Message to those reading my reviews

Hello. First of all I would like to thank you for visiting my blog. I hope my reviews help you decide on books that may interest you.

I would like to make one request:
If you have anything that you would like to see in my reviews (like more indepth descriptions of the story, what you feel would make the review more interesting, etc), please let me know.

Thank you for taking your time to read my opinion.

Charlotte

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

                                              

I received this as an ARC. I would like to thank Miss Mlynowski and Random House Books for this opportunity.

Don't Even Think About It is a story group of high school sophomores in New York who receive their flu shot. Within 24 hours a small group of them have developed telepathy. By the end of 48 hours, everyone in their homeroom who received the shot has developed telepathy.

 While it is intended for the YA group of readers, I was intrigued to see how Miss Mlynowski developed her story.
During the beginning of the story, it was hard for me to keep reading. Each character was given a back story that was so thorough it was almost mind-numbing. There are so many characters that are in the forefront of the story, that all the in depth character development can be somewhat overwhelming. As the story began to open up and start describing the telepathy and how each character was handling their new found abilities, it began to get very interesting. Miss Mlynowski held true to how a teenager might react.

This is definitely more geared to the YA group of readers than for readers who have been out of high school for a while. But, I very much respect Miss Mlynowski's talent. I would recommend this book to any young person that enjoys reading.

Forbidden The Soulkeepers by Lori Adams

                                  


I received Forbidden The Soulkeepers as an ARC. I would like to thank Miss Adams and Random House Publishing Group for this opportunity.

Forbidden is a story of a teenage girl, Sophia, the daughter of a pastor who has recently lost her mother. She and her father do not have much of a relationship. The story opens with Sophia and her father on the road as they move to a new town for her father to start a new job. Sophia quickly learns the difference between a small town and a large city: everyone knows who she before she even meets them. In the course of the story Sophia meets guardian angels and demons. She is torn between an angel and a demon. She learns that there is more to her than she could ever imagine.

While this story started out slow for about the first 25% of the book, I really enjoyed this story! The slow part of the book is necessary to understand what the story is all about. I had a hard time putting this book down I found myself rooting for the good guys, but intrigued by the bad guys. I found myself wanting to delve into the next book in the series the minute I finished this one.

I was pleasantly surprised that the author did not get even a little preachy with her story. With a book about angels where one of the characters is a preacher, it would have been very easy to incorporate morals and scripture into the storyline. But Miss Adams was all about the fiction. I look forward to finishing this series!

Circle of Death by Keri Arthur

                          


I received Circle of Death as an Advanced Review Copy. Thank you to Miss Arthur and Bantam Dell Books for this opportunity.
I do not go too deeply into the storyline to keep from giving away the story.

Kirby is sent on the run for  her life after finding her best friend brutally murdered. Because of her past, she has learned to only trust herself and one other person, and that person was just murdered.
Doyle is an agent from the Damask Circle. He and two others are sent to prevent the murder of certain witches. His job is to protect Kirby and find the killer before any other witches are killed.
Can Kirby learn to trust Doyle? Can she trust the fire that is growing between them? Can Doyle keep Kirby safe, find the killer and show Kirby that she can trust him with her life AND her heart?

This was my introduction to Keri Arthur's writing. I absolutely loved this book! It has action, suspense, and romance. Miss Arthur wove these three together seamlessly. Nowhere in the story did it ever feel forced or like the author was having trouble figuring out what to do next. The characters are developed and described in natural progression. While she needs to delve into Kirby's past, the transition is flawless. I never got confused about whether the story was in the past or present.
I particularly liked the way Miss Arthur wrote witches, vampires, and shapeshifters as cooperative cohorts instead of the traditional adversaries. The story contains good witches, vampires, and shapeshifters as well as evil witches, vampires, and shapeshifters.
I have read where Miss Arthur was compared to Laurell K. Hamilton (one of my favorite authors). I personally disagree. Miss Hamilton has shown in her writings that good and evil may not be so "black and white". While Miss Arthur has a clear line between good and evil. But even though they both write paranormal romance, their style, in my opinion, is so different that comparing them is like comparing peanut butter and jelly-they may go well together, but they are created by totally different items.
After reading this story, Miss Arthur has been added to my list of favorite authors.

The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson

I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. Thank you to Miss Carleson and her publisher for this opportunity.

"The Tyrant's Daughter" is about a girl, her mother, and her brother who run from their country to the United States in exile after her father is killed in a revolt against the dictator-whom just happens to be her father.
This was a very difficult story for me to get into. I was very interested to read this particular story. The family is from a middle eastern country. That interested me very much. I was interested to read how much of the culture the author actually wrote into the story. Was she going to keep the family immersed in their culture? Was she going to have them integrate immediately. Would the young girl instantly jump into the American culture or would she find comfort in the familiarity of her culture? Would they be looked at with hate and ignorance considering the wars that we are fighting in the middle east? Unfortunately, I was not really able to answer any of those questions. I only reached page 38 before I gave it up. To me, this story was way too middle-schoolish. For me, I have no doubt that the young girl was in the middle school age range. That for me is too young. Don't get me wrong, I do read some books in that category. My son and I read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" together when it came out, but he was in the sixth grade. But for me, "The Tyrant's Daughter" just wasn't for me.

The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson

I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. Thank you to Miss Carleson and her publisher for this opportunity.

"The Tyrant's Daughter" is about a girl, her mother, and her brother who run from their country to the United States in exile after her father is killed in a revolt against the dictator-whom just happens to be her father.
This was a very difficult story for me to get into. I was very interested to read this particular story. The family is from a middle eastern country. That interested me very much. I was interested to read how much of the culture the author actually wrote into the story. Was she going to keep the family immersed in their culture? Was she going to have them integrate immediately. Would the young girl instantly jump into the American culture or would she find comfort in the familiarity of her culture? Would they be looked at with hate and ignorance considering the wars that we are fighting in the middle east? Unfortunately, I was not really able to answer any of those questions. I only reached page 38 before I gave it up. To me, this story was way too middle-schoolish. For me, I have no doubt that the young girl was in the middle school age range. That for me is too young. Don't get me wrong, I do read some books in that category. My son and I read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" together when it came out, but he was in the sixth grade. But for me, "The Tyrant's Daughter" just wasn't for me.

Deception Cove by Jayne Castle

Ah, Jayne Castle, I must admit is one of my very favorite authors. She takes me to a place full of fun, intrigue, sex, mystery, psychic abilities, and my favorite: DUST BUNNIES! Deception Cove is a story based in the world of Harmony, but specifically on Rainshadow Island. On Rainshadow Island is a dangerous, forbidden area known as the Preserve. The Preserve is surrounded by a paranormal fence. Alice is a lady with a very strong paranormal talent that allows her to bend light. After the death of her Marriage of Convenience husband, Alice's ex-mother-in-law is convinced she murdered him. Because her talent for bending light leaves her very little options for work, and her mother-in-law's continuous harassment, Alice and her dust bunny Houdini are forced to move from place to place. Bending light leaves Alice with one venue of work-she gives Houdini top billing in their magic act. But just as her mother-in-law catches up with her again and causes her to lose yet another job, Drake Sebastian comes along. Drake is from a wealthy, well respected family. Drake finds Alice and offers her a job helping him to discover what is causing the Preserve to become unstable, hoping that she will also be able to help him fix whatever is wrong with the Preserve. Along the way they find that their attraction is as strong as their paranormal senses.
Miss Castle has taken her world of Harmony and created another world of intrigue within it's borders. Her ability to reel you into her world and make you feel as if you area part of it is astounding. Her creativeness in inventing a whole new world of animals, lovable and fierce is wondrous. Even though there is a finality to the story, the way she weaves her magic through her story makes you want to keep reading more about the world of Harmony.
Look up the world of Harmony and Dust Bunnies by Jayne Castle, I promise you will be hooked!

Rival by Lacy Yager

I received an ARC of Rival in return for an honest review. Thank you Miss Yager and her publisher for this opportunity.
Miss Yager has delivered again!
RIVAL has a very compelling story line. Miss Yager's development of the primary character, Emily, is very thought-out and non-conventional. It is refreshing to read a story about a teenage girl who is a tomboy who can kick-butt, who isn't obsessed with finding a boyfriend, or finding a way to stab her best friend in the back. It is also refreshing to read a book about a 17 year old girl turning 18 who isn't jumping into the bed of every guy in her school. Don't get me wrong, Miss Yager adds romance to the story, but it is the kind of romance that taps the reader on the shoulder and says "Hello, here I am" instead of "WHAM!! You can't get out of here without going through me first!".
I like that this is a paranormal story, but half the storyline isn't devoted to explaining about the vampires. I also like that she develops her own style instead of taking the path that has been so popular with most of the vampire-stories lately.
Miss Yager seems to prefer to write from each important character's point of view. In a previous review of another of her stories, I felt that style was a bit confusing, but in this story it serves her well. Her small number of characters is definitely a plus for this particular style of writing.  Her transition from each character happens almost seamlessly. 
I highly recommend teen and adult readers who are fans of the paranormal genre take a day or two to enjoy RIVAL. I honestly think you will be interested in continuing the story.

Shadow Allegiance by Lacy Yager

I received Shadow Allegiance free as an Advanced Free Copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author and the publisher for this opportunity.

Shadow Allegiance is the second book in the Unholy Alliance series.

Rachel is a Chaser, a human raised and trained to fight and kill vampires. After her parents die, Rachel, her older brother Shane, and her younger sister, Chloe are left to fight vampires on their own. Along the way they have formed a group that are determined to fight the evil vampires. There is Shane, Rachel, Maggie-a good vampire, Lily-a normal everyday orphaned human teenager with ADHD, Chloe-a supernatural little girl with seizures and Rachel and Shane's little sister, and Hannah- a witch.
While Shane is away trying to enlist other chasers, Rachel heads out on her own to seek out revenge on the vampire who attempted to abduct Chloe. In the process, she is turned into a vampire. When she meets Alex, she finds a kindred soul, in another vampire. Can she "live" with herself as a vampire, the very monster that she was trained to hunt and kill? Even worse, can she fall in love with a monster she was taught to hate and kill?

I absolutely LOVED this book! I started reading this series with this book, book #2, so some of the backstory was a little lost on me. But as I read further into the story, I was able to figure out the gist of the backstory. That being said, I would definitely go back and read Unholy Alliance in a heartbeat!
Miss Yager did a very good job of intertwining the characters' stories with the action part of  the story. It all flowed together so naturally.
I liked the way she told different points of view from the different characters. But in the same vein, at times going from character to character broke the continuity of the story.
For me to become interested in a story, the author needs to be able to create a world that comes alive in my mind. I need to be able to "watch" the story in my head. Miss Yager was able to achieve that requirement. I "saw" the fight scenes as I read them. Her descriptions were so vivid, so well thought out, but she did so without being overly wordy.
I happily award Miss Yager 4 1/2 stars out of 5. And Miss Yager has earned herself a very happy fan!!