan to, I would avoid reading this review. There will probably be items in here that reveal some of the plot twists in the end of the first book.

Lena can’t shake the guilt that its her fault Macon is dead. Every time she looks at Ethan she’s reminded that the spell she used to save Ethan’s life is the same spell that killed a man who was like a father to her for her whole life. Riddled with guilt, she is befriended by a Dark Caster who seems to understand what she’s going through. As she drifts closer to this Dark Caster, she grows farther and farther away from Ethan.

Ethan begins his new summer job at the library and meets Marian’s new assistant, Olivia. Cute and blond and Mortal, Ethan finds that he is comfortable with Olivia which only seems to make Lena turn more towards the Dark. But after Ethan finds out the John and Lena have run away to try and find some Great Barrier where there is no Dark and no Light, just pure magic. Ethan is having visions of Macon’s past and of Lena and John’s journey to the Great Barrier, and he starts out on his own journey to find Lena and try to save her. And after Ethan meets up with Ridley and finds out that Sarafine is calling the Claiming Moon, Lena’s Seventeenth Moon, to force Lena to claim the Dark, Ethan’s journey takes on a frantic pace.

Overall this book was great. I found myself slightly frustrated in certain parts, but there were so many great plot twists I was riveted through the whole story. Can’t wait to read the next book int he series!

Link to authors’ website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Darkness-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316077046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397690850&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+darkness

2014 – Book #25

Posted in Beautiful Creatures, Book reviews, Book series, Books made into movies, Young Adult by

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The twenty-fifth book I read in 2014 was Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/11/14. This is the first book in the Beautiful Creatures series by these authors. I rated this book 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes, star-crossed lovers who are cursed from the start.

Lena is a Caster (fancy word for witch pretty much) who falls in love with Ethan, a Mortal. Ethan has been dreaming about Lena for months before he even met her, dark nightmares where Ethan tries to pull Lena from the Darkness. But every time he wakes up and can’t seem to remember how the dream ends, whether he saves her or not. After Ethan finally meets the girl from his dreams, he discovers that she’s been dreaming of him too. Not only that, but they can communicate through “Kelting,” where they talk to each other basically telepathically. The big issue is that Lena is coming up on her 16th birthday, when she will be Claimed for either the Dark or the Light, whatever is in her true nature. Ethan and Lena have visions of their ancestors, Ethan Wate (from Civil Ware era) and Genevieve Duchannes, who were also in love many years ago. Lena and Ethan learn of their tragic ending and the curse that fell on the Duchannes family after Genevieve used Dark Magic to try and save Ethan’s life.

Lena’s Uncle Macon Ravenwood will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. And as dangerous as loving Ethan is for Lena, it also seems to protect her in some way. The connection between them is unexplainable in the Caster world. And as their story plays out, Macon will sacrifice whatever it takes to push Lena towards being Claimed for the Light. Macon is a Dark Caster but he has chosen to be Light for Lena, even though it weakens him daily. Lena discovers though that Macon has been lying to her for her entire life by telling her that her mother is dead. Her mother, Sarafine, is alive and well. The Darkest Caster alive today, her mother will do anything to have Lena be Claimed for the Dark.

I really loved this book. I had seen the movie last year and its become one of my new favorite movies lately. So when I found out it was based on a series of books, I couldn’t wait to read them. There were many differences between the book and the movie (as there usually are) but I thought the book was riveting and all the extra intricacies in the book only made the story that much better. Was a great read!

Link to authors’ website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316077038/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397308531&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+creatures

2014 – Book #24

Posted in Blue Heron series, Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance by

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The twenty-fourth book I finished in 2014 was Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins. I finished this book on 4/8/14. This is the 3rd book in the Blue Heron series by this author. I have previously read the other two books in the series, though not in 2014 so they are not discussed in a previous blog posting. Other books by Kristan Higgins are discussed in previous posts though if you are looking for other reviews of books by her. I rated this book 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5.

This book tells the story of Colleen O’Rourke (co-owner of the Manningsport bar O’Rourke’s with her twin Connor) and her first love Lucas Campbell. Lucas had broken her heart 10 years ago by marrying another woman, and she’s never quite recovered. Lucas comes back to Manningsport at the request of his dying uncle, who asks Lucas to help his cousin Bryce get settled. Manningsport being the small town that it is, Lucas can’t help but run into Colleen from time to time. And while he’s hidden his feelings for the 8 years he was married (he’s divorced now), he never stopped loving Colleen either.

This was just such a fantastic story. I don’t remember laughing out loud that much with any other book I’ve read. The only thing that let me down a tiny bit in the story is that I felt like the hero should’ve had to grovel a little more in the very end, he was a pretty big jerk to the heroine but she just takes him back because he said he loved her, I felt like there should’ve been a little more there. But the emotions running through this book were just amazing. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried again. It was touching, poignant, funny, and also somehow riveting even though underneath it all it was just a normal story of love. I couldn’t put it down though. This was probably my favorite (or one of, all of hers are really good) book so far. I would highly recommend!

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-You-Hqn-Kristan-Higgins/dp/0373778589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396965283&sr=8-1&keywords=waiting+on+you

2014 – Book #23

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by

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The twenty-third book I finished in 2014 was The Taste of Innocence by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 4/4/14. This is the 14th book in the Cynster family series by Laurens. Previous books in the series were discussed in earlier blog posts this year, specifically 2014 – Book #21, 2014 – Book #13, 2014 – Book #12, 2014 – Book #10, 2014 – Book #6, and 2014 – Book #4. I rated this book 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Charlie Morwellan, brother to Alathea Morwellan from book #5 in the Cynster series. Charlie has decided that it is time for him to marry and he plans to go about it in the least passionate way possible. In his mind, passion leads only to distraction and will only harm him in the long run. Charlie believes that he needs to stay focused on the earldom and protecting his legacy.

So he decides to offer for the hand of his neighbor’s daughter, 23-year old Sarah Conningham. They have known each other their whole lives and Charlie believes they would be a good match. What Charlie doesn’t expect is to quickly become addicted to her kisses, addicted to what he believes is the taste of innocence but is in reality his addiction to Sarah herself.

I found this book a little difficult. Charlie is cold and unfeeling to Sarah for part of the story where he has to come to terms with his feelings. And while he does eventually come around, it was painful in parts to read. The back story was intriguing though. Sarah becomes the target of a villain who wants to own the orphanage she oversees and when she refuses to sell he basically tries to kill her so that he can buy it from Charlie.

While this was a good book it wasn’t my favorite in the series. Good addition to the series though and many of the previous characters were included in this story as well, which was interesting.

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Taste-Innocence-Cynster-Novels/dp/0060840870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396888358&sr=8-1&keywords=the+taste+of+innocence

2014 – Book #22

Posted in Book reviews, Historical Romance by

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The twenty-second book I read in 2014 was Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen. I finished this book on 3/31/14. This is the first book I have read by this author. I rated this book 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This is about Lord and Lady Smythe, a husband and wife who are both members of an elite spy group known as the Barbican, a division of Britain’s Foreign Office. However, neither one realizes the other is also a spy.

After both are dismissed from the Barbican group due to the war ending, they find themselves presented with a mission that will allow one of them back into the group, but only one. As they work together to solve the case, they learn to rely on each other in a variety of ways and discover a deep love for each other.

(SPOILER ALERT) While I didn’t like that in the end the villain gets away and is not brought to justice for his crimes, it looks like there are more books in this series according to the author’s website (This appears to be the first in the Lord and Lady Spy series). So I guess I will just have to read further into the series to see what happens to our dastardly villain.

Other than that, I thought this story was quite well written. The reader could feel the emotion of the characters and the story was well-paced and charming. Overall was a good read and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Link to author website: http://www.shanagalen.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Lady-Spy-Shana-Galen/dp/1402259077/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396303985&sr=8-1&keywords=lord+and+lady+spy

2014 – Book #21

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by

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The twenty-first book I finished in 2014 was What Price Love? by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 3/30/14. This is the 13th book in the Cynster family series by Laurens. Previous books in the series were discussed in earlier blog posts this year, specifically 2014 – Book #13, 2014 – Book #12, 2014 – Book #10, 2014 – Book #6, and 2014 – Book #4. I’ve rated this book 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Dillon Caxton, cousin of Felicity (Flick) who was the heroine in Cynster book #4 A Rogue’s Proposal. Dillon was still a young man in Flick’s story, but in What Price Love? he has grown into a responsible and trustworthy man. Priscilla Dalloway is trying to help her twin brother escape from the serious predicament he is currently in, and in the process she must obtain the Dillon’s help.

Since his part in Flick’s story, Dillon has redeemed himself in the eyes of his family and has proven himself to be trustworthy. Now the Keeper of the Registry, he holds the one thing that Priscilla believes will help her brother. As she attempts to flirt her way into getting Dillon to do her bidding, Dillon finds himself not only curious and suspicious about her motives but also drawn to her personality and her courage. When she finally entrusts him with her brother’s secret, he devises a plan to help her brother and also to put a stop to the villain’s evil plan. What Dillon doesn’t plan for, however, is her stubborn nature getting in the way of them getting married.

Dillon ends up having to fight for his lady’s hand for about the last 100 pages of the book, fighting the whole time only against the lady herself. This was one of the only things I found frustrating about this story is that Priscilla for some reason failed to ever see how much she meant to Dillon. I understand that at first she might have been hesitant but based on their interactions and how close they were, I find it hard to believe she could be that obtuse and not see that Dillon truly cared for her.

Overall though this was a very good book, especially exciting towards the middle when the villain’s plan fails. I also liked seeing Dillon return for his own story and seeing how much he matured between Flick’s story and his own. Great addition to the series!

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Price-Love-Cynster-Novels/dp/0060840854/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396205336&sr=1-1&keywords=what+price+love

2014 – Book #20

Posted in Book reviews, Romantic suspense by

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The twentieth book I finished in 2014 was Below the Surface by Karen Harper. I finished this book on 3/28/14 (again on a technicality at 12:20am). This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I rated this book 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5.

Brianna Devon resurfaces from her dive off the coast of Florida to discover her twin sister, Daria, and their boat have disappeared. With the threat of sharks and an oncoming storm, she is stranded 4 miles out in the ocean with little hope of being saved. Luckily for her Cole De Roca is also shored by the oncoming storm on a nearby island. When Brianna washes ashore unconscious, he knows he must get her help immediately.

After Brianna awakens and begins searching for her missing sister, she uncovers a wealth of things she never knew about the twin she thought she knew like the back of her hand. And after Daria’s body is discovered in their sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean, Brianna refuses to believe that Daria simply fell victim to the storm. With a wealth of motives from various people in their lives, Brianna believes that Daria may have been murdered. But as Brianna begins to dig deeper into Daria’s secret life to try and discover her killer, she becomes the new target. Cole must now protect Brianna at all costs as he discovers life wouldn’t be complete without her.

I very much liked the plot of this book, it was a good suspense story with a wealth of possible suspects. The conversations tended to be a bit choppy at times and there were a few loose ends that weren’t ever tied up (who was the second guy that Daria was meeting at that bar?) but overall this was a good story and I had a lot of trouble putting it down. I plan to read more by this author in the future.

Link to author website: http://www.karenharperauthor.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Below-Surface-Karen-Harper/dp/0778324966/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363631021&sr=1-1&keywords=Karen+Harper+Below+the

2014 – Book #19

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lords of Vice series by

ImageThe nineteenth book I finished in 2014 was All Night with a Rogue by Alexandra Hawkins. I finished this book on 3/25/14. It is the first book in the Lords of Vice series by this author, as well as the first book I’ve read by this author. I rated this book 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Lady Julianna Ivers and her encounter with the seductive Alexius Braverton, Marquess of Sinclair. Sinclair (aptly nick-named “Sin”) has a reputation for debauchery and has seemingly set his sights on Julianna. Little does she know that 1) the main reason he is doing this is because his sister asked him to ruin her and 2) he apparently does not take no for an answer.

This was one of those novels where the seductive hero convinces the heroine that a romp in the sheets is apparently worth losing her once precious reputation. And even after repeated attempts at saying no, with the right man “no” really means “yes” and he just seduces her anyway. How awful of a precedent to set. And then to make matters worse, Julianna gets trapped by not one but two absolute horrible men who (on separate occasions) hit her and tie her up and basically plan to have sex with her against her will. Honestly this story was at times quite awful in its depiction of the human nature. Plus Alexius and his sister both have what i would call slightly (in his sister’s case slightly is an understatement) sociopathic tendencies. And don’t even get me started on Julianna’s mother who basically sold her daughter to a man to pay for her own gambling debts.

With that said, it was hard to put this book down as depraved as the story line was it was also quite fascinating. While I would warn off any sensitive souls, I think I will continue in the series to see how it develops.

Link to author website: http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/All-Night-Rogue-Lords-Vice/dp/0312580193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395792717&sr=8-1&keywords=all+night+with+a+rogue