Review: Foul is Fair, by Hannah Capin.

 

Title: Foul is Fair

Author: Hannah Capin

Format: e-galley

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.

They picked the wrong girl.

Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She’ll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school’s hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.

Foul is Fair is a bloody, thrilling revenge fantasy for the girls who have had enough. Golden boys beware: something wicked this way comes."

My Opinion: "They picked the wrong girl." Did they ever! Elizabeth Jade Khanjara, or Elle as she prefers to be called, and her best friends Jenny, Summer, and Mads, are untouchable - until Elle's sweet sixteen when she is gang raped at a party. Instead of going into hiding, she vows revenge. She cuts her hair, dyes it black (the exact shade is called "revenge"), changes the name she goes by to her middle name, Jade, and enrolls at the high school the boys attend. She and her friends then put their plan into action, and the school is never going to be the same.

This was a hard book to read at times, I'm not gonna lie. It was harsh and raw and dealt with some very real issues. Yes, the revenge went way too far, but you kind of get why they go the route they do. It's a revenge fantasy, pure and simple.

4/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Point Last Seen (Last Seen in Gothic #1), by Christina Dodd

 

Title: Point Last Seen (Last Seen in Gothic #1)

Author: Christina Dodd

Format: e-book

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "LIFE LAST SEEN

When you’ve already died, there should be nothing left to fear… When Adam Ramsdell pulls Elle’s half-frozen body from the surf on a lonely California beach, she has no memory of what her full name is and how she got those bruises ringing her throat.

GIRL LAST SEEN

Elle finds refuge in Adam’s home on the edge of Gothic, a remote village located between the steep lonely mountains and the raging Pacific Ocean. As flashes of her memory return, Elle faces a terrible truth—buried in her mind lurks a secret so dark it could get her killed.

POINT LAST SEEN

Everyone in Gothic seems to hide a dark past. Even Adam knows more than he will admit. Until Elle can unravel the truth, she doesn’t know who to trust, when to run and who else might be hurt when the killer who stalks her nightmares appears to finish what he started…"

My Opinion: Ok, with that synopsis, who can really resist this book? Not me, and I'm so glad I didn't try! Disclaimer: I'm a huge Christina Dodd fan. I was before I read this, and I definitely still am. This book, filled with lost souls, was also a mystery, a thriller, and a suspense filled ride. I absolutely love the town of Gothic and look forward to reading more about it and its inhabitants in the books that follow this one.

Adam leads a self imposed solitary existence, and he has no plans to change that, until he finds a dead body on the beach near his home. Enter Elle. After bringing her back to life, and realizing that she has no memory of who she is or how she got in the water, and after noticing that she is covered in bruises, he takes her home with him and promises her a safe place to stay until she is well enough to leave. That proves easier said than done when he starts developing feelings for her. The search for Elle's identity and the mystery of her death leads to violence not just for Adam and Elle, but for other residents of Gothic. It turns out Adam isn't the only one with a checkered past in the town.

I loved this book so much in part because I loved Adam and Elle so much. They were great characters with great chemistry. The other residents of Gothic were pretty great, too, and everyone's back story was detailed, which made it easy to get invested in them. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this book series goes.

The plot was interesting and the writing was superb, which made this a quick read for me. The pacing was also on point.

In summary, I highly recommend this book to readers looking for a good mystery to sink their teeth into. 

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Spellcaster (Spellbound, #2), by Cara Lynn Shultz

 

Review: Spellcaster (Spellbound, #2)

Author: Cara Lynn Shultz

Format: e-book

From Goodreads: "After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although…it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a seventeen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain—especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close….

But something dark and hungry is using Emma's and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in überspells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own."

My Opinion: So, I know I'm way behind the crowd in just reading this book, but I absolutely loved it anyway! I didn't have a chance to read the first book in the series, but that wasn't a problem at all since they referred to the events from before often enough that I was able to follow along. 

Soul mates Emma and Brendan have already fought a curse to be together, but they don't really get a chance to rest on their laurels before their next crisis happens. This time they are fighting an unknown but very powerful dark witch who is literally out for Emma's blood.

I was drawn into this story very quickly, and didn't want to stop reading it once I started. The love story was written perfectly and the action just didn't stop!

I'm really glad I finally read this book and give it an enthusiastic 5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Review: Archibald Finch and the Lost Witches (Archibald Finch #1), by Michel Guyon

 

Title: Archibald Finch and the Lost Witches (Archibald Finch #1)

Author: Michel Guyon

Format: Audiobook

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads:  "What happened 500 years ago was never supposed to resurface.

Exploring his Grandma’s scary manor, Archibald stumbles upon a dark family secret, linked to a time of great fears and superstitions. Key to that mystery: an ancient terrestrial globe, populated by the most fantastic creatures.
When he unlocks the storm inside by accident, the risk-averse boy gets whisked into the underworld of Lemurea, where a battle started in the Middle Ages has yet to be settled. Down here, it’s light versus darkness, magic versus fire, witches versus dragons. But not any kind of witches —an army of young girls, with the most magical weapons. And not any kind of dragons —Marodors, enigmatic monsters, part beast, part human, which will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about dragons.
While Archibald is thrust into an amazing adventure that will test his survival skills, on the flip side of the Earth, his sister Hailee faces her own challenges. Seeking to solve Archibald’s disappearance, she uncovers the grim plans of a dark priest.
Two breathtaking stories, running parallel with one another, but tightly intertwined. Two worlds, on a dangerous collision course..."

My Opinion:  Archibald and his family (mom, dad, and sister Hailee) move into a big, spooky mansion just before Christmas that they inherited from Archibald's grandmother. Archibald is searching the house one day, looking for his Christmas gifts (which, of course, his mother forbade him to do), when he came across an old globe. It wasn't an  ordinary globe, though, as there were countries on there that Archibald didn't recognize. It does have a keyhole, so Archibald goes on a search for the key, which he eventually finds. To his surprise, the globe starts spinning and emits a bright light, and sucks Archibald and his surrounding furniture into another world. Archibald has to learn the ways of this new world, and he has to search for a way home. Meanwhile, in present day England, Hailee  is also working on finding a way to bring Archibald home.

I really enjoyed this story, as did my 15 year old son when he listened to it. I think the narrator did a good job with the pacing and the dialogue, which makes all the difference when listening to an audiobook. The characters were well defined and explained, and I liked the changes I saw in both Archibald and Hailee as the story progressed. 

The pacing of the story itself was also done well, and the world building was extensive. Something else I appreciated was that the author didn't talk down to the reader like in some MG books I've read. That makes it much easier to enjoy.

All in all, I give this book 5/5 stars. 

I received a copy of this audiobook free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Review: Guarding the Amish Midwife (Amish Country Justice #6), by Dana R. Lynn

Title: Guarding the Amish Midwife (Amish Country Justice #6)
Author: Dana R. Lynn
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "An Amish witness to murder

Another riveting Amish Country Justice book

On the way to deliver a baby, Amish midwife Lizzy Miller witnesses her driver’s murder—and now someone plans to silence her. Lizzy knows better than to trust strangers, but she must depend on former Amish turned Englisch police officer Isaac Yoder. And there’s nowhere safe to hide…unless Isaac reconnects with the Amish community he left behind to protect the woman he’s falling for. "

My Opinion: I hadn't read the previous books in this series and was really hoping that wouldn't be a problem, and lucky for me, it wasn't! In fact, I loved this book so much I'm going to go back and start with the first one and read the rest of the series. 

Lizzy Miller is a midwife and is going to stay with her pregnant cousin to assist with her birth, but it is too far away to take her buggy, so she has to get a ride. Unfortunately, her substitute driver has to make a stop, which leads to him getting shot and Lizzy witnessing it. Luckily, the cop who ends up protecting her is former Amish, so she feels an automatic kinship with him, which is good because the killer will stop at nothing to silence her. 

I love the characters in this story! They are very well written and easy to relate to. The world building, especially when we are visiting the Amish households, makes you feel like you're right there with the characters. And the suspense! It'll have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish!

All in all, I thought this book was very well written and I can't wait to start at the beginning of the series and read books 1 through 5.

I give it a very enthusiastic 5 out of 5 stars.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked Trail (Magdalena Gottschalk #1) by M. Gail Grant

Title: Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked Trail (Magdalena Gottschalk #1)
Author: M. Gail Grant
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: Lily Brooke, where small town charm and a hidden secret converge one fateful late autumn night. The demons of the past are determined to never be locked away again. MALB, the Mystical Alliance of Lily Brooke, consists of six childhood friends that are bound together in loyalty, friendship, and courage. Together, they all face the unleashed enchantments that are haunting the children after their discovery of the forbidden sacrificial cave, crooked trail, and mysterious treehouse. Magdalena has always known she is different from the others, but the cause has always escaped her, until now. Coming to grips with her soul purpose, she must gather courage she never knew she possessed to save her friends and family from the evil forces hiding amongst them. 

Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked Trail, is a middle grades to young adult epic fantasy fiction novel, that explores faith, unity, differences, belief in a higher power, magic, and teamwork. It will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat, begging to turn the page, while written for audiences of all ages. With a touch of southern charm and tradition, this novel takes you on a journey not for the faint of heart. Witches, wizards, demons, black magic, and soul searching all have their place in the quaint little town of Lily Brooke. 

My Opinion: Magdalena and her friends Gabriel and Hubert decide to spend a beautiful day exploring the woods behind Hubert's farm. Magdalena just celebrated her 13th birthday and her wish to have something exciting happen to her has come true, but not in the way she had hoped! When people say to "be careful what you wish for," this is exactly what they had in mind!

I loved the description of this book and was looking forward to reading it, but there were a few glaring problems that really took away from my ability to fully engage with the characters and the story. The description of the book says that it is for middle grades to young adult, but I really think it is geared more toward the younger set. The characters are 13, so I would say this is the age of the readers that would enjoy it, as young adults would really notice the problems and be bogged down by them, as I was. The way the kids speak was weirdly formal, especially for 13 year olds. For example, they didn't use contractions when speaking to each other, and they explained things that the others should already know, almost like they were adults speaking to children instead of young teenagers speaking to friends they've known their whole lives. And at one point, when Magdalena is talking with 5 of her good friends (the members of MALB, the Mystical Alliance of Lily Brooke), she says: "This morning, he made eye contact with my mother, Leona, and had his assistant take his place at the door to greet the morning attendees. My mother turned to my father, Paulos, and excused herself stating she needed to go to the ladies' restroom." Again, these kids have known each other all of their lives, so you would assume they know who her mother and father are, which was why it was odd that she threw her parents' names in there, like they had no idea who she was talking about! I've just never heard kids do that, especially 13 year olds who seem to abbreviate everything these days. Then there was the wrong usage of who/whoever and whom/whomever, which is a pet peeve of mine. I stumbled every time the words were used wrong: e.g. "Whom wrote such a ridiculous story?" This happened over and over again. Also, the writing seems forced sometimes, which breaks the reader's concentration and the flow of the story itself. Other times, something just doesn't make sense, so you have to stop and figure out what didn't work in the sentence, and that takes you out of the story as well: "The group all tried to bend, move or sway the perfectly spaced boulders, but nothing gave." How the heck do you bend or sway a boulder? It just doesn't make sense. 

Another big problem for me was that there would be pages of descriptions of what was happening in a scene, as well as dialogue, and then when someone new came along, instead of just saying that the character repeated what they had heard, done or said, they actually repeated the whole darn thing! There was way too much retelling and re-explaining, and I feel like that bogged the story down a lot. But other times, not enough was explained. When something big happens to Magdalena in the second half of the book, and I mean big as in life changing, rock my world kind of big, she has a moment of indecision, then says she has come to terms with it, and then just seems to know instinctively what to do and how to do it (it's hard to describe it without giving it away lol), even though it's something that adults would have to take time themselves to figure out! There just wasn't enough explanation of how one got from point A to point B sometimes.

Now, the things that I liked about the book: the story itself was a good one. There was a sense of intrigue and mystery that drew you in and made you want to continue to read. The characters were described very well so it was easy to find yourself invested in them. The world building was great, so much so that you felt you were walking around Lily Brooke alongside the characters. The characters were likable so you found yourself honestly pulling for them to solve the mystery and save the town. The title comes from the choice you have in life of choosing the straight path, staying on the straight and narrow, or choosing the crooked trail, which can lead you to trouble. I really loved that symbolism.

In summary, I liked the actual story here, and the characters, but felt the book was bogged down with unnecessary repetition, stilted conversations, and story flow problems, which could all be fixed if the book were to be re-edited. 

I'm giving this book 3 stars out of 5 :)

Review: Tiger Boy, by Mitali Perkins

Title: Tiger Boy
Author: Mitali Perkins
Illustrated by: Jamie Hogan
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "“One of the new tiger cubs has escaped from the reserve!”When a tiger cub escapes from a nature reserve near Neel’s island village, the rangers and villagers hurry to find her before the cub’s anxious mother follows suit and endangers them all. Mr. Gupta, a rich newcomer to the island, is also searching—he wants to sell the cub’s body parts on the black market. Neel and his sister, Rupa, resolve to find the cub first and bring her back to the reserve where she belongs.

The hunt for the cub interrupts Neel’s preparations for an exam to win a prestigious scholarship at a boarding school far from home. Neel doesn’t mind—he dreads the exam and would rather stay on his beloved island in the Sunderbans of West Bengal with his family and friends.

But through his encounter with the cub, Neil learns that sometimes you have to take risks to preserve what you love. And sometimes you have to sacrifice the present for the chance to improve the future."

My Opinion: Neel is a young boy who lives on an island in the Sunderbans of West Bengal who is happy and content with his life with the exception of two things: 1) the Headmaster of his school has entered Neel into a competition to win a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school in the larger city of Kolkata, India; and 2) the Bengal tiger reserve on a neighboring island has announced that a baby tiger has escaped and has made its way over to Neel's island, where it has become lost. 

Neel's island, among others, has been devastated repeatedly by cyclones and people are having to leave to try to find work in the bigger cities, but Neel loves his island and his family so much that he never wants to leave, and if he wins the scholarship, he feels like he will lose both. He is a natural when it comes to reading or writing anything in English or Bangla, but math is another story altogether. He hates math and sees this as his way out of winning the scholarship and having to move away. 

There is an evil man called Mr. Gupta who is trying to take over the island and who has absolutely no regard for the Sunderbans or any of their traditions. He cuts down the trees that serve as natural barriers to protect the rice and chili fields of the farmers from the cyclones when they hit, and when he hears about the lost tiger cub, he puts a bounty out on its head, hiring locals to help him find it by offering more money than they can turn down. Even if they know it's not the right thing to do, food is scarce, and money even more scarce, so they do it to feed and clothe their families. Neel's friend, Viju, tells him about the bounty, but since Viju and his father are helping Gupta to search the island, he swears Neel and his other friend, Ajay, to secrecy. Even though Neel knows he can't tell anyone or risk breaking his promise to Viju, he worries and worries about what's going to happen to that poor little cub if Gupta finds her.

What I loved most about this story was its heart. Neel and his sister, Rupa, are so moved by the story of the lost little tiger cub that they put themselves into danger's way to try to find her. Jai, Neel's father (whom he calls Baba), is so eager for Neel to win the scholarship and have a better life than he can give him, ends up going against what he knows is right to try to earn enough money to hire a tutor to help Neel pass the math portion of the scholarship examination. Everybody but Mr. Gupta have such big hearts and think about everyone else, which is so refreshing to read. I also loved the descriptions of the island and life on the island that Mitali Perkins injects with such clarity:

"This pond was freshwater, but most of the creeks and rivers in the Sunderbans were salty and muddy. Neel didn't mind - he loved the tang of salt on his tongue and the squish of mud between his toes. Home for him was the hiss of his father's boat a it slipped through the deltas, golpata branches swaying in the monsoon rains, and the evening smell of jasmine flowers near his house mingling with green chilies and fresh ilish fish simmering in mustard-seed oil. Neel had climbed all the tall palm trees, waded in the creeks, and foraged for wild guavas in every corner of the mangrove forest."

When you get to the end of the book, you learn that Mitali Perkins lived in the Sunderbans when she was young, which is why her descriptions are so, well, descriptive! I highly recommend this book to children and middle grade kids to teach them something as simple as how to be respectful to people and how to do what is right even when no one else is, to something bigger than themselves, the plight of the Bengal tiger and the lives of the people who live in Sunderbans. 

I am giving this book a very happy 5 stars :D

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Velveteen, by Daniel Marks

Title: Velveteen
Author: Daniel Marks
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days. 

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her."

My Opinion: I must admit I've had a hard time with this review. On the one hand, the synopsis of this book was what drew me in and made me want to read this book, but on the other hand, the book was much more about Velveteen's time in purgatory than it was about her getting revenge on the serial killer who murdered her. The book opens with a bang, with Velvet haunting her killer, Bonesaw, and trying to set free another of his victims. Then Velvet is pulled back to purgatory, and it all gets rather muddled. I definitely admired the world building of purgatory, even if I was confused half the time Velvet was down there. She's proud of the fact that she "has no emotions", but this made it a bit hard for me to like her. She was rude and bossy with her underlings, the gang she leads, and when a new very cute guy, Nick, arrives, she is rude to him, then she's making out with him, but then she treats him like crap again, which was very confusing. What could have been a very cute romance was almost embarrassing to watch.

Then it turns out that purgatory is suffering from earthquakes that could collapse it, which I don't understand, and Veltvet herself is contributing to this problem by going back and forth between purgatory and the real world to haunt Bonesaw, which causes more and more tremors every time she does this.

I know it sounds like I didn't like the book at all, which isn't true, hence the hard time I've had writing this review. There were some really good parts, and a lot of really confusing, although not terrible parts. 

Another problem I have is that this book was targeted towards "Teens and YA, and Children's Fiction," but I thought a lot of it would be too much for those age groups and should have been targeted to "New Adult." I think a lot of people will enjoy this book because it is dark and Gothic and does that well. For some reason I was just confused and felt like the book was murky and hard to navigate more often than not. 

I'm giving this book 4 stars because I think it will appeal to a large group of people, but I have to take off 1 star for the sheer confusion of it all. Part of the 4 stars is due to the absolutely gorgeous cover of the book! I loved it and thought it set the dark and Gothic stage for the book very well.

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Say You're Sorry (Joseph O'Loughlin #6), by Michael Robotham

Title: Say You're Sorry (Joseph O'Loughlin #6)
Author: Michael Robotham
Format: audiobook
Source: local library

From Goodreads: "TWO MISSING GIRLS. TWO BRUTAL MURDERS. ALL CONNECTED TO ONE FARM HOUSE. WHO IS TO BLAME?

When pretty and popular teenagers Piper Hadley and Tash McBain disappear one Sunday morning, the investigation captivates a nation but the girls are never found.

Three years later, during the worst blizzard in a century, a husband and wife are brutally killed in the farmhouse where Tash McBain once lived. A suspect is in custody, a troubled young man who can hear voices and claims that he saw a girl that night being chased by a snowman.

Convinced that Piper or Tash might still be alive, clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin and ex-cop Vincent Ruiz, persuade the police to re-open the investigation. But they are racing against time to save the girls from someone with an evil, calculating and twisted mind.."

My Opinion: Michael Robotham is one of my all time favorite suspense writers and even though I haven't read any of the other books in the Joseph O'Loughlin series, I had heard that they can all be read as stand alone novels, and this proved to be true. I got caught up in the mystery right away and was kept interested clear to the end. 

Piper and Tash went missing three years ago and although the police investigated the disappearance, most people thought they had just run away, because that was in fact their plan. But something went wrong and three years later, Tash's body was found frozen in a lake following a terrible winter storm. Coincidentally (or not) Tash's old home, where two elderly people now lived, was the scene of a double homicide and fire that same night. 

The characters are all easy to relate to, as Michael Robotham's tend to be, and the reader is kept guessing throughout the book as to how all of the players fit and who did what to whom. As usual, I guessed who the perpetrator was, but then I second guessed myself, then third guessed, until I was as confused as I started out to be. The author drops clues in that throw you completely off, but that's a good thing in a suspense story - who wants to be able to figure it out easily? How boring would that be? 

The pacing was perfect as the story moves along at a steady pace, and the reader is kept guessing until the very end. I loved this book and highly recommend it to lovers of suspense, mysteries, and all around good story telling. I give it a very enthusiastic 5 stars and look forward to going back and starting the Joseph O'Loughlin series from the beginning. 

Review: Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3), by Katie McGarry

Title: Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3)
Author: Katie McGarry
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a romance forged in the fast lane 

The girl with straight A's and the perfect life—that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy family…and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker—a guy she has no business even talking to. But after the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 

The last thing Isaiah needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks. But when their shared love of street racing puts their lives in jeopardy, Isaiah and Rachel will have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other."

My Opinion: I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read the first two books in this series and loved the character of Isaiah, and couldn't wait for him to get his own story, so you can imagine how excited I was to find out that he was the main male character in Crash Into You! He is totally my kind of guy in the real world: tattoos, bad boy, misunderstood - you know the type. I couldn't imagine anyone being good enough for him (yes, I get freakishly attached to and protective of the characters that I love!), but lo and behold, along comes Rachel Young, and I was sold. She isn't your stereotypical poor little rich girl from the right side of the tracks - she loves cars and decides to live dangerously and try her hand at street racing. Things don't go quite according to plan, and she ends up running with the help of a very attractive, dangerous, tattooed racer by the name of Isaiah Walker. They don't know if they care very much for each other at first but they're forced to work together to solve a problem, and if their chemistry has anything to say about it, it's just a matter of time before they can't fight it anymore and they get together.

I really liked the characters in this installment of Katie McGarry's very popular series Pushing the Limits. I already loved Isaiah and came to love Rachel's feisty self as well.

The pacing of the story was perfection as usual and I loved watching the characters change and grow as the story went along. I recommend this book to all lovers of YA and new adult contemporary romantic fiction and give it a very happy 5 stars :D

Review: Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish, by Andrew Buckley

Title: Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish
Author: Andrew Buckley
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "From the Bahamas to Heathrow airport, to the rain soaked streets of London the dead have ceased dying. 

This is inconvenient for a number of reasons but what’s the real reason behind the chaos?

In London we find Nigel Reinhardt, a disgraced, confused, and gifted London police constable who owns a prophetic goldfish. In Ireland the Angel of Death questions the value and position of his current employment. At Majestic Technologies Celina McMannis works diligently on a top secret project. At the South Pole there lives a very unhappy penguin.
When the Devil hatches a nefarious plot to take over the world by possessing a cute little kitty and seizing a factory of robotic Christmas elves it’s up to Nigel and his group of unlikely companions to save the world or die trying… or both."

My Opinion: If you like British humor, you will love this book! I was very surprised to find out that this was Andrew Buckley's first book because it is crazy, totally out of control, and in my humble opinion, very, very well written. I can't imagine how he kept track of everything that was gong on because it was hard for me to do it, and I was just reading it!

The Devil possesses a cat and convinces Death, over many drinks in an Irish pub, to quit his job. Thus, people stop dying, or do die but can't get into heaven or hell without going through Death, which is becoming quite a nuisance! To add to the fun, we have a goldfish who can predict the future and sends out messages telepathically, but he has an attention span of 3 seconds so once he sends it, it's gone from his memory! My favorite part is how after each message is sent, he swims around his fishbowl and discovers the castle in it, again, and again, and again, and it makes him so happy every time!

My other favorite character is the penguin turned human, who has a very interesting way of viewing the world!

There is also a detective, a bunch of evil elves, including Eggnogg the dancing elf, an AI genius of Scottish ancestry, and many more, too many to list here! I loved them all, but the Angel of Death was especially fun because he traveled in a cloak of magic that made everyone who saw him or interacted with him in any way completely forget him as soon as they turned away, which made ordering a drink at a local bar somewhat difficult!

Overall I thought this book was terribly funny in a way that reminded me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I absolutely loved! There is a special kind of humor to these two books - what I've heard called throwaway humor, with one liners thrown this way and that, and each of them funnier than the one before. It is very entertaining and definitely worth your time to read. I recommend it to lovers of British humor, which is pithy and fabulous, and anyone who likes to reads Terry Pratchett, as this book brings his books to mind when you are reading it.

I give this book a very enthusiastic 5 stars :D

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: The Warrior Heir (The Heir Chronicles #1), by Cinda Williams Chima

Title: The Warrior Heir (The Heir Chronicles #1)
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "One March day, Jack Swift, a high school student in a small college town, forgets to take the medicine he’s taken daily since he was an infant. There ensues a cascade of events that puts him in mortal danger.

Jack discovers he carries a secret within him that has made him a target of the ruthless wizards of the Red and White Rose. Jack is a Warrior Heir, the last of a dying breed, sought after by the Roses to fight in the tournaments that are used to allocate power among the Wizard Houses. Unknown to him, Jack has lived all his life surrounded by members of the Magical Guilds: wizards, enchanters, soothsayers, and sorcerers. They are determined to save him from the Roses.

With the aid of his aunt, a beautiful enchanter, Jack desperately tries to acquire the skills that might save his life. Jack and his friends, Will and Fitch, unearth a magical sword from a cemetery and fight off the wizards who would take it from them. Jack begins training with the dark and dangerous Leander Hastings, a wizard with a mysterious past.

Meanwhile, Jack is torn between his attraction to Ellen Stephenson, a new student at Trinity High School, and Leesha Middleton, his former girlfriend, who decides she wants him back.
Discovered and besieged by treachery at home, he flees to the Lake District of England. There he is confronted by the greatest challenge of all. "

My Opinion: I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jack Swift is just going about his normal life in a small town in Ohio, minding his own business, when he forgets to take his heart medicine and his life is changed forever. Jack finds out that there is a whole world of magic out there, and because he was born a warrior heir, he is being sought out by two warring factions of magicians and witches, the Red Rose House and the White Rose House. Warrior heirs are very rare so as soon as he is made known to the magic world, he is in grave danger, since the Houses don't exactly ask nicely for him to fight for them. The worst part is that since his mother and his aunt have shielded him from this world, he has no idea how to fight (he finds a magic sword which was passed down to him and which he has no idea how to use). He has to learn very fast though and gets help from strategically based people in his small town who, as it turns out, have been watching over him for years and who are ready to help him out now. My favorite relationship in the book is the one that Jack has with his two non-magical friends, Fitch and Will. Even though they don't possess magic, when Jack is forced to go on the run following a class trip to London, they go along with him, risking their lives and jumping feet first into a very scary unknown future, because they refuse to let Jack fight this battle alone. 

For me personally the beginning was a bit slow, and it took me a while to really get into it. but I'm glad I didn't give up on it. The rest of the story was very action packed and filled with adventure, and I really liked the boys and their aunt, and the boys' friend and Jack's former girlfriend, Leesha, who helps out as well, but I wasn't quite as fond of the new girl in school, Ellen Stephenson, who catches Jack's eye, because as I read on I found out that I am strongly "Team Leesha"!

I thought the pacing was a tiny bit off, moving quickly when Jack and company were fighting, but moving more slowly when they weren't, but it wasn't off enough to keep me from enjoying the book. I've read some other reviews for this book that mention teenage boys who really liked the book and even though they weren't big readers, they finished this book and gave it an A+, which is a huge recommendation! I plan on giving it to my son to read when he gets a little bit older based on these reviews because I'm always looking for books that appeal to teenage and pre-teen boys, so thank you very much for that Ms. Chima!

In summary, I thought this book started a bit slow but it more than made up for that in the end. Jack was a very likable character who fought against his destiny, but in the end, like all heroes, he accepted his fate and did what was required. I recommend this book to all teenage readers and lovers of YA fantasy books that deal with magic and witches and all of that fun stuff! I give this book an enthusiastic 5 stars because any book that has mature adults, young adults, and teens reading it and enjoying it deserves 5 stars :D

Review: Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2), by Aimee Carter

Title: Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)
Author: Aimee Carter
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry's first wife, Persephone."

My Opinion: Kate won her immortality at the end of The Goddess Test and then left to go spend her 6 months away from the Underworld, which she spent traveling with James. In Goddess Interrupted she returns home, excited to begin her new life with Henry, only to find him once again acting distant towards her. She does her best to reassure him that being the Queen of the Underworld is what she truly wants, but when Henry is kidnapped by Cronus, the King of the Titans, during her coronation, her world is turned upside down all over again. She goes on a quest to rescue Henry, but the only person who can really help her is the last person she wants to turn to - her sister, Persephone, Henry's first wife and the woman he has pined away for for an eternity. 

One of the reasons I loved this book is because we get to spend a lot of time in the Underworld with Kate, and the descriptions of the Underworld are amazing!! It's not a vast, empty, dreary space as you might imagine, but since each person gets to pick the afterlife that they feel they deserve, it's full of beauty and love as well as hopelessness and despair. 

I wish we could have seen more of Henry in this book, because, although he might have been present, he was so distant and vacant during this time that he might as well have been absent. There's a good reason for his apathy, and of course, there is a war to prepare for and all of the gods and goddesses are preoccupied by this, but I missed his playfulness. I feel like Kate really grew a lot in this book as she has to go WAY out of her comfort zone to help Henry, and the pacing of the book was excellent! There always seemed to be a lot of action going on, which made for a really quick read. I love this series so much and I'm really excited to read the Goddess Inheritance, especially after the huge cliffhanger at the end of this book!! :D

Review: Spare Change, by Bette Lee Crosby

Title: Spare Change
Author: Bette Lee Crosby
Format: ebook
Source: Copy from author for review

From Goodreads: "A Woman who is Superstitious to the Core…

A Boy who claims his Parents are Dead…

A Murderer who wants to Silence the Truth of What Happened.

Olivia Westerly knows what she knows—opals mean disaster, eleven is the unluckiest number on earth and children weigh a woman down like a pocketful of stones. That’s why she’s avoided marriage for almost forty years. But when Charlie Doyle happened along, he was simply too wonderful to resist. Now she’s a widow with an eleven-year-old boy claiming to be her grandson.

Spare Change is a quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about the important things in life, the madcap adventures of a young boy and a late change of heart that makes all the difference in an unusually independent woman. 

With a foul mouth, dark secrets and heavily guarded emotions, Ethan Allen Doyle is not an easy child to like. He was counting on the grandpa he’d never met for a place to hide, but now that plan is shot to blazes because the grandpa’s dead too. He’s got seven dollars and twenty-six cents, his mama’s will for staying alive, and Dog. But none of those things are gonna help if Scooter Cobb finds him."

My Opinion: I absolutely devoured this book and can totally see myself re-reading it many times in the years to come because I fell in love with the characters! Bette Lee Crosby has quite a Southern voice in her writing, reminiscent of Fannie Flagg in Fried Green Tomatoes. Her characters are very honestly written, with both the good and bad aspects of human emotions being brought to life. 

The story is told from the POV of multiple characters, which can become confusing if not done well, and thankfully, Ms. Crosby does it VERY well! Each character has a very unique voice, so you always know who is speaking. The first half of the book sets up the two groups of characters, Olivia and Charlie Doyle and how they get together, as well as Ethan Allen Doyle, his mother and father, and their lives. This leads us to the halfway point of the book, when Olivia and Ethan Allen finally meet. Olivia is a wonderful character: 58 years old, very superstitious about the number 11, who never wanted to have children and had given up on even having a family until she met Charlie. Unfortunately, their happiness is short-lived, but their marriage completely changes her outlook on life. Enter 11-year old Ethan Allen, Charlie's grandson who he never actually met, following his own personal tragedy. Ethan Allen has witnessed a murder and is running for his life, and the only place he has to go is to Olivia (in Charlie's absence), who doesn't know what to do with him, or how to help him. Along the way, they help each other deal with their grief and heal.

This is an extremely well written and edited book with very likable characters who you grow to care about and root for.  Throw in a murder and the search for the killer - before he can find and silence Ethan Allen, the only witness - and you have one hell of a book! I highly recommend this for all lovers of great Southern fiction :)