Oceanswept by Lara Hayes (Review)

Genre: Historical Romance

Publication Date: September 28, 2012

Pages: 251

Published By: Lara Zierke

Website: http://www.larahays.com

Blog: http://larahays.com/?page_id=221

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaraHaysAuthor?fref=ts

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16088918-oceanswept

My Review Copy: E-copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Where To Get:

Amazon                        Barnes & Noble

Blurb:

The sway of playful palm trees and never-ending sunshine seem like a fantasy compared to the smog and filth of 18th century London. Thrilled for a new life in the exotic West Indies, privileged seventeen-year-old Tessa Monroe eagerly embraces her father’s reassignment to the fledgling Caribbean colony of St. Kitts where she can stake her claim as an up-and-coming socialite.

But that dream unravels when a hurricane downs their ship on the passage from England, leaving Tessa as the sole survivor. Rescued by a passing ship, Tessa’s grief soon turns to terror as she realizes she isn’t a passenger—she’s a captive.

With a future of slavery in the offing, Tessa joins forces with Nicholas Holladay, a charismatic sailor ready to break free from a life of piracy. Mutiny is in the air. Tessa and Nicholas will either win their freedom or earn a spot at the gallows.

Quotes:

“I thought I had seen green before. As a child I had run freely across rolling hills so green they put emeralds to shame. But this…this was something else entirely.”

“I had never been kissed. Not like that. My lips felt as if they were on fire. I touched them to be sure they weren’t.”

“Being near Nicholas altered my judgment the way a vein of ore upsets a compass.”

“Cruel and severe, the early-morning stars mocked me. A billion stars in the sky, staring down at me, telling me how alone I was. Speaking a celestial language of their own that I could not understand. I was always surrounded, but forever alone.”

“What is it with you pirates? Why all this vengeance? Aren’t you all supposed to be mesmerized by piles of gold?”

“I saw Nicholas differently now. He took pleasure in killing. It was his craft. If I were smart, I would sever ties with him. But I knew I never would. I loved him. Knowing that I could so easily dismiss his own darkness made me acknowledge my own.”

“’I’m not quite sure who I am anymore, or where I belong. But I think I might belong in the sun and the wind too.’ I looked into his face. ‘I think I might belong with you’.”

My Thoughts:

            Must-read, outstanding first novel for anyone who loves pirates, or is willing to be swept off their feet by one!

            I was given an opportunity to read and review Oceanswept by a fellow book club member who knew the author and asked if we’d be interested in reading and giving honest reviews about the book as a group. I’m so glad she did! This was a fun, whirlwind, pirate romance on the high seas. I definitely felt the adventure as I read the book on a trip to Florida over the long weekend. I basically devoured the book in-between spending time with my friends I was visiting, and stayed up late every night to read some more! I finished it on the flight home, where coincidentally, I found an article about St. Kitts and other Caribbean islands in the in-flight magazine.

            Oceanswept keeps up a swift pace, and kept me guessing. This is Lara Hays’ first novel, and I am eagerly anticipating the sequel. Not only were there emotional twists and turns throughout the story, but also the story left off with a cliffhanger, albeit an optimistic one. Even though I usually prefer stories to tie up any and ALL loose ends, with series, I’m a bit more forgiving, and I feel like enough of the plot lines were resolved by the end of the book to keep me happy, while still continuing to build suspense for the sequel where everything else will be resolved (and new exciting conflicts will arise, I’m sure).

            The point is, Lara needs to keep writing, and write fast! I need to know what happens next for Nicholas and Tessa. They have a romance that will leave you breathless, and leave you wanting more, but is still appropriate for everyone. I can see this book being made into a movie, especially with the pirate-shaped hole that Pirates of the Caribbean has left us with. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend this book, and the sequel Undertow (being written as I type this) to anyone looking for a fun, fast, adventurous read that will put you on the lookout for dashing pirates.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Evergreen by Brenda Pandos (Review)

Genre: Teen/YA Paranormal Romance

Publication Date: June 29, 2012

Pages: 278

Published By: Obsidian Mountain Publishing

Website: http://www.brendapandos.com/content - !__content

Blog: http://brendapandos.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brendapandos

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12905437-evergreen

My Review Copy: E-copy purchased from the author. (First day it was released, by the way!)

Where To Get:

Amazon                        Barnes & Noble                        IndieBound

Blurb:

A kingdom on the brink of war. 

A king on the fringes of insanity. 

A family running for their lives. 

Ash and Fin’s only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other’s life: become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone’s lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They’ll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can’t decide? Enter the watery world of treachery, greed, and the binding mer kiss as the story continues with Evergreen, book two of Mer Tales.

Quotes:

“Which world would be most supportive of our relationship? Which was worthy of our sacrifice? I wanted parts of both.”

“Lucy’s pathetic rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s What Doesn’t Kill You filtered through the walls, killing me softly.”

“With her eyes, I saw pain mirrored from my own soul. Did she long for someone too? Or was she trying desperately to fit into a world that would never accept her, at least not as she was - a mermaid.”

“Cold wind dusted over the frigid water and sent a familiar chill over my skin… She tempted me with her calming and elusive waves, promising if I were to dive in everything would be okay.”

“My life was no longer my own and like Tatchi, I had no way to escape.”

“You’re a catfish with your nine lives.”

“My reflection in the mirror stopped me. With my stringy hair sticking out from my head in a spastic wild fire and Georgia’s stretched-out black dress poorly covering my body, I resembled a piece of lit dynamite.”

My Thoughts:

            I discovered Brenda Pandos’s first book, Everblue, by seeing the cover online. If you haven’t read it yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! The book is even better than the cover, and introduces the reader to the Mer world, and a family of mermaids living right next to the main (human) character Ashlyn, or Ash. Evergreen continues that story, and Brenda does not skimp on the action!

            Evergreen picks up right where the first book leaves off, with Fin having to leave Ash in a hurry to avoid serious trouble with other mers from the underwater homeland of Natatoria. This is heartbreaking for Ash and Fin, and the end of Everblue and the much of Evergreen is an emotionally-tense time for them. We don’t hear much from Tatchi, Fin’s sister and Ash’s best friend in this book, as she is still in Natatoria.

            While Everblue slowly picks up speed and builds toward a dizzying climax, Evergreen is filled from start to finish with action and drama and a healthy dose of dramatic irony. It reminds me of Shakespeare, both comedies and tragedies, in that there is SO much miscommunication and assumption between the characters that gets everyone into trouble. Almost the entire book, I was yelling in my head things like: “No!” “Talk to each other!” “Tell them the truth!” “What are you doing?!” I think this story underscores the most important part of any happy, successful, and lasting relationship - communication! Honest and open communication could have prevented many of the problems in the book, but then we wouldn’t have as much of a story, and definitely not one so suspenseful!

            This story is not just an action story that sets up a terrible cliffhanger (fie on you Brenda Pandos!) at the end in preparation for the third and final novel in this thrilling trilogy; it is also at the core a love story, and one that explores what it means to love, what it means to love someone who is different than you, and how to reconcile that love with societal expectations. I feel that even though the book deals with Ash and Fin being split between the human world and Mer world, that parallels can easily be made for couples from different cultures, religions, races, etc.

            Now, lest you think this story is all action and tension and suspense, Brenda also throws in some great elements to lighten the mood. She has cute words that are sea- and water-related, like the quote above about catfish having nine lives. She also includes wonderful descriptions of both physical and emotional aspects of the story, and of the characters themselves (see the quote about Ash above, where she describes herself as looking like a “piece of lit dynamite”). Finally, she has moments of humor that add surprising depth to the story and makes it more realistic. These moments sneak up on you when you’re unsuspecting, making them all the more potent, like the quote above about Lucy’s singing.

            I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend this book, and the entire series (Everblue for now, and the last book Everlost when Brenda finishes it) to anyone looking for a fun, beachy read about a secret world of mermaids and the girl who falls in love with one. I know I’ll be in line, anxiously waiting to return to Natatoria and see how Ash and Fin’s story ends.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Freebie Friday from Anchor Group!!! Dawn Gray - S.P.I.R.I.T

Jump aboard Anchor Group Publishing's Friday Freebie. Check out Dawn Gray's book S.P.I.R.I.T. It is a fabulous read for Freebie Friday's. Freebie Friday sponsored by Anchor Group

When Samantha Ricketts finds herself placed in a town half-way across the country, her only worry is how did she get there. But when her life is saved by a handsome and mysterious man, the connection they feel is almost more than she can stand. Zander Smith was only acting on his instincts and training when he moved the dark-haired woman to safety but what he got from his heroics wasn't the distressed woman he had thought he was helping but a fireball of fury that sparked a storm within himself. Together they tap into the supernatural to uncover the mysteries surrounding the strange town they were slowly growing fond of before they became part of its history.

“You usually can't find that many "ghost" stories that have a great romance feeling in the book, but this book has that and I enjoyed it. ”VANNASMOM  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement

“Im looking forward to the next books in the series that she writes... I definitely recommend this book to everyone. ”Keelie  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement

“I couldn't put this book down, I had to know what happened next, page after page I found myself wanting more. ”The Mystical World of Book Reviews  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement Download your free copy: HERE!You can find Dawn Gray on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (Maximum Ride #3) by James Patterson (Review)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Publication Date: May 29^th 2007

Pages: 405

Published By: Little, Brown and Company

Website: http://www.jamespatterson.com/books_max.php

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamespatterson01

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33676.Saving_the_World_and_Other_Extreme_Sports

My Review Copy: Audiobook borrowed from my local library

Where To Get:

Amazon                        Barnes & Noble                        IndieBound

Blurb:

In MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS, the time has arrived for Max and her winged "Flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution", a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them--but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?

Quotes:

“Us. On a plane. That seemed so wrong somehow. Redundant.”

“The flyboys were not so fortunate. One after another they plowed right into the sign, setting off electrical charges that shorted them out and made quite a few of them explode like metallic, furry popcorn. And if you think that’s a gross description, be glad you weren’t there, being pelted by the little pieces.”

“I motioned everyone closer. ‘Guys, I do believe that France is calling our names.’ Nudge frowned. ‘They’re yelling for flying bird kids?’”

“I felt like this was the most castley castle I’d ever seen. It was all pointy and chock-full of turrets, with narrow slits for cute Robin Hood arrows and other windows with many tiny panes of glass.”

“Once more with the hand-waving. It was like hypnotizing a cat.”

My Thoughts:

            I went to Chicago this past weekend to FINALLY see my favorite band, Aerosmith in concert!!!! They were amazing! I’m originally from Chicago, and even though I love living 5-5 ½ hours away, the drive from St. Louis up to Chicago is straight and pretty boring. Cue audiobook. I borrowed an audiobook from my local library to listen to on the drive to make it less boring. Let’s just say that I missed an exit and had to turn around because I was SO into this story!

            I thought that this was the first book in the series, but it is not. It’s actually Book 3, but I didn’t realize this until I was about halfway through the audiobook. That is a testament to Patterson’s writing, because he was able to provide enough background info that I didn’t realize this wasn’t the first novel in the Maximum Ride series. I think that I would have definitely gotten more out of the story if I’d read the first two, but I don’t think I missed anything or that the story was impacted by not having read the first two in the series already. Compare it to a movie version of a book. There’s no way to be able to fit everything from a book into a 2-hour movie, but the story is still whole.

            Like all of Patterson’s work that I’ve read, this story is fast-paced and exciting from start to finish. Even the slower chapters still continue building the tension that runs throughout the entire novel. This is an original and captivating story where I found myself pulling for Max and her flock, and wishing that they could just live a normal life… or as normal a life as you can have when you’re a teen or kid with wings. In true James Patterson form, there’s even a few twists, and I usually don’t see his coming because I get so sucked into the story. Every novel of his, I know there’s a twist, but I usually don’t see it coming, and even more rarely figure out what the twist is going to be! This is why I love James Patterson, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the Maximum Ride series. They’re fun, fast, exciting, and not too heavy that younger readers won’t be able to read and relate to them. I definitely recommend this book, and really enjoyed the audiobook and Valentina de Angelis as narrator. She was great and very authentic as Max!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Soul Protector by Amanda Leigh Cowley (Review)

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publication Date: July 15^th 2011

Pages: 280

Published By: Youwriteon

Website: http://amandaleighcowley.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/soul-protector-amanda-leigh-cowley/1104699512

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12361729-soul-protector

My Review Copy: Finished e-copy received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Where To Get:

Amazon                        Barnes & Noble                        Smashwords

Blurb:

After being dragged on a night out to celebrate a friend's birthday, Gracie discovers a unique talent. Doubting her sanity, she keeps it to herself while she tries to make sense of it, but unaware of her visible aura, she gets abducted by Dan; a handsome monitor. Once he establishes Gracie didn't know what she was doing, he helps her to recover before introducing her to the world of the Soul Protector.

Finally understanding the rules of being a Soul Protector, Gracie finds the courage needed to embrace her special gift. But she is unaware a secret from the past is waiting to catch up with her; one that will shock her to the core.

Quotes:

“Obviously something had temporarily messed with the laws of attraction in his brain. I wondered how long my luck would hold.”

“Of course, I didn’t know then that things were about to go rapidly downhill.”

“Why did people only come to visit me when I was in a mess? Maybe it was because I always seemed to be in a mess just lately.”

“And who escaped their teens and twenties without getting their heart broken at least once?”

“It was a few shades darker here than the rest of London, it seemed even the sunlight couldn’t be bothered to filter through properly.”

“My dad told me, during a rare sober moment, that no matter what you do in life you should always have a Plan B, because life rarely works out the way you imagine. If you have a Plan B, when the rug is pulled out from underneath you, you’ll be okay. You’ll know which direction to turn next. That was probably the only piece of useful advice he had every given me. And I’d disregarded it. I didn’t have a Plan B.”

My Thoughts:

            I received a request to review this book based on my review posted for Samantha Towle’s novel, First Bitten and Poppet’s novel Zauran. Amanda Leigh Cowley is also from across the pond, and her book had much more slang and different spellings than American English. I loved the differences and learning some of the slang, and look forward to reading the next book in the series!

            This book is actually the first in a new paranormal romance series that had a storyline I haven’t read before. Basically, Soul Protectors are people who can insert part of their soul into another person’s body and help that person. When Gracie finds out what she is, she flips out! The dialogue and thoughts, as the book is written from Gracie’s perspective, are very realistic and interesting. Her feelings, thoughts, and emotions are well written and are not only realistic, but also humorous at times. I really feel like I can relate to her as a character, and I definitely sympathize with her as she navigates this new Soul Protector, or SP world that she finds herself thrust into.

            This book was a fast-paced, fun read, and I feel that all of the stories that Amanda began in this novel were nicely tied up by the end. A word of WARNING though… I said that all of the stories were nicely tied up by the end, but there are quite a few twists and turns along the way that show incredible planning and foresight as an author. I’m extremely looking forward to seeing what exciting twists and turns the next book in the series brings, and if there’s any other seeds that were planted in this first novel that show up in the later books in the series… we will have to wait and see. I definitely recommend this book to readers as a refreshing and skillfully crafted story in the paranormal book world!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Zauran by Poppet (Review)

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Adult

Publication Date: April 1^st 2012

Pages: 207

Published By: Wild Wolf Publishing

Website: http://authorpoppet.wordpress.com/tag/zauran/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poppet.author

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13575795-zauran

My Review Copy: Finished e-copy received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Where To Get:

Amazon

Blurb:

Betrayal catapults Zaria back into Zauran's life. Bozena is a poisoned thorn in Zaria's side and her world comes crashing down as violence, betrayal, kidnapping and death threaten to rip her from love.

A king's key is the only bridge between Zaria and happiness, and only Jowendrhan and Sveta know the secrets unraveling Belgrade. An ancient book blocks Zaria from knowing true light when she needs it most.

The neuri world reels as the king returns and complicates all their lives, and the Slakax are revealed, endangered, and hunted.

Quotes:

“Desire resonates a staccato tap  up and down every vein, tensing my fingertips into her skin as I stare down at a woman who thinks she’s helpless. She’s so brutally powerful, I feel like ripping Darise’s heart out for him.”

“Taking the step, I slide the bolt, swinging the door open to Ryan, smiling as I greet him with the savage kiss of four knuckles on a cheekbone.”

“This human condition is limited… A body is just flesh and bone, but spirit cannot die.”

Zauran has many memorable lines, but this one made me laugh out loud. I think most people occasionally feel like saying this, but Poppet’s character actually does!

‘Take your bad attitude and shove it up your ass.”

My Thoughts:

            I received a request to review this book based on my review posted for Samantha Towle’s novel, First Bitten. (That’s a lot of re- words in the last sentence, sorry, and thank you Samantha for passing along my info for more reviews!)

            Back to the review! This book is actually the third in a paranormal romance series that was more adult than I had anticipated. I liked the surprise, but readers should definitely be aware that this series is written in a more erotic, sensual, and graphic style than most paranormal romances. There are sex scenes, and they are HOT! Especially because the characters taking part in said sex scenes include alien races such as neuri and Vampyres, along with a few mortals thrown in for good measure!

            I highly recommend reading the first two books in this series before picking up Zauran (which I plan to do), because even though this book can be read as a standalone, I believe that it will give much more background and depth to the story if the series is read in its entirety from the beginning. (Think reading the last few Harry Potter books without having read the first few. Yes, you can still pick up on the story and general plot/characters/etc., but you get SO much more by reading it from the start.) That’s how I felt about this book, and I am excited to re-read it after reading the first two in the series to see how much more I glean from the story!

            Poppet showcases her vivid imagination with very descriptive scenes that help the reader feel like they are in the book, and in the characters’ heads, as the book moves between the first person viewpoints of multiple characters. It’s interesting to be able to know the different motivations, thoughts, and feelings of the different characters and I think it adds another layer to this already wonderfully woven story. Sometimes the descriptions are so intense and detailed that I had to re-read a section to really get a full appreciation for the imagery that Poppet’s writing evoked. I don’t know about other readers, but I always have a movie playing in my mind as I read, and Poppet’s detailed prose creates a very specific picture in my head of what the world of Pravus and its inhabitants look like.

            This book is a like a wonderful soap opera or drama… love, sex, betrayal, war, good versus evil, seduction, and even a hint of humor!  While I love a good romance and enjoy the occasional sex scene in my books, I usually go more for the foreplay part/fade-out that happens in the movies in my head, and where the reader’s imagination has to fill in some of the more specific and graphic blanks that happens between the lines or between chapters during sex. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed my sensuous romp through the unique world that Poppet created, and recommend that other readers enjoy the playful and sexy experience that is Zauran!

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

First Bitten by Samantha Towle (Review)

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publication Date: January 22^nd 2012

Pages: 174

Published By: Night Publishing

Website: http://samanthatowle.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Books-by-Samantha-Towle/230032170346603
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4838933.Samantha_Towle

Twitter: @samtowlewrites

My Review Copy: Finished copy received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Where To Get:

Amazon                                    Barnes and Noble                        IndieBound

Blurb:

A love story with bite …...

Walking home after a night out drowning her sorrows with her best friend, Carrie, Alexandra Jones stupidly takes a phone call from her cheating ex-boyfriend, Eddie, and in her anger hurls her phone into the forest before her.

But when Alex goes to retrieve her phone from the undergrowth, she and Carrie come face-to-face with a monster they never even knew existed, a Vârcolac (a nightmarish vampire-werewolf hybrid) and he's in search of fresh blood. The next thing Alex knows, she is staring at the impossibly handsome but mysterious Nathan who has helped bring her back to life, but not to the life she left.

To her horror, she discovers she has now become a blood-drinking Vârcolac herself and she is the only female of her kind, with the potential for breeding a whole new army of Vârcolacs if they can only track her down and press her into service.

And while Alex gets to know Nathan and his shape-shifting family as they offer her the protection she so desperately needs, unbeknown to all of them, the Vârcolacs are getting closer …

Quotes:

“The last thing I hear is screaming. An ear-piercing scream. And I can’t tell if it’s coming from Carrie or me.”

“I’m going to have to live with that knowledge for the rest of my existence. Because existing is all I’m doing now. What I’m left with isn’t anything resembling a life. And it’s nothing less than I deserve.”

“I think I’d die of shock if he came in and said, ‘Hi Alex, how are you doing?’ Actually, me dying of shock wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Maybe I should ask him to try it.”

“Wrapping my arms around myself, I look up at the sky. There’s a star which has managed to break through the darkness, lighting up its small part of the sky. One single solitary star. And for a moment, I wonder if the world is actually trying to tell me something.”

“So instead, I sit here, torturing myself, desperately trying to hold onto my dignity, as I once again attempt to read my magazine. But for a long time all I can manage to do is read the same sentence over and over.”

My Thoughts:

            To be honest, I requested a free copy from Samantha Towle on Facebook in exchange for an honest review because I LOVE free books, and based on the cover, I was expecting to read another Twilight-esque vampire novel. Boy, was I surprised!

            Samantha creates a unique world of vampires, werewolves, and shape shifters that I hadn’t expected. Add the fact that the story is set in England, where Samantha lives, and you have a wonderfully fresh setting and voice on the paranormal romance scene, especially for an American reader like myself.

            This book was also notably different from Twilight and the other myriad of teen paranormal books out there in that this is written from an adult’s perspective. The main character, Alex (short for Alexandra), is about 29 years old, and being 27 myself, Samantha makes Alex very easy to relate to for someone who’s out of their teens. She brings in a whole new level of feelings and thoughts, coupled with more mature issues like marriage, children, jobs, etc.

Alex has just found out her scumbag boyfriend cheated on her -- again. Her best friend Carrie, who she’s known for 15 years since the first day of freshman year of high school (I’m making an assumption here based on the translation of the British “senior school”) takes her out to forget about Eddie. That night changes both girls’ lives forever.

            I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll move on to the meat of the story. Alex’s life is saved by a mysterious hunk named Nathan Hargreaves. He has a sexy, rural English accent, dirty blonde hair that falls into his eyes, and a motorcycle, as quoted below.

“I look past him and see waiting on the other side of the garden fence the red Ducati that lives in the barn. So, it is his bike. That makes him even sexier, if possible. Crap.”

            So take note ladies, there’s a new heartbreaker on the fiction scene!

            Alex is a shape shifter and he helps Alex adjust to her new life. Unfortunately for Alex, she wasn’t meant to survive, and now there’s a group of really bad werewolf/vampire hybrids called Vârcolacs looking for her. As if Alex didn’t have enough to adjust to, Nathan is so irresistible despite his abrasiveness, and Alex begins to have feelings for him.

           

            I ended up enjoying First Bitten much more than I anticipated, and always love when I’m surprised by a book. I was completely sucked in to the fictional world that Samantha created and was pleased that not only is this story a fresh take on the vampire/werewolf tale, but that the characters have a subtle depth to them. There are a few grammatical hiccups, and some of these I admit may be due to differences in syntax and grammar from across the pond (I’ll ask Sam about those few excerpts and post the response later). Sam’s writing flows easily and I ended up finishing the book in about 14 hours, despite working out, showering, teaching for 7 hours, and making dinner.

            My biggest complaint about this book is also my favorite thing about it -- the suspense! Samantha has some of the best cliffhangers in her writing, and not just at the end of chapters (reminiscent of the TV show 24), but also within the chapters as well. She also draws out the tension in certain scenes throughout the novel, which was most evident to me in this quote from Alex’s point of view.

            “He takes a step toward me, towering over me, the toes of his boots nearly flush with my trainers, leaving a veil of air between us.”

            Along with the cliffhangers, suspense, and tense moments that are skillfully woven throughout the story, there are also funny moments that made me laugh out loud. This was a wonderful story with characters that are easy to relate to, and I loved that they are young adults, as opposed to the teens that populate many paranormal romance books today. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy teen and YA fiction like no other, and practically live in that section at the bookstore where I work, but it’s nice to have a main character that those of us in our 20’s and 30’s can relate to. This was the beginning of Alex’s story, but as Sam writes,

“This just gets bloody better and better.”

I will be anxiously awaiting the next book in this series, and I highly recommend that you read this exciting book to get in on the story at the beginning, because I can see this series getting HUGE.

“And this is the exact moment I know everything has changed between us forever. We’ll never recover from this.”

Thank you Samantha Towle, for inviting me into your wonderful world, and for giving me as many more books to read as you can write in this series. I definitely will not recover from this series!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

P.S. If the review leaves you hungering for more, check out the first chapter FREE on Samantha’s blog! Be warned, she is a cliffhanger queen!!! J

Chapter 1

Melanie enjoys reading just about anything she can get her hands on, and especially enjoys YA/Teen Novels, Intermediate Youth Novels, Historical Fiction, Historical Non-Fiction, Science-Fiction, and Fantasy. She feeds her book addiction by teaching reading, working at a bookstore, and being a member of the book club Readers Anonymous. She loves talking to authors and is always happy to do interviews, and can usually be found either reading, or recommending books she has already read to students, colleagues, customers, and friends. She welcomes all other bookworms and book addicts to share the love of books together.

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