Showing posts with label Books You Might Not KNow About. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books You Might Not KNow About. Show all posts

Are You Going to Kiss Me Now? by Sloane Tanen

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Are You Going to Kiss Me Now?

Published May 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire (first published April 27th 2011)
Source: Sourcebooks Fire
 
 

Plot:

High school junior Francesca Manning is an outsider, an aspiring writer and secret devourer of celebrity gossip mags. A fake essay to Seventeen wins her the celeb-schmoozing opportunity of a lifetime, but after the plane crashes, she's stranded on a desert island with five of the most clueless, self-involved headcases to escape Hollywood. Happily skewering their foibles in witty observations on her iPhone proves surprisingly educational for Francesca. The group must work together to survive-if they don't insult each other to death first.

My Thoughts:

I'm lovin' all the great summer reads I've been sent lately. Are You Going To Kiss Me Now? was the funniest novel I've read in a long time. It took me back to the day when Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie started The Simple Life. Posh celebrities and their lifestyles crack me up. If they only knew how the other half of us live, right? This novel had the same kind of humor. I literally wanted to reach in and smack some of the characters for being so dumb.

The plot wasn't terribly involved, so if you are looking for a light read to throw in your beach bag that will entertain you for a while, this is it. You'll be able to zip through this one fairly quick and maybe get a laugh or two.



The Book of Lost Souls by Michele Muto

Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Book of Lost Souls

Kindle Edition, 324 pages

Published March 6th 2011
Source: Author Provided ARC




Plot:

When teen witch Ivy MacTavish changes a lizard into her date for a Halloween dance, everything turns to chaos. And when no one is powerful enough to transform him back except Ivy, it sparks the rumor: Like father, like daughter. Ivy has heard it all before - that her father, who left when she was seven – was involved with the darkest of magic.


Making the rumors worse, someone uses an evil spell book to bring back two of history's most nefarious killers. Ivy's got a simple plan to set things right: find the real dark spell caster, steal the book, and reverse the spell. No problem! But she’ll have to deal with something more dangerous than murderous spirits that want her and her friends dead: the school’s resident bad boy and hotter-than-brimstone demon, Nick Marcelli. Nick’s offering Ivy more than his help with recovering the missing book – he’s offering her a way to ditch her scaly reputation as a lizard-lover. Demons are about as hard to handle as black magic, and as Ivy soon discovers, it’s going to take more than a lot of luck and a little charm if she wants to survive long enough to clear her status as a dark witch, get a warm-blooded boyfriend, and have her former date back to eating meal worms before the week’s end.



My Thoughts:

I must say that this cover is quite alluring. It immediately drew my interest and I had to find out more. I was pleasantly surprised to find the story is a blessedly fresh new take on the supernatural world. There is lots of mystery, plotting, subterfuge and generous handfuls of comedy throughout the story. While there is a love triangle, it does not overwhelm and derail the plot line. I particularly liked the group of friends and their intra-dynamic.


The story itself is fast-paced, had me laughing out loud and rooting for bad-boy love interest Nick. This YA novel is definitely worth the wait.

----Michele


Tales of Summer Romance

Monday, June 27, 2011

Tales of Summer Romance, A Collection of Short StoriesTales of Summer Romance, A Collection of Short Stories by Fiction Flurry


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Love this collection. The stories range from Contemp to Historical. Great mix! Plus it features Historical Romance writer Susan Gee Heino (Author of Mistress By Mistake, Damsel in Distress, Temptress in Training). Great book for a cheap price to add to you ereader. A portion of the profits goes to charity too!




View all my reviews

The Undertakers: The Rise of the Corpses by Ty Drago

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Title: The Undertakers: The Rise of the Corpses
Author: Ty Drago
Published April 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Synopsis:
On a sunny Wednesday morning in October, a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another, I found out my grouchy next door neighbor was the walking dead. When you turn around expecting to see something familiar, and instead see something else altogether, it takes a little while for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I call it the 'Holy Crap Factor.'A" Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers--a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters, who've banded together to battle the corpses.

Do you see the living dead?
It's bad enough that Will Ritter discovers his next-door neighbor has become a walking, talking corpse. But when his assistant principal and math teacher also look like something from a horror flick, he begins to seriously questions his sanity --- until the Corpses attack.

Don't call them zombies. Zombies are slow and stupid. These things aren't To make matters worse, only a few people, like Will, can actually see them. Forced to join a ragtag army of teenage resistance fighters called the Undertakers, Will finds himself in the middle of a war against an invasion of the living dead. And in this war, the Undertakers aren't just the first line of defense --- they're the only line of defense.


My Thoughts:
My first reaction to reading the back cover of this novel was pure intrigue. This novel is such a deviation from the norm of what I read but, completely to my surprise, peaked my curiosity to such a point that I had to spend the afternoon reading it. I am surprised at how much I enjoyed the unique world created by Mr. Drago. I'm more of a romance and mystery kinda gal but I couldn't resist the creative unfolding of Will Ritter's unusual circumstances. While there is a very slight hint at possible romances in later books, our hero is after all only twelve years old. The natural chemistry between all the characters shines through. I was only a few chapters in when I realized I was emotionally invested in the plight of these rebel Undertakers.

Mr. Drago does an exemplary job of slowly unfolding the connections between past and present events. He doles out the information as a reader I am craving to know while simultaneously keeping our main chracters in the dark just long enough that I'm fairly screaming at them to catch on...There is a complexity to the story that strongly reminds me of the Pendragon Series by DJ McHale.

I thoroughly enjoyed jumping on board the hero train and going for a very long ride. I cannot wait for the sequel to find out how the rescue of our planet by a ragtag bunch of teens turns out.

----Michele----

Lure by Stephanie Jenkins

Friday, April 15, 2011

Title: Lure
Author: Stephanie Jenkins
Source: Ebook
Kindle Edition
Published March 29th 2011
Series: Siren's Lure




Plot:

Charlotte Brewer is sure she's crazy when she hears singing drifting from the ocean-normal people don't have arias playing on repeat in their head. When she gets wasted at a party and investigates the ethereal tune, she almost drowns. Charlotte comes to with an overwhelming thirst for salt water, a new desire to eat fish, and a heartbeat of only seven beats a minute. She wakes up by the sea almost every day and dead men wash up hours later.


But then Charlotte meets Lorelei, a siren. Lorelei reveals she saved her from drowning with the "Siren's Kiss"-a curse that made Charlotte a soulless immortal. Her role as a siren is simple: guide the souls of the dead at sea. Too bad taking care of the dead means being stuck in the middle of a war between a fertility goddess and the sirens . . . and losing her soul. If Charlotte wants to regain her mortality, she must find love with a mortal. And if she fails to secure it, she risks becoming a puppet to the gods.



My Thoughts:

I've read a ton of books, and I have to say Lure surpasses a lot of the books I've read lately. Charlotte  makes you root for her. Her story is so addictive. I literally couldn't put it down. The voice in the first paragraph hooked me right away and told me this was a girl I could totally be friends with. She isn't afraid to call someone out on their crap, which in my eyes makes for an awesome female lead character. She will keep you on your toes.


I was captivated by the first chapter. I just had to find out what/who was singing and putting Charlotte in a trace where time would literally be sucked away from her. The Siren's song that calls to her hypnotizes her and causes her to do some crazy things.

The other characters in the novel were also well written. It's so hard to make secondary characters lovable, but Jenkins has done an awesome job of making me care for them and interested in their stories as well.

If you want romance in a YA novel, this one is for you. Wyatt sizzles and I can see why Charlotte is attracted to him. Hooray for hot boys in YA!! LOL This really kept the read going too. I wanted to know more about him and I rooted for him and Charlotte to hook up.

There is plenty of mystery and suspense in this novel, so if your looking for a YA fantasy novel to read that rocks and still doesn't break the bank, give LURE a shot!! I love, love, loved it and would totally recommend!!


Get it Here for only 99cents!!!:

Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut - Review

Monday, April 11, 2011

Quick Review:

Paperback, 174 pages

Expected publication: June 28th 2011 by Twilight Times Books
http://www.darbykarchut.com/
Setting: High Springs, Colorado, 2011

Griffin RisingGriffin Rising by Darby Karchut


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My Thoughts:




This novel really grew on me. I've read a lot of angel books this year, but GRIFFIN RISING was unlike any of the other angel YA novels I've read lately. The main character suffered throughout a lot of abuse from his first mentor Nicopolis in the beginning of the novel. Basil couldn't have come into the picture soon enough and saved Griffin from his current situation. It kind of reminded me of the 3rd Karate Kid movie for some reason, where the mentor was out to purposely hurt his pupil and the good mentor comes in and saves the kid.

The love story between Kate and Griffin was totally sweet. Romance makes or breaks a book for me and this adventurous story had just the right balance for this plot. The moments between Kate and Griffin were some of my favorite in the whole book.

The other thing I enjoyed about this novel was the presents of parents, which rarely happens in young adult stories. Most of the time the parents are non-existent.

Read this one if you want an angel book with a different spin.


More Reviews: Reading, Writing and Waiting


View all my reviews

Plot:
 
For Griffin, it's time to angel up.


For centuries, rumors have abounded of a lowly caste of supernatural beings known as the Terrae Angeli. Armed with the power to control Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, these warriors secretly serve as guardians for mortals in danger.

But for one young angel-in-training, Griffin, life is hell as a cruel master makes his apprenticeship a nightmare. On the verge of failing, a new mentor, Basil, enters his life and changes it forever. It is their father-and-son relationship, sometimes turbulent, often hilarious, always affectionate, that sings through the story like a pure note.

Masquerading as the average teen next door, Griffin struggles to learn his trade, navigate the ups and downs of modern life among humans (including falling in love with the girl next door), and prepare for the ancient trial-by-combat every apprentice must pass at sixteen or be forced to become mortal.

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman - Review

Quick Review:

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country (Zan-Gah, #2)Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the second novel in the ZAN-GAH Series. It picks up about three years after the first story, which means our characters are a little more mature in this one. I really liked the character growth in this one. It was much darker than the first book and geared toward, what I felt, was a higher audience. The emotional baggage the characters have resulting from the struggles they went through in book one and during the next three years really drew me into this book.

If you are looking for a quick read, be sure and pick up this prehistoric adventure.

For More reviews: Reading, Writing and Waiting

View all my reviews

Plot:
The prehistoric saga continues in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, the sequel to the award winning Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this story, Zan s troubled twin brother, Dael, having suffered greatly during his earlier captivity, receives a ruinous new shock when his wife suddenly dies. Disturbed and traumatized, all of his manic energies explode into acts of hostility and bloodshed. His obsession is the destruction of the wasp men, his first captors, who dwell in the Beautiful Country. When he, Zan-Gah, and a band of adventurers trek to their bountiful home, they find that all of the wasp people have died in war or of disease. The Beautiful Country is empty for the taking, and Zan s people, the Ba-Coro, decide to migrate and resettle there. But the Noi, Dael s cruelest enemies and former tormentors, make the same migration from their desert home, and the possibility develops of contention and war over this rich and lovely new land.

Zan-Gah by Allan Richard Shickman - Review

Quick Review:

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure (Zan-Gah, #1)Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure by Allan Richard Shickman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Fast paced read set in a prehistoric setting. This isn't the typical book I like to read, but I was surprised at how much I liked it. It kept me hooked. I put this one off for a while because, honestly I thought I wouldn't like it at all, but I'm glad I finally gave it a try. When I sat down with an open mind I flew through this book in about four hours. I would recommend this one to the younger YA audience, though--ages of 9-12. So if you are in the market for a fast read that is truly different from everything else out there in the YA market, give this novel a try.




More Reviews: Reading, Writing and Waiting




View all my reviews



Plot:

Zan-Gah, seeking his lost twin brother in a savage prehistoric world, encounters adventure, suffering, conflict, captivity, and final victory. In three years hero passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a position of leadership among his people. Themes include survival, brotherhood, cultures, gender roles, psychological trauma, and nature's wonders and terrors. This is the electronic version of Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, which has been awarded Mom's Choice Gold Medal for Series, the Eric Hoffer Notable Book Award, and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher - Review

A quick review:

Stolen: A letter to my captorStolen: A letter to my captor by Lucy Christopher


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


My Thoughts:  Very Creepy, but it kept me hooked. It's crazy to think this could really happen...




View all my reviews

Plot:
Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

Series Spotlight! The Hourglass Door Series

Sunday, March 13, 2011

I read The Hourglass Door a while back and adored it. I haven't gotten a chance to read the second book in this series, The Golden Spiral, but is looks awesome! Looks like book three, The Forgotten Locket, hits selves May 30, 2011. Guess I better get on book two quick!

The Hourglass DoorThe Golden Spiral (Book 2 in the Hourglass Door Trilogy)The Forgotten Locket (Hourglass Door Trilogy)


YA Books I Loved That Didn't Get A Lot of Hype

Saturday, March 12, 2011

My book case is a complete mad-house because I have an obsession with buying books. Seriously, I probably have a couple hundred books, if not more, on there. Some of them I haven't read yet, while others have been read more times them I care to admit to. So, when I was at Borders yesterday rummaging around their 'Going Out of Business' Young Adult Section I couldn't help but to notice a lot of my favorites still sat on the shelves. The I started thinking, "why don't people love these books like me?" The only answer I came up with in my brain was that maybe it was because people have never heard of them. Let's face it. Some books are hyped so much they are everywhere you turn, while others you only hear about from book bloggers and word of mouth.

Now, I'm talking books published by the big time agencies here too, not just independent ones. I know that the way books are advertised stems back to how big of a deal was made on the book and all that, but sometimes I find I liked the less-hyped books better.

My long-winded point is, I thought this would be a good time to share some books I have recommended to people and sometimes they've never heard anything about the book and/or series.


The Touch Series:

I loved this one for the romance and the plot. I just had to figure Ben out and Cameila was an awesome main character. I loved the whole mystery in this book. The newly released Clarity actually reminds me a lot of this series, so naturally I loved that one too.

Book One: Deadly Little Secrets

Plot:
Some secrets shouldn't be kept...


Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes anything but ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help--but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something... but he's not the only one with a secret.

From the best-selling author of Blue is for Nightmares comes a story of paranormal romance that's sure to be a thrilling and chilling teen favorite.

Book 2: Deadly Little Lies
 
Book 3: Deadly Little Games


The Dark Guardians Series:

Rachel Hawthorne is hands down one of my favorite authors. I can count on any novel I pick up from her to leave me with that warm and gooey love-sick feeling. Each Dark Guardian novel is first person tense told by a different girl in the overall plot of the series, which is a great spin to a YA series. So, each book is fresh with a new love story while the main plot moves along. This is her paranormal series that I totally love. It makes me sad when people say they've never heard of her or this series. If you haven't read it, you are truly missing out on a great YA paranormal romance.

Book 1: Moonlight

Plot:

I see him and knows what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever.


KAYLA is the nature lover, the all-American beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Lucas. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying-and thrilling-gene that will change her life forever.

LUCAS is dangerous, gorgeous ... and a werewolf. As leader of the Dark Guardians, shape-shifters who gather deep within the state park, he has sworn to protect his pack. But when Lucas finds his true soul mate, his love could put them all in harm's way.

As Lucas and Kayla struggle with their feelings for each other, a greater danger lurks: Humans have discovered the Dark Guardians and are planning their destruction. Kayla must choose between the life she knows and the love she feels certain is her destiny

Book 2: Full Moon

Book 3: Dark of the Moon

Book 4: Shadow of the Moon
 Giving Up the V:

I love gritty, true Contemporary Young Adult Fiction. When authors let go and really let their inner-teenager shine through, a book becomes spectacular. I felt like Spencer was a real girl and I was concerned who she was going to give it up to. The secondary characters in this book blew me away. It takes a lot to make your minor characters stand out in a way that the reader will care as much about them as you main character. The Duff actually reminds me a lot of this one, because the dialog is true to teens.


Giving Up The V

Plot:

Spencer Davis just turned sixteen. But unlike most hormonal teenagers who seem obsessed with sex — like her entire crew of friends — Spencer just doesn't get it. She'd rather wait for the right guy and the right moment. But that moment may be arriving sooner than she'd thought.


Enter Benjamin Hopkins, a new transfer student who seems to have his eyes on our V-card-carrying heroine. He's gorgeous, funny, suave, athletic, and capable of making Spencer's knees wobble with a single glance. Spencer has never felt this way about anyone before, but is Ben truly V-worthy?


Tell me, are there any great series out there that YOU love that people don't know about?? Shout-out and share with us. Maybe, we'll love them too.
Related Posts with Thumbnails
 
Blog Design by Use Your Imagination Designs all images from the Flying Dreams Storybook Collection by Lorie Davison