Book Reviews

Wicked Charms (Lizzy and Diesel, Book 3)

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wicked charms

Wicked Charms (Lizzy and Diesel, Book 3)

Author: Janet Evanovich/Phoef Sutton

Series: Lizzy and Diesel

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Bantam

Pages: 320

This series is a spin-off of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, which includes the hot “unmentionable”, Diesel. He teams up with sweet, cute Lizzy, who found out in the first novel in this series that she is also an unmentionable. Since the beginning, they have been attempting to find all of the Saligia stones. Lizzy is one of two people in the world who are able to “feel” the stones, and other empowered objects, when they are near. Diesel’s crazy, but charming, cousin, Wulf also wants the stones, and has the other person. In this novel, they are attempting to gain possession of the stone of Avarice. This stone makes the person in possession of it incredibly greedy. This leads to an all-out treasure hunt, some kidnapping, and complete mayhem and hilarity.

As this is a spinoff of the Stephanie Plum series, it is written in that same style. It holds within it Evanovich’s typical humor, mixed in with action and mystery. It is a fun, light read. It’s perfect if you need a little pick-me-up.

The Elite (The Selection, Book 2)

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The Elite

The Elite (The Selection, Book 2)

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection Series

Genre: Romance/Dystopian

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 352

The Elite is, obviously, the continuation of the first novel in this series, The Selection. The girls have been whittled down to the final six, vying for Prince Maxon’s hand in marriage and the title of Princess. America is still undecided about whether this is the life that she wants: is she cut out to be a princess, and does she want to be Maxon’s wife, or is it Aspen- the boy whom she has been in love with for years that she is meant to give her whole heart to?

As I said in my initial review of The Selection, this is not my typical chosen genre, however- in this second novel there were some very interesting turns of events that made me much more invested in this book than I was in the first one. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a lot of romantic elements to the novel, but this one has more action- both physical and political- that kept me intrigued and wanting to know more. Now, I can’t wait to get to the next one to see what happens!

The Selection (The Selection Series, Book 1)

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the selection

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection Series

Genre: Romance/Dystopian

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 352

Ok, so I honestly had no aspirations of reading this book. While I do enjoy dystopian era books, this is not in the genre that I usually read. Sure, I like a little romance and heat in my novels sometimes (as you can tell, I read a lot of PNR), but something that is geared towards a romance is not really my style. I just grabbed to see what all of the fuss was about; I was curious. That all being said- it was pretty entertaining!

The novel is set in a dystopian type era, where everyone is now in different castes. The higher the caste number, the lower the person is on the social scale. It is highly uncommon for women to marry below their caste. America, however, has had a secret romance going on with Aspen (who is one caste below her) for a couple of years. Along comes “the selection”, where thirty-five women of age are chosen from all different castes to vie for Prince Maxon’s hand. America is convinced by her mother and Aspen that she has to try for it. A week before the selection of the thirty-five Aspen dumps her, saying that he can’t provide for her…then she is chosen. She meets the Prince, and a friendship turns in to more, but Aspen is still in her heart.

This was an entertaining book. It definitely wasn’t my best read of the year, but again, it’s out of my usual genre. If you really enjoy romance, you’ll probably really enjoy it. I am intrigued enough to read on to see how it plays out.

Fire (Seven Realms Trilogy, Book 2 aka A Companion for Graceling)

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fire

Author: Kristin Cashore

Series: Seven Kingdoms Trilogy

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Firebird

Pages: 528

This novel is set during the same time as the original Graceling novel, but it is in a different realm known as The Dells. In this realm, rather than having Gracelings, they have “monster animals”. These monsters can be bugs, birds, raptors, or I the case of Fire- a human monster. Her being a human monster causes other monsters and other humans to be drawn to her. It also gives her the ability to reach in to the minds of other animals and humans. In this uncertain time in The Dells, when war is imminent, Fire must fight a battle within herself to determine whether she is willing to expand on her ability in order to aid the king. He wants her to help him obtain information that he needs to aid his efforts in the coming war. Her doing this may possibly save her own life, as well.

This sequel/companion/whatever they are calling it now (it looks like the series name changed with re-publishing, as well, from Seven Kingdoms to just Graceling Realm) didn’t grab me right off the bat in the way that Graceling did. I won’t say that it started off slowly, it just wasn’t quite as engrossing in the beginning. It did get better pretty quickly, though, and I ended up really enjoying it. It’s not the rave review of Graceling, but it was definitely worth reading.

Alice in Zombieland (The White Rabbit Chronicles, Book 1)

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alice in zombieland

Author: Gena Showalter

Series: The White Rabbit Chronicles

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 416

Ali, Alice Bell, and her sister, Emma, have grown up never being allowed to leave their house after dark. Their father believes that there are some kind of strange monsters out there, that only come out at night, that want to hunt them down and eat them. The problem with his theory is that no one else has seen these monsters, except for her crazy father. That all changed on Ali’s birthday, when she convinced her parents to venture out to Em’s recital… at night. The evening ended in a car crash that changed Ali’s world forever. She saw the monsters, and what they are capable of. Now she must learn to fight them, with the aid of a group that she never dreamed existed, because they’re hunting her now.

Gena Showalter is a master! Confession: this is my first zombie themed read. I’ve never even watched The Walking Dead (I know, I know!). I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not, because I had no idea if zombies would be my thing, but I truly did enjoy it. It had a great story line, along with several sub-plots, so it really held my interest. On to book two!

Graceling (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Book 1)

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graceling-cover

Author: Kristin Cashore

Series: Seven Kingdoms Trilogy

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: HMH

Pages: 480

The first novel in this series by award winning author, Kristin Cashore, was engrossing within the first few chapters. This story centers on Katsa, who is the niece to a king in a realm where some people are marked as Gracelings. One can distinguish those who are graced from others by the colors of their eyes. The graces can be anything from cooking, swimming, mind reading, or fighting to Katsa’s grace: killing. Her king uncle uses her as a weapon, and she is growing tired of it. She has formed a counsel which carries out secret missions of justice. During one of the missions she meets Po, another Graceling and prince. They then go on a dangerous mission themselves, where they learn more than they thought possible about themselves, their grace’s, and one another.

I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this novel or not when I first came across it. The beautiful cover and brief description convinced me to give it a try. It didn’t disappoint. All of the characters are well developed and multi-dimensional. The scenery is well visualized and described. It was a cosuming read, and I’ve already got the next one lined up to throw myself in to.

Liza and the Dragon (Short Seductions, Book 5)

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Liza and the Dragon

Author: Jordan K. Rose

Series: Short Seductions

Publisher: Jordan K. Rose

Genre: PNR

Pages: 35

In the latest installment of her latest series of novellas, Jordan introduces one of my absolute favorite mythical beings, the dragon. When I first heard that she was bringing a dragon in to this series, I honestly wondered how in the world that was going to work. Trust me when I say, it works flawlessly! This is probably my favorite of this series so far!

In this novella, we meet Liza and her mysterious dragon, Tyson, at the now infamous Other bar, Seductions, where they first met thirteen months before. We soon find out that they meet at the bar once a month for, what Liza assumes, is just a night of amazing sex. Liza wants more, but is afraid to tell him. She then goes on to assume that he is married, as he has shown up in a tux with make-up on the collar, and smelling of perfume. It turns in to a cluster of a night from there! IS he married? What does he want from her? Is this over? Read away, and find out! You won’t regret it!

Let Us Prey (Gotcha Detective Agency, Book 1)

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image

Author: Jamie Lee Scott

Series: Gotcha Detective Agency Mysteries

Publisher: Jamie Lee Scott (Another Indie!!)

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 256

This is the first novel in the Gotcha Detective Agency Mysteries by bestselling author, Jamie Lee Scott. I must say, I have no idea why it has taken me so long to get started on this series! The series centers on Mimi, who is a PI. She was in the Secret Service, and got out around the time that her husband of one year was killed in a plane crash. After he passed away, she started the Gotcha Detective Agency which is staffed with quite the cast of characters. She has her best friend, Jackie, who works as a PI with her, and Charles, the computer forensics specialist (who is hilarious!). This particular story really hit home for me, because it was centered on an author who writes vampire novels. This author hired Mimi to work as personal protection for her while she was travelling for her book tour. After the first evet, they arrive back at the author’s home to find that her assistant was murdered in the same way that one of the main characters in her latest novel was killed. Much to Mimi’s surprise, the homicide detective assigned to the case is her old college flame, Nick. Their relationship did not end well, and it is incredibly awkward for her when he shows up. He is a complete jerk to her, so needless to say, I was not a fan of him right away!

The author does a great job of throwing in a whole lot of suspects, so even though I thought I knew who it was after the first couple of chapters I wasn’t so sure by the next chapter. There are some really cool elements to the book that I wasn’t expecting (Vampire LARP, anyone?), so it kept me really interested. It was a quick read, which was just what I needed. I will definitely be reading more of this series, and her other series’ if they are anything like this!

Get in Trouble: Stories

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Kelly Link

Author: Kelly Link
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Fantasy/Myth/Urban Legend
Pages: 352

I fell in love with this book and this author from the first five pages! Kelly Link has one of the most brilliant literary minds that I have read in a very long time. Her writing is something completely different from anything that I have read before, and it captivated me. You might notice under genre, I couldn’t really decide what to put: there is a reason for that! I can’t really decide what it is! This author crossed the genre boundaries from fantasy to urban legends to mythology, and back again in a way that leaves the mind buzzing and asking for more. I certainly did not want this book to end! This is the first short story collection that I have read in quite a while, and I am so thankful that I decided to grab it. There was not a bad one in the bunch, but I think that my favorite of them all was “Summer People”. That story had a little bit of everything: mystery, fairy people, and just the right amount of creepiness. That one was followed closely by “Origin Story”, because who doesn’t love a good superhero…bad superhero? Like I said before, a very different kind of fiction! I was left at the end altogether saying “WTF?” and wanting much, much more!

Red Queen (Red Queen, Book 1)

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red queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Publisher: Harper Teen
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 383

This was a book that I picked up on a whim, after seeing it out for a month or so and thinking that it looked kind of interesting, and I can honestly say that I am so glad that I did!! This is the first novel in what will be the Red Queen series, and it was a phenomenal debut from this author. It is a very different type of fantasy novel than the ones that I have read before it. It is set in a place where the world is divided in to Red’s and Silver’s. The Red’s have red blood and no extraordinary powers, and the Silver’s have silver blood and some sort of power that makes them unique and special. Mare, the main character in this novel, is a Red…technically, and scheduled to be sent out to fight on the front lines in the army. That is until she is thrown in to the world of the Silver’s, when it is accidentally discovered that although she has Red blood, she has Silver power. The story gets turned upside down and inside out from that point on! The king and queen decide to betroth her to their youngest son and pass her off as a long lost Silver to hide what she is, but this girl has no training in how to be a “proper lady”. The people who you think you can trust, you can’t….or can you?! This novel was a constant twisting and turning roller coaster ride, and I loved every minute of it! I cannot wait for the second book in this series to come out! If you’re looking for a different type of fantasy, this may just be your pick!