Review: The Casquette Girls - Alys Arden

 
Release Date -October 31, 2013
Publisher - fortheARTofit
Edition - Paperback
Pages - 512
Series - The Casquette Girls

Summary - After the Storm of the Century rips apart New Orleans, Adele Le Moyne and her father are among the first to return to the city following the mandatory evacuation. Adele wants nothing more than for life to return to normal, but with the silent city resembling a mold-infested war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal will have to be redefined.

Events too unnatural – even for New Orleans – lead Adele to an attic that has been sealed for three hundred years, and the chaos she unleashes threatens not only her life but everyone she knows. Mother Nature couldn’t drain the joie de vivre from the Big Easy, but someone or something is draining life from its residents.

Caught suddenly in a hurricane of eighteenth-century myths and monsters, Adele must quickly untangle a web of magic that links the climbing murder rate back to her own ancestors. But who can you trust in a city where everyone has a secret, and where keeping them can be a matter of life and death – unless, that is, you’re immortal.

Review - New Orleans, Vampires, Witches, Family Secrets, and a Love Triangle...... Can you get any better than that?

We start off meeting Adele. She was taken away from her home she loves so much in New Orleans and is sent off to a country she knows nothing of to a mother she knows nothing of other than her taking off while Adele was a child. I have never been to New Orleans but I have always been drawn to it for some reason. I have always thought it was fascinating and beautiful and want to visit sometime. My love for New Orleans, even though I have never been, I felt helped me connect with Adele and her love for the city. I instantly bonded with her character and fell in love with the story right away. This was a longer book but was really hard to put down. I was constantly finding a reason to sit down and read just a little bit more because I needed to know what was going to happen.

There were so many things that happen and you think you know why and them BAM surprise you don't. So many things are brought to light and the whole story slowly comes together. I thought Alys did an amazing job writing this! It was long but it didnt feel long. It was perfect for giving you all the details that you needed. This book also had one of those aspects that I love. Flip flopping back and forth from present day to the past. I love being in two different time frames but the story all wraps together so well, and this one definitely did just that. There were a few things that were danced around and you still at the end never find out what those details are. I cannot wait to read the next in the series. I got this one from the library and when I finished I checked to see if they had book two and they don't. So it looks like I may be ordering me a copy. It is that good. I want to add it to the every growing collection of books collecting dust that my husband hates. LOL Unfortunately he is not a reader and doesn't understand my love of escaping into an amazing book and forgetting about reality for a while.


Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this review and look forward to more things to come.
  

Review: Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

 
Release Date - December 6, 2012
Publisher - Speak/Penguin
Edition -E-book
Pages -336
Series - Souls

Summary - A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny, and danger

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review - Absolutely loved it!  ***** SPOILER ALERT*****

There was not a single thing about this book that I did not enjoy! You start off by meeting Lenzi, who is afraid she is going crazy like her father did. He heard voices and ended up committing suicide because of it. Lenzi is afraid that she is headed down the same path when everything starts to change. The voices start getting worse and they start wanting things from her. Then she meets Alden. Sweet amazing Alden, who helps her to come to terms with what she is dealing with and helps her to learn why. And her past. Or should I say many pasts. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the bouncing back and forth between present day and memories of the past.

I loved Lenzi's story. I loved how Alden and her friends were able to show her memories of who she was in her previous lives. How those memories made her make the decisions that she did. I was really hoping that their story would continue, but from what I have read the second book is more of a spin off on the other characters lives. I am not sure yet if I will read it or not. I was so into Lenzi and Aldens story it might be hard for me to get into the others.

I would recommend this to anyone who is into paranormal romance with some historic aspects thrown in there.


Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this review and look forward to more things to come.
  

Review: Amber Smoke by Kristin Cast

Release Date - June 9th 2015
Publisher - Diversion Publishing
Edition - Paperback
Pages - 250
Series - The Escaped

Summary -
There is a world that runs parallel to our own, a world in which the souls of the damned are caged, where they are looked over by the Furies, and where they spend eternity in torment, mirroring the devastation and mayhem they created when alive. Someone has opened the cage.

The worst of terrors has crossed the barrier that separates our world from theirs, and the Furies send a great, albeit untested warrior—their only son, Alek—to try to bring those souls back. He is young and handsome, headstrong and impulsive, and he won’t be able to do it alone.

Eva has grown up, beautiful and beloved, but surrounded by secrets. First, she will be hunted in an ancient feud that will threaten her life. Then, she will become the hunter.

With the police closing in and two worlds on the verge of crumbling around them, Alek and Eva must find each other, discover the limits of their powers, and work together to save everything they hold dear, including one another. Blending elements of mythology with the dazzling storytelling that her fans have devoured through the House of Night series, Kristin Cast weaves a spellbinding and passionate tale that starts a thrilling new series with an explosive charge.

Review - The first thing that caught my attention to this book was the cover. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Then a little while in I realized it was written by Kristen Cast, co-author of the House of Night series. (Yes, I realize now that it states this on the cover, but I didnt pay that much attention.) Once I realized this it set my bar high since the books from  that series that I have finished I loved, but I was very disappointed when that bar was never met.

At first I really didn't think I was going to like this one. All I could think is it is going to be a boring Hercules novel. And it kinda seemed like that's what it was. But at some point in turns into a murder mystery and caught my attention. Then here comes some romance. It really threw me for a loop. This book was not anything like I was expecting. The writing style was not my favorite, but it was bearable. I was not a fan of jumping back and forth between 3 perspectives. Two, ok, I can usually handle but three seemed to be too much and too busy for me. It also made the book seem really rushed. It kept my attention to the end and I didn't just give up, like I have on other and like I have read many did with this book. 

When I would be reading about the sisters perspectives, or Alek when they were in Tartarus, I found myself to become disinterested during those portions. Something about the setting just really didnt get me. It was almost like enough time was not spent there for it being such an important part of the plot. I definitely was more interested in the parts that took place in "our realm", which was actually kind of disappointing. I really enjoy getting into stories that take place in a different time or unusual setting but it felt like the ball was really dropped with me in this aspect.

Finally we get to what seemed like the real story, of Eva and Alek but then it ends. All of a sudden. That part I really did not like. It was like they just ran out of room and quit. Or needed to just stop there so they could continue it into another book. I felt like it was short and needed to continue. I have not decided yet whether or not I will read the second in the series. As much as I want to find out what has happened to Eva and Alek, I am afraid of whether I will like the next one to read it all the way through. I wish more of the book had been about Alek and Eva trying to discover their importance to each other and what they needed to do to save their perspective worlds. Maybe book two, will do this. I have read a few reviews on it and am not sure how I feel about it.

Then we come to the epilogue. Is it just me or was that I completely different story all by itself. It made absolutely no sense to me. I almost with I hadn't read it and just left it at the end of the last chapter. 



Overall I really enjoyed the story line and the characters but there were some things about the writing that I would have changed. 



Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this review and look forward to more things to come.
  

        Has it really been two years since I have posted anything?!? So many things have happened in that amount of time. Shortly before my last post I gave birth to an amazing little boy. Which I am sure many of you know takes up so much of your time. Then this year I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. I have learned in these two years how to balance life so much better. Which is what brings me back. I have read several books in the last couple months and need to get my reviews out there. Here is a list of the reviews to come.

The One by Kiera Cass
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey
Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden

        I cannot wait to get these out there and to let everyone know what I thought about them. I am really hoping to get things going again and getting some author interviews and guest posts going as well.

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Review: The Elite - By Kiera Cass

Release Date - April 24, 2012
Publisher - Harperteen
Edition - Ebook (EPub)
Pages - 272
Series - The Selection

Summary - Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s   with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Review - Can I just start out by saying I think this has been one of my favorite series that I have ever read. Granted I have not read many, this will definitely be in the top. The flow from one book to another is perfect. I stop one and pick up another and can't even tell that I am on to a new book, other than the covers. And can we talk about the covers for these books? I absolutely love them. That is what drew me in in the first place. The model that they got works perfectly for America. All throughout the books they talk about the different dresses that these girls wear to their different events and occasions, and the covers give you a nice idea of what they are talking about. 

Now on the the book itself. WOW! If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be WOW! There are so many things that happened in The Elite, that I never saw coming! The Selection had its moments where it was a little predictable, but let me tell you this one does not. Even all the way to the end things keep happening that you don't expect. The one time I thought I knew what was going to happen was the ending. Knowing that there was another novel coming made me wonder what was going to happen if The Elite ended the way that I thought it was going to, but right at the end, and I mean the last few pages, you get thrown another curve ball that I really didn't see coming. I cannot explain how excited I am to start The One, which is the third and final novel in the trilogy. There are though, two novellas that going along with this trilogy. The Price, which is from Maxon's perspective, and I am sure is going to be good. And The Guard, which I'm sure you have guessed is told from Aspen's point of view. Also this December, they are releasing another novella. The Queen! This was taken from her blog and makes me wonder what she has up her sleeve. 

" I get questions about a lot of the other women in America Singer's life. The maids (of course), Marlee, and (one my personal faves) Queen Amberly. It seems to be quite a mystery to most of us how such a wonderful woman could have ended up with Clarkson. But soon, you'll all know the answer! We're taking you back to the last Selection to see Amberly's story unfold in a new novella!"

Will this be the last or will they continue? I would love to read from the maids and Marlee's perspective! How do you guys feel?

Kiera Cass has done an amazing job writing these books and I can't wait to read many more things from her.  

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Release Date - April 24, 2012
Publisher - Harperteen
Age Group - 12 and up
Pages - 336
Series - The Selection
Rating - 5/5

Summary - For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Review - It has been way too long since I have started a book and actually finished it. Three years to be exact and I don't think I could have chosen a better book to break that hiatus.The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. I was drawn in the first time I saw it. Then I read the description. As much as I loved the cover I really wasn't sure if I was going to like the book. I am not usually a fan of books that take place in a different type of lifestyle, but this one I have come to love. From page one the plot took me in deeper and deeper and deeper. Sometimes it is hard for me to connect with characters but I found myself falling in love with America. At first I wanted her and Aspen to be together so bad but then when she meets Maxon I completely forget about Aspen. Although America does not. As the competition goes on America isn't even thinking about Maxon but she is also trying to forget about Aspen. She is there just to get away and forget and that's exactly what she starts to do but ends up in a situation she never saw coming. It was so hard for me to put this book down. I read it in only a few days. If you are looking for a good romance novel this is a great one to pick up. Kiera Cass does an amazing job at making you fall in love with the characters and draw you into the unpredictable plot.