Wicked Lovely

AUTHOR: Melissa Marr
PAGES: 328
WEBSITE: http://www.melissa-marr.com/
TWITTER: @melissa_marr
GENRE: YA


SUMMARY:
Aislinn has always been able to see faeries. She was born with the Sight, the gift/curse her mother and grandmother passed along to her. She detests the vile little creatures and has spent most of her life pretending she can't see them. Afraid of what they might do to her if they learned of her gift, Aislinn has lived in two different worlds. One where she if just another teenage girl hanging out with friends, one where she sees the evil little creatures everywhere she goes.
When things, finally, start getting romantic with her friend Seth, everything becomes complicated, more than she could have ever imagined. Aislinn just wants to be a normal teenager where she goes to school, plans for college, and spends every moment she can discovering her first love.
When the Summer King decides Aislinn is the chosen one, there's no stopping him from pursuing her. Once the Summer King chooses you, you will be his one way or another. You slowly become one of the fey and either you chose to become a Summer Girl, one of the many that are there just to please the king, or you risk it all and take the Winter Queens staff in your hands and pray you are the true chosen one, the Summer Queen. The consequences are high if you hold the staff and are not indeed the true queen, you will become the Winter Girl. The Winter Girl's life is not one anyone would chose. It is a lonely cold existence. Many girls chose to become a Summer Girl instead, most actually do, it is quiet rare for one to have the love and confidence that they are the sure Queen.
When Keenan, the Summer King, chooses Aislinn, he soon discovers how different she is and knows without a doubt she will be the Summer Queen. The only thing is , Aislinn has no interest in Keenan, she is in love with Seth. She has no desire to be the Summer Queen. She likes her life the way it is. But even Aislinn can't deny the signs that point to her as the queen. And she must make a choice to take the staff or not.
Many could die if she denies her role. The Summer King and Winter Queen have been at war for sometime and if the Summer King finds his true queen he will be given back his full power and able to save his summer fey. The world is slowly becoming colder and colder with the Winter Queen having so much control. Soon even mortals will suffer unless balance is restored.
Saving so many could mean losing so much. Could she really stand beside and rule next to one she does not love? Could she walk away from her true love? What if she picked up the staff and was not the true queen?

OPINION:
Loved the darkness of the book. This book may be a young adult book about faeries, but it is told with more of an edge. Great characters, mortal and fey. I loved how Aislinn stood up for herself. And even when it looks hopeless, she still fights to keep what is most important to her. She doesn't just drop down and play the role that she is suppose to, she fights back.
Aislinn's relationship with Keenan is just as exciting as her relationship with Seth. I felt for both men in her life. Keenan is used to women dropping at his feet and he is thrown so off guard when Aislinn wants nothing to do with him. Seth has played the friend role so long it's hard for Aislinn to totally give herself to him. Both men are extremely good looking and each has an edges of their own. Seth, with the piercings and tattoo's. Keenan, being the Summer King, is confident and undeniably gorgeous. Both have been known to have their way with women, but both only want Aislinn.
Great read, you'll fly through it.

Blonde with a Wand

AUTHOR: Vicki Lewis Thompson
PAGES: 320
WEBSITE: http://www.vickilewisthompson.com/
GENRE: Adult Paranormal Romance

SUMMARY: (from book jacket)
Sexy witch Anica Revere has one absolutely unwavering rule: Never, under any circumstances, get involved with a man before telling him she's a witch. Still, what's one silly rule? Especially when the guy in question is as cute as Jasper Danes. But when Anica and Jasper have a spat, she breaks an even bigger rule of witchcraft and turns him into a cat. Bad news for him. Worse for her. With Anica stripped of her powers for the witchy infraction, it's up to Jasper to undo the hex, but he never expects the hardest part of the bargain to be resisting Anica. The stakes are high, and the chemistry is off the charts. But what'll happen if Anica and Jasper both fall under the strongest spell of all: love?

OPINION:
Hot, sexy, funny, entertainingly wicked, super cute read. Filled with a few little life lessons, hot steamy sex, and a whole lot of magic. Anica is not known to lose her temper, but Jasper Danes has just pushed her to the limit. With one spell she has changed both their lives forever. Wanting nothing more than to be rid of him, Anica has now made them attached more than ever. Gone with Jaspers human body, is Anica's magic. With the help of her sister Anica tries to reverse the spell and get her magic powers back.
"Funny what becoming a cat could do to a guy's perspective."
Parts in the beginning dragged a bit, but the story picks up. This is the first book in the series: A Babes on Brooms Novel. The second in the series: Chick with a Charm, continues with Anica's sister, Lily, story.

The Dead-Tossed Waves

AUTHOR: Carrie Ryan

PAGES: 407

WEBSITE: http://www.carrieryan.com/

TWITTER: @carrieryan

GENRE: YA

SUMMARY:

The sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Gabry is a girl living in the world surrounded by barriers, and for Gabry, she couldn't ask for anything more. While her friends dream of going to the Dark City, Gabry is content right where she is. Safe. Gabry is always safe.

She has heard the stories her mother has told her of the Forest. She knows beyond the barriers and into the forest there is Mudo wanting nothing more than to spread the infection. She has heard their moans, has watched from the lighthouse as her mother nightly patrols the beach decapitating the ones washed ashore. This is what must be done to keep safe. This is the way of life in Vista and so many villages.

When her best friend, Cira, brother and a group of his friends decide to cross the barrier to the ruins of the amusement park, Gabry is not tempted in the least, but Cira begs until Gabry agrees. Even when she is on the wooden barrier she still has doubts and wants to go back to the safety of the lighthouse, until Catcher slips his hand into hers and she feels his warmth and feels their relationship shift. She jumps down to the other side. She takes a chance.

With that one choice, Gabry has completely changed the course of her life. She'll learn how strong she really can be, who she really is, and just how hard it can be to just live.

"Just when I thought I was putting all the pieces back together they've cracked and fallen into different patterns, this time with sharper edges. I don't know how to make it work, how to make it right."

OPINION:

At first I was so disappointed the story wasn't being told from Mary's pov. I wanted to know what happened to her. She had so much more to tell.

Gabry seemed so weak I couldn't tell if I was going to like this book as well as The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I did end up loving Gabry just as much as Mary. She becomes stronger and you can see Mary in her. Even though Gabry feels she is nothing like her mother, her strength comes through.

"What's she like?" I ask him. His face twists just a little but he never stops looking at me. "She's strong," he says. "Beautiful and sweet." I see the memories swimming behind his eyes. It feels as though I'm intruding too far in his life and I've already turned away when he says, so softly, "She's a lot like you."

You feel the torment Gabry goes through as she loses everything she has ever known. And you feel her incredible power as she fights for the one she loves.

Can a zombie book be beautiful? YES.

"-But rather than the feel of his lips I remember him telling me that sometimes you can think you know someone and then they say something or do something and suddenly everything changes."

The author is so good at description you feel as if you're right there beside Gabry. Gabry's adventure is definitely worth reading and , if you loved Mary as much as I did, you'll get all the answers to your questions The Forest of Hands and Teeth left you with.

The ending, OMG, all I got to say is there better be a book 3 in this series.

Beautiful Malice

AUTHOR: Rebecca James

PAGES: 256

WEBSITE: http://www.rebeccajamesbooks.com/

TWITTER: @BeckyJames1970

ACQUIRED: ARC publisher

Genre: YA

SUMMARY:

Katie is your normal teenager. She's happy and carefree. She is discovering love, she's popular, she's happy, until the night her sister is murdered. Now Katie has become Katherine. She's changed her last name, she's moved in with her aunt, and attends a different high school hoping to escape her past. She doesn't want to stand out, she just wants to make it through high school without the scrutiny of that one night, of who she was/is, of who her parents are, of who her sister was. She just wants to be normal.

When Katherine meets Alice, her world is turned upside down. Alice is popular, the center of attention and can make any situation fun. Katherine is reluctant to accept Alice's friendship, but when she does she realizes just how much she has missed having a friend and being carefree. The guilt is there, always inside her, the guilt of surviving when her sister had not.

Katherine experiences Alice erratic behavior and is shocked at how easy it is for her to hurt the people who care about her. How fast she is to lashes out at anyone. And how Alice expects everything to be like nothing happened after one of her episodes.

When Alice's behavior becomes just too dark for Katherine she ends the friendship. But Katherine will learn you can't just be rid of someone like Alice, she gets in you, tries to eat you alive and destroy all that you love.

Katherine's life may have been surrounded by secrets but Alice has a few secrets of her own.

OPINION:

This book is so hard to talk about without giving away spoilers. It was a great read. Very well written and a definite page turner. You will stay up late, not being able to put it down.

Intriguing. This book will get you from the very start. Right away you get the sense something is off with Alice. This girl is extreme, but you are just so happy Katherine is finally starting to feel her age again, you hope Alice will get herself together.

It's heartbreaking that Katherine holds the burden of her sisters death. It's a struggle for her to even begin to be happy. Katherine is consumed with survivors guilt. She feels guilty, not only for being alive, but deep down she wonders if her actions caused her sisters death.

Alice becomes so twisted and sick you just don't know how far she will go to get what she wants. Alice taints everyone she comes in contact with.

It was a fascinating read, full of mystery. Learning what happened that night Katherine's sister was murdered and learning all of Katherine's and Alice's secrets leaves you with a tale that is funny, horrific, loving and chilling. Creepy, bone chilling, beautiful story.

Her Sanctuary

AUTHOR: P.Q. Glisson

PAGES: 327
WEBSITE: http://hersanctuarybypqglisson.blogspot.com/
ACQUIRED: Purchased

GENRE: Romance

SUMMARY: (from book jacket)
Shannon Mallory was a woman on the run...not from outside forces but from her own wounded heart. When she pulled up into the parking lot of "The Last Resort Cafe" in the town of "Sanctuary," little did she know she would find the one thing she never even knew she was searching for...true love.

OPINION: The Chemistry between the main characters, Seth and Shannon, was HOT, HOT, HOT. Sexy Indian? Check. Sexy shower scenes? Check. Intense romance? Check. This book had all of those. These two are always at each other, in the sense, if they were made of candy they'd eat each other alive. I really don't think they could ever, in a lifetime, get enough of one another. Seth has a beautiful mane, mysterious eyes, rock hard tanned body. Shannon is beautiful with eyes you could swim in. If you could rely on Seth to do one thing, that would be to scoop Shannon up. He was always sweeping her off her feet. There is no doubt the author was able to betray how crazy these two where for each other. She made me blush a time or two.
I did have a few problem with the book, like how fast Shannon fell for Seth. She was in a previous abusive marriage. Her parents basically sold her when she was sixteen to be a sex slave . So,with all this abuse she once endured I figured she'd be more reserved instead of basically meeting Seth one day, and what seemed like a week later, planning their wedding. I also didn't understand how quick she considered Irene and Paddy family. I just thought she'd be more guarded towards people and especially towards men.
One of the main problems I had with the book is it contained many errors, the story was a little choppy and the switching between pov's was confusing. It is more in the shape of an arc not a polished book. That would be fine, but I paid $18 for a soft cover book. The book needed more editing in my opinion.
There where points where Seth's temper made me think Shannon was crazy for being with him. The time frames for some of the events were unbelievable. I was under the impression this was a small town. How did Seth practically build a whole downstairs apartment, with huge wall length windows, and have time to pick out the littlest details like Shannon's art smock, within the short time she was in the hospital? I had to just make myself stop questioning so much and just sit back and enjoy the story. Once I stopped trying to rationalize every little thing, it was quite an enjoyable read.
I believe the book is self published, and for that, I'm glad I purchased the book.
I also noticed the epilogue was written more smoothly. And I thought the ending was great. I was left with wishing there were more chapters to come. The author was very good at portraying the intense love scenes. I will definitely read one of her books again and wish her much success.


I just learned this author is working on a young adult book called "Fairy." Looking forward to reading it.