tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85323064115024294072024-03-13T12:13:46.175-07:00Reading By The BeachJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-25471877579988061972012-07-18T10:23:00.000-07:002012-07-18T10:26:44.933-07:00Review: Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1322770025l/10194514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Pushing the Limits" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1322770025l/10194514.jpg" /></span></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">July 24th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Harlequin Teen</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pushing-Limits-Harlequin-Katie-McGarry/dp/0373210493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337572362&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pushing-the-limits-katie-mcgarry/1108266707?ean=9780373210497" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a></div>
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<strong style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">So wrong for each other...and yet so right.</strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much</span><em style="line-height: 19px;"> impossible.</em><em style="line-height: 19px;"> </em><span style="line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 19px;">Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Two characters striving to re-find a normal that doesn't exist anymore which forces them to find a new normal. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I'm a huge fan of split perspectives, and Katie McGarry did not disappoint in that aspect. There was a vast difference between Noah's voice and Echo's voice that was hugely appreciated by this reader. Echo is more refined where Noah is more gruff, it was perfect. Also, since I'm a details person, I loved the little tells that McGarry threw into the mix, it was a successful way to connect the reader in a broader way. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a64d79; line-height: 19px;">"Luke use to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a64d79; line-height: 19px;"> - Echo</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Noah drinks, smokes pot, has sex, skips school and curses. You can label him the quentessential 'bad boy', but to me he was just a troubled teenager that was letting his past shape his present. I like, no love, when authors put in the not so pretty aspects of high school, or life in general. I don't know about you, but I was surrounded by Noah-type and Echo-type people throughout high school, may have been a little of both. As much as some parents don't want to admit it, this stuff really happens in high school, so why should authors not write about it? I was more than grateful that Katie McGarry put real-life instances into <i>Pushing The Limits</i>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a64d79; line-height: 19px;">"Depth perception and beer obviously weren't related"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a64d79; line-height: 19px;"> - Echo</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Another great thing? The character growth wasn't dependent on the romance. Echo and Noah grew together just as much as they grew separetely, which is pretty realistic, because some things you just have to learn or do on your own. They also gained insight from their friends which helped their individual or couple growth. All in all, there wasn't a single aspect of <i>Pushing The Limits</i> I didn't like. I found it realistic, with awesome characters and many deeper meanings buried within the story. </span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/c-4lAISSxHY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If you love YA Contemporary Romance then make sure to read <i>Pushing The Limits</i>. If you are looking to dive into the YA Contemporary genre, there is no better place to start than <i>Pushing The Limits</i>. If you've read this book. . . I want your thoughts :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">PS, Katie McGarry is writing her next book about a supporting character in <i>Pushing The Limits</i>. Can. Not. Wait!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">*Received my copy of the book from NetGalley*</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-17235264792366934792012-07-17T11:12:00.000-07:002012-07-17T11:12:05.013-07:00Review: One Moment by Kristina McBride<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333738414l/12795982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="One Moment" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333738414l/12795982.jpg" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">June 26th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Egmont USA</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Moment-Kristina-McBride/dp/160684086X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337547344&sr=8-2" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it’s the one she’d do anything to forget.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party the night before. She remembers climbing the trail hand in hand with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below—dead?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The latest novel from the author of </span><em style="line-height: 19px;">The Tension of Opposites</em><span style="line-height: 19px;">, </span><em style="line-height: 19px;">One Moment</em><span style="line-height: 19px;"> is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">One word. Intense. <i>One Moment</i> had me in a constant anticipation mode, but not the eager anticipation, the nervous anticipation. I was stuck with a perpetual free-falling feeling. You know the one, jittery nerves, rapid heartbeat, stomach jammed up into your throat while you wait for it to drop out from beneath you. Like I said, intense. You want to know what happened, you want to know the secrets that were being kept, but you just know that they will be devastating, especially because Joey is so damn likable. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Thick in mystery, Kristina McBride leads us on an adventure that will throw suspicions all over the place. I loved that we got information as Maggie got information, it allowed me to connect to her and feel with her. The writing also added to Maggie's character because it was almost desperate, depressed, and a little bit hopeless until that little flicker of light reveals itself to help lead Maggie out of the dark. To say I was captivated is an understatement. I was eager to finish, but also reluctant because I fell in love with so many of the characters. There is no way possible for you to read this and NOT feel the powerful emotions behind this story. They were sometimes suffocating, but only because Kristina McBride successfully portrays each emotion and character to the T. She has amazing talent that has made me a fan for life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If you want real characters, an intense plot and completely entrancing writing then check out <i>One Moment</i>. Just make sure you have tissues near-by and are prepared to read until the end because this book was simply unputdownable.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">*Received my copy of this book from NetGalley*</span></span></div>
</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-81189713803163917912012-07-02T12:19:00.000-07:002012-07-02T12:19:29.272-07:00Review: Tyler Falls by Lori Clark<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1338296974l/14623902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Tyler Falls" border="0" height="400" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1338296974l/14623902.jpg" width="247" /></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 26th, 2012</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tyler-Falls-ebook/dp/B0086F6V6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339371662&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">By the time seventeen-year-old Tyler Falls meets Emma, his "Thirty-Days-Left-to-Live" plan is already in place -- and falling in love isn't part of that plan.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Tyler has suffered from manic depression for as long as he can remember. Through medication and therapy, he manages to keep his life together. But when his parents are murdered, he decides he's had enough of living as a broken person with a broken life. So, in thirty days, he plans to stick the barrel of his Ruger SP101 into his mouth and pull the trigger.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Emma Perez's brother, Ethan Giovanni, sits in a mental institution for the murder of Dr. and Mrs. Falls. Deemed mentally incompetent and unfit to stand trial, Ethan has one weekly visitor -- Emma. She doesn't deny his guilt, he's her brother and she loves him spite of the fact he's paranoid schizophrenic.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 19px;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">They say when you cross paths with someone more than once, it's fate -- you're destined to meet. Tyler doesn't know Emma is Ethan's sister, and Emma doesn't know Tyler's story either. When Tyler learns who Emma's brother is, the world he's rebuilt around her begins to crumble all over again and it leaves both of them wondering why fate has such a cruel sense of humor.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><i>Tyler Falls</i> is a really sweet romance, but for a story about a 17 year-old guy with plans to commit suicide and that unknowingly falls in love with the sister of the guy that changed his life forever, it shouldn't have been sweet. It should have been a gut-wrenching love story that rips the emotions from you as you read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The struggles of the characters just didn't come across as plausible, they were too light for the depth that was trying to surface. There should have been many layers to peel back as we read, but I found the story too simple and straight forward to successfully pull me in. Especially with Tyler's tormented past and "Thirty-Days-Left-To-Live" plan. There should have been a monumental struggle with Tyler and how his plan was changing, but there wasn't. He just simply accepted the change in his life and the change of his feelings without any difficulties. The story revolved around a romance when I think it should have been more focused on two individuals that found the power to heal with each other. Which can be classified as the same thing, but it's not.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The story alternated with chapters from Tyler's perspective and Emma's perspective and while in most cases I revel in being able to get inside each characters minds, I was a little put off by the redundancy. Each scene that involved both Emma and Tyler were told from both perspectives with scenes of the same dialogue. There were some added scenes that took place prior or after, but sometimes the wording was different from the scene in the others perspective. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">My favorite aspect was the relationship between Tyler and his Uncle Kyle. That was the one thing that was the most natural and the most endearing. I also greatly appreciated that the characters were portrayed in a more natural light. Meaning: they cursed, drank a little and so on. <i>Tyler Falls</i> is a book that needed that 'uncleanliness' to show the roughness of the characters.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I did enjoy reading <i>Tyler Falls</i>, I just wish that the story wasn't so light considering the heavy-hitting premise. I can say, though, that I'm very intrigued to see what other stories Lori Clark will produce.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">*Received to review via the author through Making Connections YA Edition*</span></span></div>
</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-66120954111361773802012-06-23T10:19:00.001-07:002012-06-23T10:19:51.060-07:00Review: Morning Star by Desiree Finkbeiner<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Many thanks to the author for allowing me the opportunity to read and review her book</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333077138l/13568249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Morning Star (Ethos, #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333077138l/13568249.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
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Genre</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Series</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ethos (Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">March 28th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hydra Publications</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Morning-Star-Ethos-ebook/dp/B007PSUV2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338869891&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">When a mysterious stranger interrupts Brianna’s mundane routine, her eyes are opened to the dark underbelly of reality… immortal rogues, ancient conspiracies, prophetic revelations, savage tribes, mammoth dragonflies… </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">She’s thrust into a race for her life when Kalen, a warrior from Ethos, discovers that she is harboring a secret… a secret that he’d give his life to protect. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">There’s just one little problem… they are tempted by a forbidden romance, which threatens to compromise a divinely appointed mission. They are faced with a choice… love eternal, or the end of the world…</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 4 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Desiree Finkbeiner created a fabulous world that came to life through bright, vivid imagery. I instantly became lost in the enchanting world of Ethos and can't wait to go back.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">The main characters, Bree and Kalen, were definitely likable, perhaps even lovable at some points. I wasn't completely swept away by either of them. One problem that I had was that there was a huge emotional struggle between Kalen and Bree that should have lead up to an intense emotional scene, but I found that scene to be lacking in the intensity that should have been present. I felt that they gave in too easily for such an important struggle. It also seemed that Bree's diction, for the most part, was more old-fashioned than it should have been for a 21 year-old woman living in the 21st century. Bree would comment on Kalen's diction (a lot) but I found that hers matched Kalen's more than it should have (which wasn't a huge problem if she didn't keep ragging on Kalen). But, they were each great characters and although I wasn't completely swept away by them, I could still feel the emotions that Finkbeiner was trying to portray. I must say though, that my favorite character was Athena. Once you read <i>Morning Star</i>, you'll see why. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I loved the concept that Desiree Finkbeiner introduces to us in <i>Morning Star</i>. She took a popular genre and crafted it to make something that came across as new and refreshing. I was riveted to my seat as each new aspect was produced and I was constantly anxious to see how everything would play out. There were expected twists, but also a lot that weren't expected. Finkbeiner definitely has a knack of keeping up the suspense without drawing it out in unimaginable lengths. I'm ready to dive back into Ethos and begin from where we were left!</span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-66483020213306887052012-06-22T10:02:00.000-07:002012-06-22T10:46:09.808-07:00Review: The Shapeshifter's Secret by Heather Ostler<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1335237304l/13380680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Shapeshifter's Secret" border="0" height="400" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1335237304l/13380680.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">June 12th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cedar Fort</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">~Sweetwater~</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Shapeshifters-Secret-ebook/dp/B008CI77QW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340167126&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Shapeshifter%27s+Secret" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-shapeshifters-secret-heather-ostler/1108194568?ean=9781462110339" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hardcover</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ebook</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Julia is finally discovering what–not who–she is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 19px;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Like any sixteen-year-old, Julia's used to dealing with problems. From her overprotective father to her absent mother to a teacher who definitely has it in for her. But everything changes when Julia's reactions become oddly vicious and angry---more animal than human. This action-packed adventure has it all: humor, romance, and a plot that will keep you guessing to the very last page.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 3 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">There was plenty of mystery within The Shapeshifter's Secret that fueled my intrigue and kept me interested, but I was just not wholeheartedly invested in the characters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">For one, I felt that the romance aspect was greatly lacking. I felt that the characters both fell in love too simply and this may be due to the fact that they weren't together very often. Plus, the whole time I was reading, I kept getting this feeling that this is only a prelude to the real romance which will take place in future books. I may be completely off base with that assumption, we all know what happens when you assume, right? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I was not a huge fan of Julia, but she did have great moments. She was completely unrelatable to me and I'm usually a reviewer that can relate to a lot of characters. The big thing that bothered me was Julia's obsession of the evil entity. I just didn't find it natural or normal as she kept trying to find a connection. I'm hoping that this was a process to show Julia's growth and to strengthen her resolve in the books to come. I don't blame her for being curious, but it was just too much for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">However, the wheels in my head were in constant motion as little clues were strewn every so often, revealed at perfect moments to keep my interest piqued. The world that Heather Ostler created was beyond fascinating and even though I didn't love the characters, I loved the world and plot enough to be curious about the next book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">*Received my copy from NetGalley*</span></div>
</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-41625841384677376832012-06-21T09:33:00.000-07:002012-06-21T09:33:38.507-07:00Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1318984987l/10479750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lies Beneath (Lies Beneath #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1318984987l/10479750.jpg" style="background-color: white;" /></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Series</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lies Beneath</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genre</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Fantasy Romance</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">June 12th, 2012</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Random House Children's Books</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">~Delacorte BFYR~</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Beneath-ebook/dp/B005OCYQFY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340166186&sr=8-2&keywords=Lies+Beneath" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666;">Amazon</span></a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lies-beneath-anne-greenwood-brown/1105808605?ean=9780385742016" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Nobles</span></a><br />
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<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.</span></span>
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<span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are so many great things that Anne Greenwood Brown did with <i>Lies Beneath</i> that kept it refreshing and original. I was instantly blown away and eager to read every word as the story unfolded. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">First, male point-of-view, do I need to say anything more? Probably not, but I will. I am so damn, unbelievably happy that male pov's are on the up rise. Oh, but that's not all. Usually we get saddled with the humans side of the story while the 'paranormal' person is cast in a dark, mysterious light (not a bad thing, I might add). Well, meet Calder. He's dark and a little mysterious and most importantly, he's a merman. And the story is told through his voice, which was absolute perfection. Also, </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">this is the non-romanticized version of merpeople and I absolutely loved it. Brown casts them in a completely different light that portrays them in a much different way. It was fascinatingly eerie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I loved the fact that Calder questions the nature vs. nurture thing. Am I a product of nature or nurture? It's such a profound question for him and it simply added to his depth, forming more of a connection. Lily was fabulous. Slow to trust, fights her attraction towards Calder and is just plain human(in a good way, fleshed out). I felt like I knew her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I don't often need pretty words to transport me into a story, but Brown has a natural knack for writing that the prose was beautiful in itself. Descriptive. Vivid. Brilliantly flowing from sentence to sentence. I was mesmerized.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I'm recommending <i>Lies Beneath</i> to everyone. It was such an adventure that I was reluctant to say good-bye, but at least I (or we) can be mollified that there will be more to come.</span></span></div>
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</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-61024864202712402132012-06-20T10:45:00.000-07:002012-06-21T09:24:46.339-07:00Review: Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331933718l/13060609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dark Kiss (Nightwatchers, #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331933718l/13060609.jpg" /></a><b></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nightwatchers </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genre</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 29th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Harlequin Teen</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Kiss-Harlequin-Teen-ebook/dp/B007JJX26O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340162626&sr=8-2&keywords=Dark+Kiss" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-kiss-michelle-rowen/1107469823?ean=9780373210473" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I don't do dangerous. Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha-that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me...something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing-and I don't know if I can get it back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me....</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">There are some awesome characters in <i>Dark Kiss</i>. Kraven and Bishop will be fast favorites as readers flock to their desired 'team'. One's a demon and the other is an angel, but don't let that define them. There are layers upon layers of Bishop and Kraven that <i>Dark Kiss</i> only allows a glimpse of. The surrounding characters were also well done. Between Zach, Roth, Connor, Stephen, Carly, and Natalie; they all have genuine characteristics that will endear them, make them suspicious, or a little of both. As for Samantha, was she my favorite female protagonist? No, but she is absolutely likable and had moments that made her shine. For the most part, I really enjoyed her voice. I have a feeling that Samantha is going to keep growing stronger as a character.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I completely loved the plot. I love when an author is fully capable of crafting a story that has twists and mystery that you didn't see coming, but should have. Sometimes the unanswered questions can be left unanswered for too long, but in <i>Dark Kiss</i> it was a more natural flow that captured and kept my interest. The romance was tingle inducing when it had the possibility of ending up in the 'insta-love' category. The struggles were tangible and helped make the romance glide in a more realistic way portraying the connection between them. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I labeled <i>Dark Kiss</i> as 'potential love-triangle' (meaning: possible love-triangle in the next installment) and you know how those drive me crazy, unfortunately not in a good way. There are a few that are well done and actually add the wanted tension instead of making me want to pull my hair out, so. . . I'm kind of interested to see how Michelle Rowan will play this out.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Wicked Kiss</i> is the next in the series, and I'm curious to see what will happen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">*<i>Received my copy of this title from NetGalley*</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-41943941616906905512012-06-19T11:58:00.000-07:002012-06-19T11:59:04.681-07:00Review: Something Like Normal by Trish Doller<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I received <b>Something Like Normal</b> from the publisher through NetGalley</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333055528l/9403947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Something Like Normal" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333055528l/9403947.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genre</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary Romance</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Pub Date</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">June 19th 2012</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bloomsbury Children's Books</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Something-Like-Normal-Trish-Doller/dp/1599908441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331873567&sr=8-1"><span style="color: #45818e;">Amazon</span></a>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-like-normal-trish-doller/1106910655?ean=9781599908441&itm=1&usri=something+like+normal"><span style="color: #45818e;">Barnes & Noble</span></a>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Format</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother's stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he's haunted by nightmares of his best friend's death. It's not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he's had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis's dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Review</span></u></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first thing that grabbed my attention was the cover in it's beautiful simplicity. Then I read the blurb, noticing that it would be told from a males perspective, I was instantly hooked. There is something about reading from a males point-of-view that just makes me so incredibly giddy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Travis is a unique voice, he's blunt, and like mentioned in the blurb, he has a dry sense of humor and his sense of honor is amazing. I fell in love with Travis Stephensen the instant he walked off that plane and into my life, as a reader. He's suffering from post-traumatic stress, something that can happen to anyone. He's extremely fleshed-out, he's so real that he could be any of the real-life Marine's walking around on this planet. In fact, each and every character is real, they have qualities that are real, struggles that are real and a camaraderie that is real. Trish Doller does an exceedingly great job of NOT romanticizing the relationships that Travis maintains, be it with his mom, dad, brother, Harper, Paige, a fellow Marine or whoever else. They just are, they just happen, and everyone and everything flows together with perfection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Something Like Normal</i> has a raw gritty truth staring you in the face, impacting the emotional level up an infinite magnitude. Trish Doller doesn't gloss over the abrasive facts, she doesn't breeze by the embedded layers. This is deeply intense, I had tears dripping down my face the whole time I was reading, even in the happy moments. Heart-wrenching and uplifting at the same time. The romance between Harper and Travis lends a sweetness to the unyielding harshness that is <i>Something like Normal</i>. Trish Doller rose above by choosing to write in Travis's voice. His thinking wasn't hidden behind lyrical, descriptive prose, it was straight to the point, simplistic bliss. It was brilliantly genius. There wasn't any mystery to wade through, the story was laid out right from the beginning, yet another wise choice from Trish Doller. <i>Something Like Normal</i>, didn't need the extras, it was just a story that needed to be told.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I recommend <i>Something Like Normal</i> to <b>every single</b> reader of both genders(well, maybe 16+), it is a book that needs to be read. There is some mature content, but in this book it is a necessity. Also, highly, highly recommend to anyone who has family, friends, loved ones in any military. This is an extremely eye-opening novel that shouldn't be missed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've been to Doller's blog (<a href="http://trishisthinkingagain.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">click here</a>! Absolutely gorgeous!) and I've read the little snippets (one or two sentences) that she has placed all over of her next projects. I will tell you now that Trish Doller is going to be a HUGE hit among readers. She exudes natural talent when it comes to writing and those snippets, they have me anxious to read everything and anything that flows from that beautiful mind.</span><br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-7691246028798604882012-05-31T10:01:00.001-07:002012-05-31T16:44:41.444-07:00Review: Special Offers by M.L. Ryan<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to the author for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://cache.smashwire.com/bookCovers/5420e253cdcfe9a27145526cfafac898bf1752ea" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://cache.smashwire.com/bookCovers/5420e253cdcfe9a27145526cfafac898bf1752ea" width="305" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Coursodon Dimension</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">February 11th, 2012</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Running with Scissors Publishing</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Special-Offers-Coursodon-Dimension-ebook/dp/B0077ZJNRW/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338439373&sr=1-4" target="_blank"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Amazon</span></a></span><br />
<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/special-offers-ml-ryan/1109231583?ean=2940033051014" target="_blank"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/131930" target="_blank"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Smashwords</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Hailey Parrish is quick-witted, irreverent, and hasn’t had a date in three years. She only wanted an eBook reader because her collection of paperbacks threatened to take over her small living space. Little did she know that the "special offers" that prompted the purchase included much more than a reduced price in exchange for a few ads. The device came pre-loaded with the essence of Sebastian Kess, an erudite womanizer with magical abilities from a parallel dimension. When she inadvertently releases him and he inhabits her body, she finally has a man inside her, just not in the way she imagined. And soon her predicament introduces her to yet another supernatural, the handsome could-be-the-man-of-her-dreams Alex Sunderland. Can Alex and Hailey find a way to return Sebastian to his own body, stay one step ahead of the criminals who want to keep him where he is, and not lose their sense of humor?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">M.L. Ryan gives us a range of characters in Special Offers. The smart, sarcastic female protagonist; the hot, understated male interest; the womanizing, cocky male; the quintessential villain; the loyal friends; and some characters that end up surprising you. A colorful bunch of characters that were extremely fun to read about and really helped round out an already great story. The only issue character-wise that I had was that Hailey considered herself a 'plain jane', that was a little bit of a downer, but other than that she was an awesome character. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; line-height: 19px;">"The truth you can deal with, it's all the speculative crap that makes you nuts"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Oh! And I can't forget her cat who was initially named after a Norwegian female swashbuckler. That was an added plus since I'm obsessed with my Norwegian heritage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">There was a lot of hilarious witty banter (mostly between Hailey and Sebastian) that greatly added to the entertainment of my reading experience. Do you ever wonder what people think when you start to laugh out loud while reading? Something that cannot be helped while reading Special Offers!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; line-height: 19px;">" 'Hailey, I'm really sorry, but Harrison has some sort of stomach bug and he's currently curled in the fetal position on the bathroom floor moaning 'kill me', over and over' "</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The concept was absolutely amazing and so unique. It was a little twisty, but without being overly complicated. Basically, just enough (complicatedness) to draw you in and keep you hooked. I must admit that I was initially a little disappointed in the subtle romance that happens between Hailey and Alex, but then I came to the realization that Special Offers is, in fact, the first of a series. I should have done a tad bit more research, huh? In my defense, I was really excited to dive into this story. So, after that realization, I was able to look at the romance in a different light and see that it actually fits with the characters perfectly. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; line-height: 19px;">"Seriously, if God had wanted us to to get up when it was still dark out, he wouldn't have given us eyelids"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">All in all, Special Offers is a fantastically fun, extremely entertaining read that will have you laughing out loud and eager for the next in the series. I'm anxious to see where the series will take us, especially with the little clue at the end.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-81123331267238912632012-05-30T09:57:00.000-07:002012-05-30T21:32:45.779-07:00Reveiw: Corpalism by Arun D. Ellis<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Note: I received my copy of <b>Corpalism</b> from the author in exchange for an honest review</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://gallery.mailchimp.com/05906b6de45347cfa5fdfc515/images/corpalism_create_space.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://gallery.mailchimp.com/05906b6de45347cfa5fdfc515/images/corpalism_create_space.jpg" width="302" /></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">March 26th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corpalism-ebook/dp/B007PJJE2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338343843&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Amazon</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Corpalism is an exciting and often funny mixture of timely political commentary that moves in a believable way, between fact and fiction. </span><br style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The book begins in a dystopian world – a casually dark and callous future wrought by unchecked corporate greed. </span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The timeline moves back and forth 20 years, using inter connected characters and storylines. Situational humour lightens the mood and the characters are well-crafted, individual and interesting; ranging from the cynically evil, through the surprisingly likeable to the positively evangelical. </span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Corpalism remonstrates against the evil of corporate greed, puts forward a credible alternative to the duopoly of current party politics and offers hope of an alternative future if we act now. </span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">A unique experience – a page turner with a message.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b>Rating: 4 out of 5 stars</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>Corpalism</i> is an extremely interesting book that I can't even begin to describe. This is the type of book that it won't matter what I say because <i>Corpalism</i> is a book that will give each reader their own perspective and their own opinions. As it should, but with one main focus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The characters, for the most part, all tie together, but we don't start to see that until we get near the end. There are parts that take place 20 years in the future and there are parts that take place a few months in the future. The main focus of <i>Corpalism</i>, in my opinion, is to bring attention to certain happenings and make people aware, make people more conscious of their economy and government. Make them think. <i>Corpalism</i> takes place in Britain, but in reality, Americans can draw similarities from this story. As the author says, <i>Corpalism</i> is a mix of fact and fiction. Is it humorous? There were moments that had me laughing, but there was a more serious tone to it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>Corpalism</i> was beyond thought-provoking and engaging, and will force you to open your eyes if they aren't already open. There were parts that I loved, characters that I loved, parts that I didn't like, characters that I didn't like, and some characters that I really didn't like. You get the picture, there's a wide range of characters and sub-plots that tie into almost all of the other sub-plots. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>Corpalism</i> would be the perfect read for an economics and government class, or for people who are just graduating into the voting age. It's a story that will challenge you while also holding your attention. It's not my typical read, but I did end up enjoying it more than I thought. Anything that makes me think, will gain my respect. And that is what <i>Corpalism</i> has done. This is a story that will have you thinking even after you are done reading it. I recommend to everyone, even if it's not your genre, it should be read.</span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-17088930304328940402012-05-25T10:15:00.000-07:002012-05-25T10:15:55.335-07:00Review: First Light by Samantha Summers<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to Samantha Summers for allowing me the opportunity to read and review <b>First Light</b>!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Thriller/Romance</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Series</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Project Five Fifteen (Book 1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 2012</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Light-Project-Fifteen-ebook/dp/B0082ILVT6/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1337550876&sr=1-4" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/161045" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">What do you do when you’ve always dreamed of a hero; your knight in shining armour, only to find when he arrives he isn’t a hero at all?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">... He’s a killer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Ronnie Rose is trying to cope with the loss of her father; now it looks like she might lose everything else that’s dear to her too. Huge debts threaten to destroy her family, her childhood home and her future. Only one person cuts through her pain.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Kalen Smith has just moved to town. He’s trouble and everyone knows it. He and his mysterious friends keep to themselves and the town likes it that way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">But when Kalen mourns at her dad’s funeral, Ronnie wants to know why and her investigation plunges her into a dangerous world of murky government secrets, with deadly consequences. Ronnie knows she should walk away from Kalen before it’s too late. Problem is, she’s falling for him…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Can we choose who we fall in love with?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reading the blurb for<i> First Light</i>, I was instantly attracted and eager to start reading. I could sense the excitement, the struggles and the romance from just that tiny amount of words. You know I love those inner, emotional struggles and <i>First Light</i> did not disappoint! In fact, it way exceeded my expectations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was drawn to the two main characters in an instantaneous moment. Kalen and Ronnie, two opposites in many, many ways, but with one major struggle to overcome. Samantha Summers, in my opinion, successfully portrayed Ronnie and Kalen in a way that showcased their strengths, weaknesses, and sheer determination. In my opinion (and I hope others will agree), Ronnie and Kalen are high-ranking favorites. But let's not forget the surrounding characters, because I found them (even the not-so-nice ones) to be just as well-placed, and pivotal. They were very effectual.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There is one major struggle that both Ronnie and Kalen fight with, and that's the choice between following your head or your heart. This is a key factor for the romance of this book and like it says up above in the blurb, can we choose who we fall in love with? Samantha Summers successfully tackles this hurdle with genuine inner turmoil that will appeal to readers without making it cliche or overly done. It added that much needed tension between characters and will also help the reader see the surrounding characters in a new way. The thriller aspect was absolutely phenomenal! I was constantly on the edge of my seat, held in anticipation and trying to predict the ending outcome. There isn't extreme mystery, but that's a good thing. <i>First Light</i> doesn't need that mystery, the thriller aspect mixed with the heart-tingling romance is what this book is all about. As you read, you'll kind of know what is going to happen, but you won't know the specifics. . . that was what I wanted from <i>First Light</i>, so I was happy to receive that. Plus, mystery would have fogged over the glorious details. Well, actually, Kalen is the mystery, but only because he's such a complex character with many layers to investigate. The flashbacks that Samantha Summers provides (from Kalen's past) are extremely important in digging deeper into his character. <i>First Light</i> would definitely not be the same if those flashbacks were missing. They allowed us to get inside his head, see the inner workings of Project Five Fifteen, and witness his change. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There is some action, mostly towards the end, but it's still satisfying. <i>First Light</i> is laying the groundwork for the books to come, it's that necessary first step for a series that I know will be insanely good. <i>First Light</i> is introducing us to the important characters, showing us some of the history that we need, but mostly it's all about that decision to lead with your head or heart. A decision that will fuel the series. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can openly admit that I'm extremely finicky about endings. A lot of them don't hold up to my expectations, but I can happily say that the ending in <i>First Light</i> is by far one of my favorite endings. It was just pure perfection. I was not left wanting, there was a finality, but it also leads perfectly into the next phase of the story and adventure. Well, that's an assumption since I haven't read the next book, but it's just one of those things that I know. I was grinning ear to ear as I read those last two chapters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you are looking for a book to sweep you off your feet with thrilling entertainment and sweet yet scalding romance then read <i>First Light</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I just have one question: When can I get my hands on the second book?</span></div>
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</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-20595268289621507682012-05-24T22:15:00.001-07:002012-05-24T22:15:12.676-07:00Pre-Release Party:Bold As Love #3 by Lindsay Paige<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lindsay Paige is partying the month away in celebration of her expected release date of June 13th for <i>Whatever It Takes</i>, the third installment of the Bold As Love series. I wanted to join her in celebrating so this post is dedicated to the Pre-Release Party!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Bold As Love series introduces us to the two characters of Emily and Jake as we follow them through their senior year of high school and into their freshman year at college. They are thrown through some pretty hefty loops, but hopefully we're headed to that HEA that we all really, really need. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We first met them in <i>Sweetness</i>. . .</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Emily wished she was invisible. But after moving to a new town with her dad, a charming boy makes it impossible for her to disappear. Despite her feelings of unworthiness, Emily soon finds herself drawn to the safety of Jake's world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Good looking and the star of the hockey team, Jake has a lot going for him. What most people don't see is the difficult life he has at home. When quiet Emily steals his heart, Jake vows to help her discover she is worthy of love. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Just when the two of them realize the sweetness of their relationship, they are put to the test. Only together can they overcome their haunted pasts to fight for a future together.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">See my </span><a href="http://readingbythebeach.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-sweetness-by-lindsay-paige.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">review</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">. . . followed them into <i>I'm Yours</i>. . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">After the incident with Claire, Emily encounters more problems. Conrad is back with explanations and hope. Emily wants to give him a chance to explain himself. She can't help but wonder why he left. However, Jake isn't comfortable with Emily going out to eat with an old lover. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Will things be too much for Emily to handle? Will Emily do the one thing she knows best and withdraw? Will Emily and Jake's love for one another keep them from shattering?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;">See my </span><a href="http://readingbythebeach.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-im-yours-by-lindsay-paige.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank">review</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;">. . . and now into <i>Whatever It Takes</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Their first year of college isn’t what they expected. Emily is still struggling with the loss of her baby, while Jake seems to have no trouble with it at all. Emily is so conflicted about how to deal with the miscarriage. On top of that, she’s having nightmares. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Can Jake help his Sweetness? Will she allow him? Their relationship is suffering and Jake is determined to do whatever Emily asks of him. But when Emily makes a suggestion that she feels will help with her grief, could it tear the couple apart forever?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">See my </span><a href="http://readingbythebeach.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-whatever-it-takes-by-lindsay.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">review</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lindsay Paige is having a giveaway of <i>Whatever It Takes</i> on <b>Goodreads</b> so click <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13263220-whatever-it-takes" target="_blank">here</a> if you want a chance to win one of the three signed copies! Good luck and happy reading!</span></div>
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</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-60939267448146106562012-05-24T21:30:00.000-07:002012-05-24T21:30:31.076-07:00Review: Whatever It Takes by Lindsay Paige<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to <b>Making Connections</b> (on Goodreads) and to Lindsay Paige for the opportunity to read and review this book</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328398270l/13263220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Whatever It Takes (Bold As Love, #3)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328398270l/13263220.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bold As Love (Book 3)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">June 13th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*Not yet available*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Their first year of college isn’t what they expected. Emily is still struggling with the loss of her baby, while Jake seems to have no trouble with it at all. Emily is so conflicted about how to deal with the miscarriage. On top of that, she’s having nightmares. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Can Jake help his Sweetness? Will she allow him? Their relationship is suffering and Jake is determined to do whatever Emily asks of him. But when Emily makes a suggestion that she feels will help with her grief, could it tear the couple apart forever?</span>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Review</u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rating: 3 out of 5 stars</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another installment with exceptional sweetness when it comes to romance. There was slightly more tension when there were issues that the characters needed to work through and that added more to the story. I felt that the characters were actually struggling instead of going through a preface of struggling without actually walking through it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I do, however, feel that the characters are put through too many different emotional twists. For me, it takes away from each story as each installment offers pretty hectic things to overcome. It was too much for me. I felt that the stories could have focused on less twists and more characterization growth. The emotions weren't there for me because there was too much happening from book 1 to book 3, I couldn't get attached to the characters with so much going on. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can say, though, that there is greater unexpectedness in </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whatever It Takes. </i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I may have some issues, but I also did enjoy <i>Whatever It Takes</i>. It's a shorter read than <i>Sweetness</i> or <i>I'm Yours</i> so prepare to read it in one sitting. It also appears (from the ending) that there will be another installment in the Bold As Love series. Which is always a good thing.</span></div>
</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-75646125166527997132012-05-24T21:25:00.001-07:002012-05-24T21:25:46.527-07:00Review: I'm Yours by Lindsay Paige<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to <b>Making Connections</b> (on Goodreads) and Lindsay Paige for the opportunity to read and review this book</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320875540l/13034217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="I'm Yours (Bold As Love, #2)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320875540l/13034217.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bold As Love (Book 2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">November 2011</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Im-Yours-Bold-Love-ebook/dp/B0067MZ2MQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1337877893&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-yours-lindsay-paige/1109801230?ean=2940033093830" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138886" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">After the incident with Claire, Emily encounters more problems. Conrad is back with explanations and hope. Emily wants to give him a chance to explain himself. She can't help but wonder why he left. However, Jake isn't comfortable with Emily going out to eat with an old lover. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Will things be too much for Emily to handle? Will Emily do the one thing she knows best and withdraw? Will Emily and Jake's love for one another keep them from shattering?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 3 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">There is no doubt in my mind that Jake and Emily are completely compatible characters. The romance is, once again, very sugary sweet, making you root for them and that all turns out well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I still have some issues though. For one, I really didn't like that the issues in <i>Sweetness</i> were completely dropped in <i>I'm Yours</i>. There is only one mention of Emily's horrendous past in a long, long winded explanation to her ex-boyfriend Conrad. There was also an incident with a snarky character (Claire) that I thought would and should have made a bigger appearance in <i>I'm Yours</i>, but she was silent in one scene. I was curious to see how they would resolve the bullying issue, but there was nothing. Without those teeny references to <i>Sweetness</i>, there really isn't a continuation plot within this series, which isn't always necessary, but I felt that some of the issues could have been further addressed to give the readers a bit more closure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">And just like <i>Sweetness</i>, I felt that the characters didn't go through enough of an emotional struggle as each new curve ball was introduced. I felt that more time could have been spent on that rather than relaying the driving directions that either of the characters were taking. The important little details that I was left craving were replaced by details that didn't pertain to the story or the emotional aspect.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">There was also one major thing that I felt was a little embellished, but that I doubt will be glaringly obvious to most readers. It's kind of something you have to go through to even be able to recognize the embellishment, and it was only mildly bothersome. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">As with <i>Sweetness</i>, I did enjoy <i>I'm Yours</i>, I just wanted to be drawn into the story more. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-43478121415916636472012-05-24T21:19:00.000-07:002012-05-24T21:19:39.677-07:00Review: Sweetness by Lindsay Paige<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Thank you to <b>Making Connections</b> (on Goodreads) and Lindsay Paige for the opportunity to read and </i><i>review this book</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1318690236l/12837682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Sweetness (Bold As Love, #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1318690236l/12837682.jpg" /></span></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Series</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bold As Love (Book 1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">October 2011</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sweetness-Bold-As-Love-ebook/dp/B005VT40WO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1337876404&sr=8-3" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138883" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Emily wished she was invisible. But after moving to a new town with her dad, a charming boy makes it impossible for her to disappear. Despite her feelings of unworthiness, Emily soon finds herself drawn to the safety of Jake's world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Good looking and the star of the hockey team, Jake has a lot going for him. What most people don't see is the difficult life he has at home. When quiet Emily steals his heart, Jake vows to help her discover she is worthy of love. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Just when the two of them realize the sweetness of their relationship, they are put to the test. Only together can they overcome their haunted pasts to fight for a future together.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Rating: 3 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sometimes people just instantly connect and that is what happens in <i>Sweetness</i>. Super, super sweet romance. . . predictable, but still really sweet. However, I didn't like that there wasn't a significant struggle between Jake and Emily. For two people that have deep-rooted issues, they both confided and changed too quickly to squeeze out the emotional side to this story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also felt jilted on Emily's history. We are given facts (horrific facts), but there was never a tangible struggle (that wasn't rushed) to overcome or work through these facts. I felt that, as a reader, the surface was barely being scratched. I would have liked to see more of the tiny details of each of their pasts tie into the story more. The main focus was the romance and I felt that the realistic issues were added to give the characters depth, but that depth wasn't explored. It was left untapped. That aching emotion that is so addictive to me was missing, but like I said the romance was tender and my attention was captured for the most part. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With all that said, I did really enjoy the characters. Drake was a quick favorite and I felt that Lindsay Paige did an excellent job in capturing the endearing, exhilirating energy that kids produce. Jake was another great character and I liked the fact that he was a romancer without being a womanizer. And, despite my feelings about the growth of Emily, she was a great character as well, but not my favorite and that<b> is</b> because her growth was just too radical.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Sweetness</i> is a quick read, so make sure you line up <i>I'm Yours</i> for as soon as you're done!</span><br />
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</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-23851151044982987882012-05-23T10:20:00.000-07:002012-05-24T19:37:20.322-07:00Review: Believe by E. Leighanne Grimm-Weever<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to the Goodreads group Shut Up & Read as well as the author for the opportunity to read and review this book</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330704101l/13508023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Believe (New England Immortals #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330704101l/13508023.jpg" /></span></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genre</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">New England Immortals </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">March 2012</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138103" target="_blank"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Andrea Dayla is about to start the next chapter of her life, college, leaving the only familyshe’s ever known behind. It was going to be scary enough being away from home in a strange city but little did she know Hanover had far scarier things in residence; the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">For Andrea, vampires were just part of the mythical stories her uncle had told her since as long as she could remember. She didn’t believe they exist until she meets the Brennen’s. Uncle Greg had always painted vampires in a bad light; pure evil more like. Andrea refuses to acknowledge Shane or his family as vile creatures. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Things were bad enough when she fell in love with Shane, she was mortal but of course it had to get worse. She discovers her family secret, they were immortal vampire hunters. Hunting and killing vampires to protect the humans was who she was, it was what she was made fore. Trouble is that the other part of her is ruled by her love for Shane and his family.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Torn between her love for a vampire and her loyalty to her kind, Andrea will have to make choices that will save a part of herself and destroy others. Too bad that’s not all she has to worry about… She’ll just have to believe!</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 2 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I've had <i>Believe</i> sitting in my TBR pile for awhile and when I had the opportunity to snatch it up on <b>Shut Up & Read</b>, I did. I was eager to start because what can I say? I'm a sucker for vampires vs. vampire hunters. The ultimate forbidden romance, but I have to admit that I had an extremely hard time getting into the story.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The first half of the story I was just not feeling it at all, so I had to set it aside for awhile and consider if I was going to continue reading or not. I did continue reading, and I can say that the story and the writing did get marginally better, but I still wasn't completely satisfied. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Believe</i> has a great concept behind it, it's interesting and very complex. . . there's a lot going on with many characters, but that great concept is hidden behind the many, many mistakes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">1. Grammatical errors. There are a lot of misspelled words, missing words, misplaced words, and some formatting issues and other editing errors along those lines. My eyes were constantly stumbling across them and it prevented me from being drawn into the story. One example, Chapter 20 has the first 3 paragraphs in bold text then every other paragraph after that.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">2. Inconsistencies. Major downfall for a published work. I can understand one or two that were missed during revisions and editing, but <i>Believe</i> was riddled with them. It was quite frustrating, especially because I'm a details person, so those details stand-out to me and these were blinding me in the eyes. There's tiny inconsistencies and big ones. For example, I'm pretty sure that Shane's eyes are blue, but they were also mentioned as copper and honey then it was mentioned (18% through) that since he's a vampire his eyes change colors. But then, after that information his eyes are only mentioned as blue. Another example, Andrea wakes up at 6:20am for her first day of work, class starts at 7pm that night. She works all day then leaves work to make it to her class, then after class goes back to work and works again. I guess that's not an inconsistency, but isn't it highly unlikely? I mean that would have been a 10+ hour shift to begin with and then add in the other hours that she worked after class. There are other instances like this where it seems the author either forgot previous mentioned information or made it to her convenience to fit the story. The tiny ones have to do with time, placement of objects, name changes (two characters are mentioned with different names, only once each though). Frankly, there are lot and it extremely took away from the story, this was way more bothersome to me than the grammatical errors.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">3. Some things are glossed over so if they may be apparent to the writer, they aren't going to be apparent to the reader. A popular example, Andrea begins waiting tables, she has two guys at one table who she refers to as 'ken dolls' (yes because they are rich and attractive, that's another issue that I won't get into. Massive stereotyping.) then she miraculously knows one of them is named Drake. Some reviewers have mentioned this and Grimm-Weever has been kind enough to explain that Andrea has class with him and it was kind of a light-bulb moment when she remembers his name. It doesn't read like that at all and those little moments are scattered throughout the book. I understand this problem, it's one I have issues with myself. It's hard to convey certain thoughts into words, but it should have been apparent with a re-read or the beta reader.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Believe</i> does not read as a final draft, but as a first draft prior to revisions or editing. There is massive potential, but <i>Believe</i> really needs to be cleaned up and looked at again. The plot gets a lot better as you continue to read. I'm under the impression that E. Leighanne Grimm-Weever is in the process of going through each chapter to rectify the spelling mistakes, but those aren't the only issues that need to be fixed, so I hope she's taking time to go through the whole book. To me the inconsistencies are far worse than the grammatical errors, but I really enjoyed the plot, especially the second half of the story.</span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-47135382906912622872012-05-22T10:52:00.001-07:002012-05-22T10:52:23.899-07:00Review: Wilde's Fire by Krystal Wade<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Note: I received my copy from NetGalley</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1335484324l/13539723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Wilde's Fire (Darkness Falls, #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1335484324l/13539723.jpg" /></span></a><i><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fantasy</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Series</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Darkness Falls (Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 13th, 2011</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Curiosity Quills Press </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wildes-Fire-Darkness-Falls-ebook/dp/B0082RBAXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337311740&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wildes-fire-krystal-wade/1110582123?ean=9781620070574" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">“There is no pain in this death, only peace, knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most.”—Katriona Wilde.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she’s ever known and loved ripped away, but she is about to find out. When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she’s dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her. Kate’s forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What’s worse, she has no control over her new future, and it’s full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made. Will Kate discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a book where I don't want to give a single detail away because even an iota of extra information will ruin the process of discovery. This book is beyond stellar. The world that Krystal Wade introduces us to in <i>Wilde's Fire</i> will lead you on an adventure of fantasy and romance with evil forces coming out to play. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Each character is strong, important, and well placed. They each have a part to play, never falling into the background or becoming see-through. The female protagonist, Kate, has moments of extreme difficulty, but her determination is powerful. She refuses to sit back and let life lead, she takes those ever present struggles and battles them. She was amazing to read about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I loved the foreshadowing that will become more apparent (I'm guessing) as the series continues. Stories that are rich in subtle yet in-your-face little details always succeed in capturing my attention. You know those details, the ones that plant little seeds into your brain that can sprout before the confirming information or sometimes holding back until it all clicks into place. I love those!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Krystal Wade is an author that will captivate each reader by the power of the world she has created. <i>Wilde's Fire</i> is a must read, don't miss out!</span></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-26898201620412656902012-05-10T13:03:00.000-07:002012-06-19T15:20:36.821-07:00Review: Nocturnal by Chelsea Cameron<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you Chelsea Cameron for the opportunity to review <b>Nocturnal</b>!</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340054281l/13483201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Nocturnal (Noctalis Chronicles, Book #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340054281l/13483201.jpg" style="background-color: white;" /></a><a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330867333l/13483201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genre</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Series</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Noctalis Chronicles (Book 1)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">February 2012</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">DRC Publishing</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nocturnal-Noctalis-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00784CYYQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1336537842&sr=8-7" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nocturnal-chelsea-cameron/1108810827?ean=2940014050227" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Seventeen-year-old Ava-Claire Sullivan isn't one for doing the expected. Especially when she finds out her mother's cancer is terminal. After a crying session in the local cemetery where she's attacked by one strange guy and saved by another, she doesn't call the cops. Because those guys definitely weren't your average hooligans. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">And the one who sort-of saved her? Well, he's odd. He doesn't seem to breathe or smile or have anything better to do than wait in the cemetery for Ava to come back. Which she does. Call it morbid curiosity. Even after he warns her that he's dangerous, she can't stop wanting to see him, talk to him, be with him.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There's something about Peter that provides a much-needed escape from her mother's diagnosis and her tenuous relationship with her father. Even her best friends Jamie and Texas don't know what it's like to face death. But Peter does. He already has. He also made a promise a long time ago that could destroy both of them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">When everything in your life is falling apart, what are you willing to give up to hold onto the one thing that could last forever?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 4 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"My mind goes to some strange places sometimes."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There are so, so many great aspects to <i>Nocturnal</i> that escalated my reading experience!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">One.</span></b> Chelsea Cameron took the ever popular vampires and spun them into a unique species that captivated me. They are unlike any vampires that I have ever read about and I'm more than interested to learn more about their history.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">Two.</span></b> Ava-Claire Sullivan. Period. She's an amazingly sarcastic, feisty and funny female protagonist that completely entranced me. There are so many lines that I highlighted for many different reasons, but most of all because they struck a chord in me. Chelsea Cameron managed to capture characteristics of a REAL person and portrayed them in a way that brought life to Ava. Here and there I became frustrated with Ava, but this wasn't an author induced flaw, it was more of how Ava chose to handle (or really not handle them) that frustrated me. I actually welcomed the frustration though, because it made Ava even more fleshed-out.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"I just listen and replay the moment when Peter pulled the rug out from under the normal world. Hell, he ripped up the floor of the real world, showing me a basement I didn't know was there, full of creatures I never thought existed."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">Three.</span></b> Tex and Jamie. Simply awesome supporting characters where the loyalty and friendship is palpable. Tex is just something else, she's crazy fun with a somewhat erratic personality but she's so lovable. Tex and Ava fit perfectly together, they are soulmate friends. Chelsea Cameron captured the essence of their deep friendship that they've had since 1st grade. Jamie is also a great character, but he's the more subdued of the three. More serious, but still readers will be falling for him. He's not in <i>Nocturnal</i> a whole lot, but I hope to see more from him in <i>Nightmare</i> (the second book). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">Four.</span></b> The slow budding romance. It's set at a more natural pace that I greatly appreciated. Peter and Ava appear more intrigued with each other at first and then it starts to evolve into something more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">Five.</span></b> The snippets that we get from Peter. Am I a male perspective fan? Do you even need me to answer that question? I love being able to get into the male leads head anyway possible. Chelsea Cameron supplied me with that desired male perspective with those little snippets. They successfully added more depth to his character which was needed since he's prone to one-word answers when asked a question. He's quite intriguing despite the one-wordedness and I really want to know more about his life as a Noctalis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">With all that said, I did have some minor issues with some things. There were more than a few grammatical errors, but they honestly never hindered my reading, they were just mild annoyances. Also, there was an inconsistency with a name (not major since she wasn't in the story, just mentioned). Overall, I really enjoyed <i>Nocturnal</i>, more than appreciated the new take on vampires, and am very eager to see where the series will lead. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Recommended to YA readers who enjoy vampires, want a new breed of vampires, or YA readers who love paranormal romance. Plus, <i>Nightmare</i> (the second book) is already out, so you won't have to wait to continue the adventure!</span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-70436114249320596512012-05-08T13:48:00.000-07:002012-05-08T13:48:05.252-07:00Review: Infinite Sacrifice by L.E. Waters<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320501746l/13011252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Infinite Sacrifice (Infinite Series, #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320501746l/13011252.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genre</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reincarnation Fantasy</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Series</b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Book 1 of the Infinite Series</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publication Date</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">November 2011</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publisher</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rock Castle Publishing</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Sacrifice-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B0062F67L8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336506625&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/infinite-sacrifice-le-waters/1107079971?ean=2940032825425" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98265" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Formats</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ebook</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Paperback</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Maya’s shocked to discover it’s not the heaven she imagined;in fact, a life of adventure begins the moment you die.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Zachariah, her faithful spirit guide, explains the rules of the dead: in order to regain complete awareness and reunite with loved ones all souls must review their previous lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Maya plunges warily into her turbulent pasts as a sociopathic High Priest in ancient Egypt; an independent mother protecting a dangerous secret in glorious Sparta; an Irish boy kidnapped and enslaved by Vikings; and a doctor’s wife forced to make an ethical stand in plague-ridden England.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">All the while, Maya yearns to be with those she cares about most and worries that she hasn’t learned all of heaven’s most vital lessons. Will she be forced to leave the tranquility of heaven to survive yet another painful and tumultuous life? Or worse, accept the bitter reality of having to go back alone?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I'm a details person, what can I say? I love the tiny details of a story that make it complete. <i>Infinite Sacrifice</i> is about all those small details, so I was in heaven!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">When L.E. Waters contacted me for a review, I was supremely intrigued by the blurb. Reincarnation will always fascinate me, then she succinctly pointed out out that one life involves vikings. Now, they are Dane's not Norwegian, but vikings are vikings so I was even more interested. With that said, I was mildly hesitant only because I wasn't sure how all the lives were going to be combined into one soul without confusion (that's what I get for reading reviews prior to reading a book, I usually read them after I've read the story because I don't like going into a book with preconceived notions). I was wrong to be hesitant, so very wrong! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I was quickly entranced by the writing style as I partook in this unique, fascinating adventure. L.E. Waters captures scenery and dialogue with such ease that it's easy to picture in your head, everything rolls naturally. No stilting, no rushing, no forcing. There are a lot of details to take in as we visit four of Lazrina's (soul name) lives, but I found those details to be easy to keep track of (see, preconceived notion that it would be confusing). It wasn't confusing in the least, but then again, I pride myself on having an eye for those kind of details. Any small details, really. Also, L.E. Waters graciously supplies a chart at the end of each life to help the reader keep track of who was who within those four lives. It also helps that we visit each life one after the other without unnecessary spacing. It helps keep the people, or rather their souls, fresh in the readers mind. It also helps that each soul has at least one thing that helps identify them with each new life. You'll see once you read the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The concept was well-crafted, tightly woven together so there weren't any gaping holes. Everything fit together perfectly, like matching puzzle pieces. I cannot even imagine how much time went into <i>Infinite Sacrifice</i>, between the researched history and piecing together the lives of not only one person, but the supporting characters as well. It's really four mini stories rolled into a bigger story where everything ties together to make a compelling tale about the lessons a soul learns throughout their existence. I loved piecing together the tiny pieces to figure out who was positive, negative or neutral, but all influencing Lazrina's soul. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">One of the best parts is that L.E. Waters delivers history in a factual sense. She didn't romanticize it, which I greatly appreciated. She wrote about the ways of each life, never masking the ugly with pretty words to disguise the harsh facts. If you betrayed a law, you were killed. If you were a slave, you were owned, with few (if any) sympathizing with you. If you were a female, you had no power, often judged by who you married, owned by the man you married. The harsh realities of history were in your face, and I liked that! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you enjoy history, read <i>Infinite Sacrifice</i>. If you enjoy reincarnation, read <i>Infinite Sacrifice</i>. If you want a unique, one-of-a-kind story, read <i>Infinite Sacrifice</i>. Or how about you just read <i>Infinite Sacrifice</i>? It's an absolutely amazing story! And, lucky for us, <i>Infinite Devotion</i> (the second book) is already out!</span><br />
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-70028261132930047402012-05-07T10:12:00.000-07:002012-05-07T10:12:13.300-07:00Review: Reflection by Jessica Roberts<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Thank you t</i><i>o <b>Shut Up & Read</b>(Goodreads) along with the author for the opportunity to read this book</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336065198l/13504524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="Reflection" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336065198l/13504524.jpg" /></span></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Contemporary Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">February 17th, 2012</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reflection-Series-ebook/dp/B007APJ0D6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336324597&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflection-jessica-roberts/1108923817?ean=2940013954878" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/137543" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Bright, spunky Heather Robbins has escaped her small hometown and is anxiously beginning her freshman year of college. Rising above her rocky childhood, she’s found a place where good things are finally starting to happen: her own private apartment, refreshing college classes, and an intense attachment to a mysterious and rugged classmate, Nick Richards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But when her dreamy college life turns out to be nothing more than a wonderful dream while resting in a coma, questions threaten. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Now, Heather must press forward to unlock the real past, and find the answers buried deep in her mind. What she unlocks instead is a roller coaster ride through flashbacks, embellished memories, and a whirlwind romance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">And when it’s all over and she comes face to face with the truth, will she lose everything she’s fallen in love with?</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Reflection</i> is an incredibly rich story that takes you on a tender adventure of a deep resonating love. An original concept that's purely addictive with characters that stick with you past the last page.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wrapped in an emotional situation, you are eager yet hesitant to figure out what is real and what is embellished imagination. Heather has become one of my all-time favorite female protagonists. As we travel through her memories right along with her, it's easy to form a connection. It's easy to experience the range of emotions that she experiences. She's just as described as above in the blurb, bright and spunky. She's silly, she's heart-felt, she's cautious, she's many, many things that all roll together to produce an extremely well-developed, jump-out-of-the-page character. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nick Richards is that mysterious, gorgeous guy that will amaze you with the depth that Jessica Roberts layered within his character. He's not just a pretty face, he's smart and in school for a reason. I was constantly entranced with his character, but more so by Heather and Nick together. After all, this is a love story, but one that could be purely fictitious inside Heather's mind. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Jessica Roberts expertly transports the reader within the pages of <i>Reflection</i> with her seamless prose, captivating, realistic characters, and heart-tugging story. This is a story that you are going to want to get lost in. I was beyond transfixed, easily devouring the savory details. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Though I enjoyed the energy of morning, the spice of daytime, and the sense of accomplishment that came with evening, there was nothing that pumped me more than the dark blue vigor of nighttime"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Reflection</i> is the type of book, for me, that my mind will always return to. A book that will stay in the forefront of my mind even after I get swept away by another great book. I cannot shake these characters or the story, and quite frankly, I don't want to. They can happily reside in my mind because <i>Reflection</i> is a book that warrants many re-reads just to experience the mind-tickling happiness, heart-stopping sadness and the vibrating eagerness that <i>Reaction</i>(the second book) will be out in Fall of 2012. And believe me, you are going to wish with all your might that the next book was already out.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Highly, highly recommended to all. A book that is soon going to be on A LOT of to-read lists, if it isn't already!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-59281692958016616752012-05-06T11:49:00.000-07:002012-05-06T11:49:31.446-07:00Review: The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1325372700l/12806139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="The Weepers: The Other Life" border="0" height="400" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1325372700l/12806139.jpg" width="277" /></span></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 15th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Marshall Cavendish</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Weepers-Other-Life-ebook/dp/B007FXRW8S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1336326459&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-other-life-susanne-winnacker/1105946300?ean=9780761462750" target="_blank"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other’s throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 4 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">A great book, but at the same time there was just something holding me back from completely loving it. There are definitely great moments and aspects, though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Zombies, yes! But these aren't your regular zombies, they are different which brought a uniqueness to the story that kept it interesting. Also, Sherry was a different yet great character. She is a brave and determined individual that most readers will appreciate, but at the same time she isn't completely bad-ass, she can't really even shoot a gun to save herself. But that works for her, she had me captivated and to be honest, it's a little more realistic than automatically becoming a fighting guru in the blink of an eye. Sherry also has a quirky counting habit that just adds to her character as it becomes her coping mechanism. Susanne Winnacker adds in little snippets of Sherry's 'other life' at the end of each chapter. It was a great way to reveal Sherry in a way that highlighted the slight yet significant changes that took place due to witnessing the aftermath of the rabies virus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wish there was a little bit more romance, but that doesn't hinder the reading experience at all. Sherry is only 15, so it makes sense. And also, it came off as more realistic as a hesitant friendship that kept growing into something more. Joshua was by far my favorite character. He has such depth that he's easy to like. Also, another favorite is Tyler, but he isn't in many scenes, but it's those scenes and the story of his past that just made me want to know all about him. I hope he gets a bigger part in the books to come. One thing that bothered me was the fact that I never knew Mia's age (Sherry's little sister), I knew that she was was a lot younger, but there was never any indication until about three-quarters of the way through. It wasn't a huge negative, but it did interrupt slightly because I felt that I wasn't accurately picturing her in my head.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>The Weepers</i> wasn't lacking in action, or mystery, that's for sure. The plot took unexpected turns that I didn't see coming, but it just needed a little more 'oomph', in my opinion. Still a great read that I recommend to any and all zombie lovers. I'm eager to know what direction the story will go since the ending hints at something without making it definitive.</span></span><br />
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</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-30447460377285124632012-05-05T11:49:00.000-07:002012-05-05T11:49:46.023-07:00Review: What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was fortunate enough to receive a copy from NetGalley</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 11th, 2012</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Available At</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Didnt-Say-Keary-Taylor/dp/1475156456/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336240546&sr=8-2" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Amazon</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Jake Hayes is a stand-out character. His voice is injected with a raw honesty, h</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">is words are genuine in a way that is often hard to bring forth, but Keary Taylor does this with such perfection</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> in a writing style that reveals the true voice of this character as it reads as if it comes from Jakes very own mind. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">" . . .came back with a stack of fifteen notebooks, a rainbow of colored covers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I just shook my head when she set them down.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My paper voice."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The characters in <i>What I Didn't Say</i> are real. Real characters with little details that make them that much more real. The anti-tourist attitude of the populating teens, the way they start some sentences with 'k', the blunt honesty of Jakes little brother, the red notebook that is solely Sam's and Jake's. Those little things make a story complete, they are necessary, but often over-looked. I relish those little details that turn a story of words into a story of people, even if they are fictous.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"<i>I'm okay, Mom</i>, I wrote. <i>You don't have to stay</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'No sweetie,' she said. 'You're not okay. And I'm not going anywhere.'"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>What I Didn't Say</i> is powerful, tear-jerking, thought-provoking, and eye-opening. It's emotional and intense, yes. But it's done in a way that doesn't focus on the tragedies, it's about overcoming those tragedies that life can and will throw at you, some of your own doing and others completely out of your control. The story is about the decision of choosing what are you going to let prevail. The clawing darkness or the lifting light. That's why <i>What I Didn't Say</i> is brilliantly awesome. There's hope. A tiny sliver of light that keeps growing as the pages grow fewer and fewer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"My screwed up little life felt pretty perfect"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">This is a story that will be going into my favorites pile. A must read for teens, a must read for ALL readers, regardless of gender. A beautifully captivating story that not only needed to be told, but NEEDS to be read. Keary Taylor bravely shares a little piece of her life that she was hesitant to share in her at the end in her Author's Note. I commend her for her bravery and will share a statement that will always stick with me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"So when life seems impossible, when it seems so bad that you can't go on, just stop for a second to take a look at all the things that you do have. I bet the list will grow pretty fast. And even if it doesn't you have the power to decide if you're going to let the bad or the good take control of your life."</span></span></div>
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</div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-73092014966588316752012-05-03T10:55:00.000-07:002012-05-03T10:55:14.150-07:00Review: Wishing For Someday Soon by Tiffany King<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1332850433l/13562547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Wishing For Someday Soon" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1332850433l/13562547.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">YA Contemporary Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">March 25th, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Self-Published</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wishing-For-Someday-Soon-ebook/dp/B007OON6KG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1335984385&sr=8-5" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Amazon</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wishing-for-someday-soon-tiffany-king/1109719451?ean=2940014242851" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Seventeen year old Katelyn Richards is a stronger person than anyone will ever know, and that is just the way she wants it. Behind her normal facade lies the reality of a broken home life. Thanks to her abusive mother, a string of deadbeat stepfathers, and an unsympathetic system, Katelyn has learned that the only one she can count on is herself. Her life’s mission has become to shield her nine year old brother, Kevin, and to give him the future that they both wish for. A life with no more abuse, no worries about where their next meal will come from, and no more wondering if they will have a roof over their heads. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">When her mother moves them again, this time to a small town in Montana, Katelyn’s resolve is shaken when she meets Max, a cute boy from her new school, who gets a glimpse into her real world. Max slowly manages to break through Katelyn’s wall of distrust, stirring up feelings she never saw coming. Now with her world more complicated than she ever intended, Katelyn struggles with the decision to follow her heart into the arms of the first boy she has ever loved. A decision that could risk the promise she made to protect Kevin, and to give them the ‘someday soon’ that is so close within their grasp.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><b>Rating: 4 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">As soon as I found out about <i>Wishing For Someday Soon</i> I instantly went on Amazon and purchased it, it was just one of those books that called out to me. It then sat in my Kindle haunting me as I tried to ignore it and get through a pile of books so I could reward myself with reading it. I'm not very disciplined. One night I just couldn't ignore it so I snatched up my Kindle and began reading.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I was swept away, for the most part. There were just a few aspects that fell a little flat for me. The part that had my heart clenched and eyes filling with tears was the sibling relationship between Katelyn and Kevin. It was so unbearably sweet and sad all at the same time. Kevin absolutely made the story, in my eyes. His maturity and innocence rolled into the heart-tugging package of a little boy. Katelyn was a great character as well, I loved how she was determined to stay strong all for the sake of her little brother. </span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">They were all great characters, really. I never found them flawed beyond their characteristics.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The romance was set at a perfect pace. It helped lend a feeling of hope and happiness to a sad story that sometimes resonated hopelessness through Katelyn. I absolutely loved Max, and their budding relationship was so natural most of the time. The only downfall, for me, was that sometimes the conversations between Max and Katelyn were not natural. Maybe it was the wording and the way that it came off, it just didn't flow with me, it didn't portray the proper amount of emotion and frustration that I should have felt during these conversations. It was almost as if they were scenes that were over-thought, too over done. It was the only thing that bothered me, but it's a big thing when it comes to a book that focuses on romance. The only reason why it's not getting 5 stars. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tiffany King is a strong author that has the power to write fabulous stories that pull you in via characters and well thought-out plots. <i>Wishing For Someday Soon</i> is the perfect story for most readers, it makes you feel, it makes you think and most importantly it shows you that hope and love can appear in unlikely situations that can unravel a perfectly placed facade. </span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-60037903724757891402012-04-30T15:33:00.000-07:002012-04-30T15:33:28.377-07:00Review: The Curse Girl by Kate Avery Ellison<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I would like to extend gratitude to the <b>Shut Up & Read</b> group on Goodreads along with the author for the opportunity to read this book</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1332297256l/13155806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="The Curse Girl" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1332297256l/13155806.jpg" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YA Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">May 14th, 2011</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Curse-Girl-ebook/dp/B00512ZWUU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335821262&sr=8-2"><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-curse-girl-kate-avery-ellison/1105164522?ean=2940012417725"><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59665"><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">When Bee is imprisoned in a magical, cursed house because of her father's selfish choices, she has just one plan... escape! But she must solve a riddle and help her fellow prisoners break the curse that binds them all before she can leave, and that is proving more difficult than she originally thought thanks to the bitter young master of the house, Will. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Will wants nothing to do with Bee or her help (and he certainly isn't planning on falling in love with her), but he might have underestimated just how determined and clever--and irresistible--she can be.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><u>Review</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 3 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Beautiful cover, right? Plus, who doesn't like Beauty and the Beast? This story is bound to capture a lot of attention. It instantly captured my attention, but I would have liked to see more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I like this book, the concept derived from Beauty and the Beast was extremely interesting. The story quickly grabbed my attention, making me entranced by the gorgeous words.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"A shattered chandelier lay three feet away, crystal droplets spread like frozen tears across the marble."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">See? Gorgeous. Great imagery. Even the characters were fun, without any downright flaws, but my biggest thing with <i>The Curse Girl</i> is that it would have benefited greatly from a longer length. I liked the characters, but there wasn't really enough time to connect with them in a way that would have brought forth an even greater investment. I would have liked to see more of the budding feelings between 'Curse Girl' and 'Beast Boy' that would have lessened the instantaneous feeling that I got. I also would have liked to see a bigger interaction with the the other characters, because of the length, the story pretty much solely focuses on Bee and Will which isn't a bad thing, but it would have brought more emotion and better ties from me, the reader, to them, the characters. In other words, it would have rounded out the story more, adding depth. I know I'm not the only reviewer that has stated that the length should have been longer and honestly it's great how it is, but it would have been beyond fabulous if there was a little more detail. I know this because Kate Ellison has a talented writing ability that draws you into the world that she has created. There were just so many things that could have used more elaboration which would have only added layers to an already great story. Plus, there definitely should have been a more romantic ending!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The plot successfully kept me interested as they searched for the clues to break the curse, even twisting in unexpected ways at times. There were the obvious things that came from Beauty and the Beast, but there were also fresh ideas that made the story as fun and great as it was. There was one huge inconsistency that I found that didn't hugely subtract from my reading experience, but it was a big part of Bee as a character so it did take away from the magic of the story. If you've read the story, I'm sure you'll know what I'm referring to. It is firmly stated that Bee experiences something for the first time in a long while when I precisely remember reading about it happening twice prior to that moment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">A fast, fun read that shouldn't be missed, especially if you are a fan of fairy tales and um, Beauty and the Beast! </span></div>
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Would have benefited from a longer length, more time to develop those feelings instead of it being almost instantasouly. Definetly would have liked to see more character development with the secondary characters, could have also bennifited from that. Enjoyable, fun, but didn't produce a huge connection to Bee.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532306411502429407.post-87918649912474401832012-04-28T12:37:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:19:49.952-07:00Review: Water (Akasha #1) by Terra Harmony<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I would like to extend my gratitude to the author for allowing me the opportunity to read <b>Water</b> in exchange for an honest review</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Paranormal Romance/Eco-Fantasy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">September 26th, 2011</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Self-Published</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Water-The-Akasha-Series-ebook/dp/B005PY2U8Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335636778&sr=8-1"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/water-terra-harmony/1106186164?ean=2940013322226"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/92109"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smashwords</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Elemental powers in the palm of her hand...and it won't be enough to save her. When Kaitlyn Alder is involuntarily introduced to a life of magic, she becomes part of an organization hell-bent on saving the Earth. Just as her new-found life holds promises of purpose, romance, and friendship, the organization divides and a rogue member holds Kaitlyn hostage. Now one of the most terrifying men the human race has to offer stands between her and Earth's survival.</span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Review</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">When Terra Harmony contacted me to review <i>Water</i>, I took one look at the cover and knew that I had to read this book. That and it was already sitting in my TBR pile over on Goodreads. The gorgeous simplicity of this cover drew me in before I even cracked the book open.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Kaitlyn is just an extremely awesome character. The minute I started reading her voice I instantly fell in love with her. She's sassy, sarcastic, fun and resilient to no end. The surrounding characters are a different story all together, and in a completely good way. I found them to be mysterious, never truly knowing their true intentions. You start out thinking one way about a character but then you would be quickly carried in another direction. This was true for all of the characters except Kaitlyn and maybe Alex. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">To further my love for Kaitlyn, Terra Harmony wrote <i>Water</i> in first-person. You all know how much I love first-person, and it allowed me to connect to Kaitlyn on a deeper level.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I have always loved stories about elemental power, but <i>Water</i> takes it in a different direction becoming a story about so much more. There's a whole history that comes together piece by piece, not just about The Seven, but also for each individual in the story.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The plot is thick with mystery and struggles just as the characters are. I was glued to the pages, anxious and sad as the pages dwindled down. There were light-hearted, carefree moments, sexy moments, tortuous moments, sad moments; there are so many little things in <i>Water</i> that accumulate to make this an enjoyable, unique read that is addicting. I can also say that I was so focused on Kaitlyn and her struggles to become part of The Seven that I was blindsided by the twists. Let's just say, I'm so happy that <i>Air</i> (the second book in the Akasha series) is already out! The ending isn't really a cliff-hanger, but it still has that little bump that will have you NEEDING to read more as soon as you finish.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">If you are looking for a fresh, unique Paranormal or Fantasy, then you need to pick this book up because it will swiftly sweep you away.<b> Reader Discretion</b>: This is a novel written for adults, while it's true that maturity has nothing to do with age, I will say that there are some scenes that will make even some adult readers uncomfortable, but they are necessary to portray a certain level of desperation that turned selfish and evil.</span></span></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14713541517738666169noreply@blogger.com2