Lin Ryals's Blog, page 26

Book Review: White Raven

Genre: YA Fantasy Synopsis (from Goodreads): DREADFUL LIES.

UNEXPECTED LOVE.

IMPOSSIBLE TRUTH.


It only took one heartbeat to change my life—one chilling phone call in the middle of the night.


And then, as if my life didn’t already suck, my dad sends my brother and me to some idyllic island for the summer to live with a grandma we never met. WTH. Naturally, I rebel. In the end, I find myself shipped off to Raven Hallow…and bored to tears.


Until I get an eyeful of the mind-bendingly gorgeous Zane Hunter. The dark-hair cutie makes my pulse go bonkers, and I think, maybe this might not be so bad after all. Six feet of swoon inducing looks, with a hint of Celtic charm in his voice, he was the type of guy that left a string of broken hearts in his wake. And I had all the heartbreak I could handle.


Yet, there is something uncanny, almost supernatural about Zane, and it’s not just his devastating smirk. No matter how much distance I put between us, Raven Hallow isn’t big enough, and the sparking tension between is undeniable. Of course, the one person I want to avoid becomes my salvation.


My past comes back to terrorize me. Someone wants me dead, and the closer I get to the truth, the more I realize my whole life is a lie. I am no longer sure what is more frightening—the attempts on my life or the guy whose heart and soul are synchronized with mine Plot (4 stars): So.... hmmm... where to start. I loved the cover of this book. So beautiful. As I began reading, I was pulled in immediately. Angsty teen forced to live with her long lost grandma after her mother was murdered. Weird paranormal activity going on in new town. It sounds like most YA paranormal romance. I'll admit, I'm a fan so I was excited. Heroine, Piper, meets the Hero, Zane, of the story and there's an instant attraction. Yes, all of this sounds familiar. But then, the reader finds out what's really going on and it's so original that I get super duper excited!! It's not vampires and werewolves like so many others! Don't get me wrong, I love a good vampire or werewolf story. It's just refreshing for someone to have an original paranormal creature. Characters (3 stars): So, story sounds pretty awesome. I mean, super awesome. But, there were some cons to this story as well. The angsty teenage thing never. goes. away. She's like that through the entire story. She and Zane are so mean to each other. I would even say verbally abusive. It's rough. So many times I was thinking, "This would just be so much easier if you'd confide in someone else! ANYONE ELSE!!" However, the character in the book wouldn't listen to me. The story moved a bit slowly. I didn't say what the paranormal thing is because the author doesn't introduce the reader to it until half way through the book. That's when things pick up a bit. Writing (3 stars): This book has so much potential and originality, but I had a hard time loving the main characters. Also, there were a lot of typos in it. I wanted to go through with a red pen. I was able to figure out what most of them were, but I had to stop a lot and read through a sentence to figure out what a word was supposed to be. Let me add that even though I had a hard time with the characters, I may go on and read the other books. I haven't decided yet. I kind of want to know what happens next. Not sure though. It really was an intriguing story that kept me absorbed in the book. Rating: *** Three Stars USA TODAY Bestselling author J.L. Weil lives in Illinois where she writes Teen & New Adult Paranormal Romances about spunky, smart mouth girls who always wind up in dire situations. For every sassy girl, there is an equally mouthwatering, overprotective guy. Of course, there is lots of kissing. And stuff.


An admitted addict to Love Pink clothes, raspberry mochas from Starbucks, and Jensen Ackles. She loves gushing about books and Supernatural with her readers.


She is the author of the International Bestselling Raven & Divisa series.

www.jlweil.com

Book Review: Hoax for Hire

Genre: Middle Grade

Publication Date: August 27, 2019

Synopsis: The McNeil family have always been professional hoaxers—tricking bystanders into believing they’re seeing legendary creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Unlike the rest of his family, twelve-year-old Grayson hates hoaxing and wants nothing to do with the business—even when the McNeils land a huge job and must pull off four sea-monster hoaxes in a week. But when things go disastrously wrong and Dad and Gramps go missing, Grayson and his brother, Curtis, are the only people who can finish the job and save their family.

Plot (4 stars): It’s a cute story that follows two brothers. The youngest one is twelve and the oldest is old enough to drive, but I’m not sure of actual age. They have to carry on the family business of pulling of hoaxes. Things get complicated and they wind up having to risk everything to pull off the grand slam of hoaxes.

Characters (5 stars): Grayson and Curtis have such well developed personalities. The reader watches as they grow as people and in their brotherly bond throughout their adventure. Gramps has my favorite personality of everyone though. He is very funny!

Writing (3 stars): The writing was great, but there was sometimes too much and it made the story go a little slow for my tastes. There were a lot of chapters where I just read the first line of each paragraph and the dialogue. I was just a bit bored reading all the details of everything. It was great for the character development, but I loved the characters even though I skipped a lot of it.

Overall: This was such a cute book that, I think, my son would have enjoyed. It’s great for the age range it’s intended for! I give it 4 stars! ****

After spending six years teaching the fine art of dream chasing as a teacher, Laura Martin is enjoying every minute of this lifelong dream of being an author. She lives in the Indianapolis area with her family. She is also the author of Float and the Edge of Extinction series. Visit her website at www.lauramartinbooks.com.

If you’d like to order a copy, follow this link to Amazon.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Hoax for Hire

Genre: Middle Grade Publication Date: August 27, 2019 Synopsis: The McNeil family have always been professional hoaxers—tricking bystanders into believing they’re seeing legendary creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Unlike the rest of his family, twelve-year-old Grayson hates hoaxing and wants nothing to do with the business—even when the McNeils land a huge job and must pull off four sea-monster hoaxes in a week. But when things go disastrously wrong and Dad and Gramps go missing, Grayson and his brother, Curtis, are the only people who can finish the job and save their family. Plot (4 stars): It's a cute story that follows two brothers. The youngest one is twelve and the oldest is old enough to drive, but I'm not sure of actual age. They have to carry on the family business of pulling of hoaxes. Things get complicated and they wind up having to risk everything to pull off the grand slam of hoaxes. Characters (5 stars): Grayson and Curtis have such well developed personalities. The reader watches as they grow as people and in their brotherly bond throughout their adventure. Gramps has my favorite personality of everyone though. He is very funny! Writing (3 stars): The writing was great, but there was sometimes too much and it made the story go a little slow for my tastes. There were a lot of chapters where I just read the first line of each paragraph and the dialogue. I was just a bit bored reading all the details of everything. It was great for the character development, but I loved the characters even though I skipped a lot of it. Overall: This was such a cute book that, I think, my son would have enjoyed. It's great for the age range it's intended for! I give it 4 stars! **** After spending six years teaching the fine art of dream chasing as a teacher, Laura Martin is enjoying every minute of this lifelong dream of being an author. She lives in the Indianapolis area with her family. She is also the author of Float and the Edge of Extinction series. Visit her website at www.lauramartinbooks.com. If you'd like to order a copy, follow this link to Amazon. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Keepers

Genre: YA Fantasy Publication Date: November 2017 (3rd book in series will be out in 2019) Synopsis (from Goodreads): Saving the world is easy: all Eden has to do is die. Seventeen-year-old Eden East’s life is perfect... until her soul is bound to her worst nightmare. Then her parents are brutally murdered, and everyone’s a suspect, including her best friend. As her world spirals out of control, a charismatic Siren, from a past she can’t remember, returns offering help, hope, and a heap of distractions. Eden must put aside her grief to solve the mystery of her parents' murder. In a race against time, can she break the binding to her enemy before he destroys her and her world? Three lives.
Two murdered parents.
One deadly choice.

Plot (4 stars): This was a really fun read and the plot was great! There are four groups of people who live in the world and they are separated by the type of powers they have - shifters, sirens, elementals, and sorcerers. Their job is to bring Balance to those of us here on earth. Of course, they must keep balance in their home as well. When the balance is threatened, they must find a way to fix it. I love this plot, because it uses paranormal powers that we all know and love, but how they use them is completely different from other books. It was a fun, original twist. Characters (4 stars): All the characters were great. The ones that I was supposed to like, I liked. The characters I was supposed to dislike, I disliked. They developed well throughout and reacted to situations in ways that made complete sense to me. Writing (4 stars): Writing was good. I was able to imagine everything. There were a few errors in the book, but they were minimal. Overall: I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I read it on a Saturday - the whole thing in one day. It was a really great book and I give it an overall rating of 4 stars **** I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you're interested in purchasing this book, it's available on Amazon at this link. Author: Sacha Black has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules. She also has the mind of a perpetual sixteen-year-old, only with slightly less drama and slightly more bills. Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing. She lives in Hertfordshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, blogging, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules. If you would like to learn more about Black and her books then click on this link.

Book Review: Beasts of the Frozen Sun

Genre: YA Fantasy Publish date: August 6, 2019 Synopsis (from Goodreads): Burn brightly. Love fiercely. For all else is dust. Every child of Glasnith learns the last words of Aillira, the god-gifted mortal whose doomed love affair sparked a war of gods and men, and Lira of clan Stone knows the story better than most. As a descendant of Aillira and god-gifted in her own right, she has the power to read people's souls, to see someone's true essence with only a touch of her hand. When a golden-haired warrior washes up on the shores of her homeland--one of the fearful marauders from the land of the Frozen Sun--Lira helps the wounded man instead of turning him in. After reading his soul, she realizes Reyker is different than his brethren who attack the coasts of Glasnith. He confides in her that he's been cursed with what his people call battle-madness, forced to fight for the warlord known as the Dragon, a powerful tyrant determined to reignite the ancient war that Aillira started. As Lira and Reyker form a bond forbidden by both their clans, the wrath of the Dragon falls upon them and all of Glasnith, and Lira finds herself facing the same tragic fate as her ancestor. The battle for Lira's life, for Reyker's soul, and for their peoples' freedom has only just begun. Plot (5 stars): As I talk about this book, you're going to realize that I love, love, love this book! I want to read it again!! So, this book is 368 pages. It did not feel like 368 pages though. The plot was not slow at any point. There was action, things were moving, it was beautiful. I loved every second of the plot. The world Criswell created was so complex. It reminded me a bit of the viking culture. I imagined How to Train Your Dragon the whole time I read it. I don't know if that's how the author pictured it or not, but that's what was in my head. Just a warning though, in the first 20% of this book, my heart was racing and I was crying. The plot is great. Characters (5 stars): Oh my goodness. The characters!! I couldn't help but to fall in love with the characters. They were all beautiful with their own personalities. The development was perfect. Lira and Reyker won me over pretty quickly. I also loved Lira's brothers and Quinlan. They have such incredible personalities and are written so well. Writing (5 stars): Which brings us to the writing. This, too, was great. Sometimes when you read high fantasy type stuff, the detail gets away from the author. As a reader, I feel bogged down. Criswell was able to walk that fine line between beautiful details without supplying too many to bore the readers. Criswell is just a beautiful weaver of words. Overall: AMAZE-BALLS!!! I really don't know what else to say about it. Read this book! I can't wait until the sequel comes out. I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. If you're interested in purchasing this for yourself, here is the Amazon link. Author: Jill Criswell is a writer of Young Adult Historical Fantasy. She was born and raised in the swamps of northeastern Florida. She earned degrees in English and Psychology and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida. Her greatest passion, besides reading and writing, is traveling the world; she’s visited fifty countries across six continents, falling in love with places like Iceland, Namibia, and Cambodia. She works as a university English teacher and lives in South Carolina, near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with her husband and daughter (who is named after a volcano in Iceland). For more info, check out her website.

Charmed and Lethal Chapter 1 Preview

Chapter 1 Renee The thought of pulling into the mall parking lot made my heart thump. I hadn’t been there since Daniel had been killed three years ago, and I wasn’t going to let the churning in my stomach stop me today. Not on Daniel’s angelversary. Lydia, my best friend, hadn’t taken her eyes off me since we got in the car at her house. Her concerned gaze didn’t help my jumbled nerves. “Are you sure about this?” she asked. “Positive. Besides, I have you, right?” I forced a laugh at her blank stare and parked. Lydia placed her hand on my arm, “We can come back.” “No,” I slid away from her touch and climbed out of the car. When Lydia walked around the car, I linked my arm through hers and made our way to Oakwood Mall. Instantly wincing, I scanned the food court for the high-volume screech and zeroed in on the metal pole of one of the carousel’s horses. Lydia nudged me as she spoke. I nodded, but couldn’t focus on her words due to the simultaneous chatter around us. I shook my head and motioned to the main corridor. Like I was coming back down a mountainside, my ears popped. “Oy…” I wriggled my fingers inside my ears. “What were you saying?” Lydia faced me. “I was wondering where you wanted to go first.” She narrowed her eyes, “Are you sure you’re okay?” “Yeah. It was just noisy over there.” Her gaze darted questionably to the food court, then back on me. “Okay, but if it gets to be too much...” “We’ll leave.” I pointed toward the sports store. “Let’s go this way.” I made my way over to the sparring section with a relieved sigh. The store was void of customers and noise, except for Lydia’s solo thumb performance against the racks. “Hey, look!” I lifted the packaged sparring gear. “Do you remember going to the Dojang with me?” She nodded. “I miss it, sometimes.” “Then you should go back.” She held up her hands in surrender when I gave her a pointed look. “Let’s keep moving.” I motioned out of the store and led us past several other vendors until we came to the elevator. As we waited for the opening of the doors, something echoed wildly in my ears. I glanced at Lydia to confirm she’d heard the same thing, but she was pulling her hair into a ponytail, still humming the pop song from the sports store. At the sight of Whitney and her friends from school in the elevator, I inwardly groaned. “Nice pants, Lydia.” Whitney smirked over her shoulder as we rode the elevator down. The clanging noise rang in my ears again and I looked up toward the ceiling. It had to be the cables of the elevator. “Is your mom sleeping around too much to afford anything else?” Whiny laughter refocused my attention. I squared my shoulders and narrowed my eyes. “I think you grabbed the wrong lip product, Whitney. What you’re looking for is the white tube that reads ‘glue stick’. It will look so much better on you.” “Shut up, Sparks!” Whitney snapped. “If we were on the mat, I’d give you the beat down you deserve.” She sneered as the elevator doors opened. I stepped right up to her, “Is that a threat?” I may have been half a head shorter, but I was fast. Before we could do anything, a sudden gust of wind sent Whitney and her friends stumbling out of the elevator and into a lady’s drink. The red slush went everywhere. I couldn’t help but laugh as Lydia and I stepped out and around them. When I glanced at Lydia, she was just staring at her hands. I waited to see what she was doing, but she grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the chaos. “Something weird is happening.” She whispered. “Yeah, you’re not laughing.” I threw a wide-eyed gesture toward Whitney. “Justice was served, and I didn’t even touch her!” “Exactly!” She looked panicked. “You didn’t touch her. There was a gust of wind, Renee. Wind doesn’t just come out of an elevator.” “Listen,” I linked my arm through hers to stop her from talking with her hands again, “let me look at the store first, then we’ll go, okay?” She studied me for a moment but nodded in agreement. We walked to the store that had remained vacant for three years. It still looked the same—blacked out windows, locked doors, and not a soul in sight. The area reminded me of death. I hated it, and I hated that the memory of Daniel’s lifeless body sprawled out on the floor, bloody and mangled, always surfaced. Scanning over the windows, picturing the crime scene, I saw a reflection of a man in the distance staring at us. I spun around, but he was gone. “What’s wrong?” Lydia followed my gaze. “There was a guy,” walking toward the back door, I searched for what I’d just seen. “He was right here.” Lydia raised her brows. “Maybe we should go?” I kept scanning the area, checking around corners and darkened areas, but there was nothing. Finally, Lydia’s hand on my shoulder stopped me. I swallowed, let out a frustrated sigh, but allowed her to steer me toward the exit. In our silence, the whistle of the wind picked up a swirl of leaves scratching together to break free from their carrier. The hair on my arms stood on end at the same moment Lydia stopped walking. “What? Did you see the guy?” I glanced her way and skimmed the cars until I spotted mine, calculating the distance in case we needed to make a run for it. “No. No guy. Just… more of a feeling. It’s probably nothing," Lydia whispered. Eyes wide, she searched the area. "Let’s walk a little faster.” She linked her arm through mine and pulled me forward. It was hard to ignore the bad feeling in my gut, the rolling of tires on pavement, or the distant screech of a car belt. I turned toward Lydia for answers, but her concentration was on the mall. Jerking my attention toward the nearby woods, the chirp of a tree frog ripped through the air so loudly, it hurt my ears. When I heard the swift rhythm of another set of footsteps, Lydia raised her brows, confirming the same ominous feeling I had. I turned in time to see the shadow of the man from before right in front of me. My stomach twisted when he reached out and grabbed me. As Lydia's muffled scream trailed away, a moment of hysteria crawled up my throat. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, providing a burst of energy, knowledge, and confidence I had never felt before. An overwhelming heat surged through my body. My ribs were constricted. Breathing felt impossible. I knew what I needed to do. Lifting my chin, I jerked forward and slammed my head into the man’s nose—his bones crushed beneath my forehead. Huh. I’m not as rusty as I thought. Wailing out an animalistic growl, blood gushed from his nose as he clutched his face. I broke free. Though for a moment the sight of blood made my stomach twist, I found my footing and stood ready and alert. I’d earned my blue belt in taekwondo, but hadn’t practiced for three years. My odds in this fight sucked. Reminding myself to focus with a quick, calculated breath, I held up my hands and balled them into fists. I knew I didn’t look intimidating, but under the circumstances, I wasn’t sure what else to do. As we stared at each other, the man’s blood-smeared mouth lifted into a wicked sneer. He lunged forward, obviously confident in his ability to win, but I jumped into a spinning side kick and knocked him to the ground. He lunged at me again. This time I followed with several combination moves to his chest and head—punches, kicks, spins—different moves my body somehow executed perfectly. “Now!” The command came out muffled. Two large, muscular beasts with enormous pointed teeth ran at us from either side. Not long after my fist connected with the snout of one of those beasts, my back burned at the pressure of a pair of claws ripping into my skin. Forced to the pavement with an agonizing cry, a high-pitched scream pierced my ears. I spotted Lydia across the parking lot, horrified as a pale blue flicker of light radiated from her hands and burst into flames. In any other situation, I would've laughed at the way she swung her arms wildly, but at this moment the result was very effective. Judging by the growing brilliance of the blue flame, things were going to end unpleasantly for those around her. Instantly, the beast Lydia was fighting flew into the side of a dumpster as though a tornado had swept him up and tossed him about. The piercing pain at my back that held me down relented, giving me the chance to move. Pushing through the pain, I swiftly jumped to my feet, wrapped my arms around the beast’s neck, and twisted. The bone snapped. The furry body fell limp to the ground. I froze. I’d just killed an animal. My stomach churned. As a wave of heat washed over me, I jerked to the side and allowed the remnants of lunch to come back up onto the pavement. Breathing deeply, I wiped my mouth and caught sight of the beast’s eyes. They were human. Gradually, the rest of his body changed. His snout shortened, his torso and limbs grew longer, and his fur disappeared, revealing a naked man lying on his side. He was human. I backed away quickly and looked for Lydia. She was staring at her hands again, which were now empty of any blue flame, looking as terrified as I felt. Walking forward, I joined her in the middle of the courtyard. We glanced around in search of our attackers, but the area was vacant. “We need to call the cops.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed the number with shaking hands. Lydia sniffled beside me and I paused then sucked in a deep breath, “In and out.” I motioned for her to copy me, “That’s it.” I looked at my phone, “Any idea what I should tell the police?” I placed the phone to my ear as Lydia took another deep breath but shook her head. When I moved to straighten my shirt, pain shot down my back. I reached up and felt the area that throbbed on my shoulder. Lydia gasped, “You’re bleeding!” “It must’ve been when that thing was on me.” I waved it off with my free hand. “I’m fine.” The police picked up the phone. “Yes. I need to report an attack.” The man on the line asked for a detailed description. “There were three of them. I broke one guy’s nose and the other two beasts looked kind of like big dogs. They might have our blood under their claws, but they may be fingernails now because they changed. I’m not sure how this…” The man on the line interrupted telling me not to prank the precinct again and hung up. “Hello?” I gritted my teeth, “Fine, I’ll call the FBI.” I mumbled to myself and started searching online for the FBI’s number. Lydia grabbed my phone and stuffed it in her pocket. She opened her mouth, but gasped when a cat crept out from underneath the dumpster, hissing as it hurried down the alley. I shook my head and waited for her to continue. "Calling the police didn’t work. We’re not calling the FBI.” Lydia let out a deep sigh. “Should we just go?” I glanced around, knowing something needed to be done, but sighed and nodded. She helped me slowly move from the vacant parking lot to my little sedan near the mall’s entrance. Pulling the doors closed, we both just sat there. Lydia broke the silence, “Do you think… should we go after those… things?” “I doubt we’ll be able to track them.” My focus distanced for a moment when another thought popped into my head. “Why don’t you come to my house and we’ll come up with a plan.” I had no desire to drive all the way home by myself. “I was just about to invite myself over.” Lydia sat with her hands in her lap. She scrunched up her nose, still staring straight ahead in her own little world. “We’ll clean and bandage your back, too.” She faced me. “It looks like it hurts." I shrugged in response, sucking air in between my teeth at the pain. "What am I going to tell my mom?" Lydia shuttered. “I’m planning on not telling my mom anything.” Trying to fight back the tears that wanted to break free, I turned the key in the ignition. We needed to leave this parking lot. Every now and then a distant bush looked more like a dark figure. I pressed down on the gas pedal and turned out of the lot with a screech. It was imperative we left the odd turn of events behind in the smell of rubber and smoke. My sanity depended on it. The full moon cast shadows along the road as we drove down the highway. I followed my dirt road down our ten acres toward my white, two-story house with black shutters. My mom had left a message on my phone earlier in the day to inform me she was taking on another shift at the emergency animal clinic, which meant she wasn’t home. Lydia and I climbed the porch steps inside to the living room. “You lay down.” She pointed to the couch. “I’ll get the first-aid kit.” I took a couple of breaths to work through the pain before lowering myself to the couch. Minutes later Lydia walked back into the room holding a bottle of rubbing-alcohol, cotton balls, gauze, and the emergency pack of needle and thread. “No stitches.” “You sure?” We exchanged a brief look before she soaked a cotton ball with alcohol. “O-kay…” As she lightly dabbed my back, I squeezed my eyes closed at the sting and grunted into the cushion of the couch. “Earlier at the mall,” I glanced her way trying to distract myself, “you were the one who created that huge burst of wind, weren’t you?” The cuts must have gone deeper than I realized because the burning intensified. Lydia sat back on her heels, waving her hand across my back to provide a continued rush of air. “Yeah. After nothing else happened, I thought my mom had slipped me one of her happy pills.” She paused. “Did you see the blue fire in my hands, Renee? Freak alert.” She softly sang out then glanced back over at the wound on my back. “It needs stitches.” I shook my head. “Mom will know something’s up. I’ll just change the bandage.” A light blue glow appeared over Lydia’s hands. “What’re you doing?” “Nothing. I swear!” Her eyes widened. “It’s just happening. I can’t explain it, but I think…” She moved closer. “I think I’m supposed to use it on your back.” “What!?” I shouted. Lydia bolted forward and quickly pressed her hands against my skin. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Then instantly the pain subsided, and the area Lydia had placed her hands went numb. I felt nothing but the warmth of the light blue glow. “It’s healing,” Lydia whispered. “Wait,” Lydia pressed her palms against my wound again, but nothing happened. She sat back in confusion. “It stopped. I don’t understand.” Sitting up, I reached over my shoulder to feel the wound. The three, deep claw marks from before only felt like scratches now. “That was incredible.” I stepped back and adjusted my shirt. “Ooh,” I giggled, “my back feels all tingly.” I smiled at Lydia’s wide-eyed expression. “I don’t know what’s happening to us, but we survived an attack that involved mutant humans, Lydia. You have to admit that’s pretty awesome.” “I don’t have to admit anything. It’s creepy.” She set the first-aid kit aside and redid her ponytail. “We just need to sit down and go over what to do.” “After that, I know exactly what we’re doing.” I laughed. “We’re finding out what we’re capable of and we’re doing it tonight.” “Really? Tonight?” Lydia groaned. I grabbed a clean shirt from the laundry basket as we headed out the back door and tossed the bloody one in the trash. “I need to know what it all means.” I slipped the shirt over my head as we crossed the railroad tracks to the old barn behind my house. It was overgrown with weeds and shaded by trees. They looked eerie in the moonlight but created privacy. We walked in silence for a while, just listening to the crickets chirp, reveling in the peace of the countryside. “Feel any better?” Lydia asked. “A little. You?” I glanced at her. She shrugged. Stepping up to the barn, I bent down and maneuvered myself in between the two planks of wood to get inside. Lydia slipped through after me and walked to the middle of the barn, coughing once from the kick up of dust. “Not much has changed.” I mumbled. There was a hole in the roof, so the moon’s light filled the space where we were standing. “Well, we’re here.” Lydia clapped her hands together unenthusiastically and stepped back. “You go first. Let’s see if you have any real athleticism to go along with your crazy strength.” “Okay.” Blowing out a quick breath I walked down the length of the barn, crouched down, sprang forward, and flashed past Lydia. I ran up the wall, flipped over backwards then landed on my feet. “Tah-dah!” I twirled around and raised my hands. “Watching you show off is like a slap in the face. Really.” Lydia deadpanned. “I can’t help it. The urge to move is strong, young Padawan.” “Guess it’s my turn, only not here in this extremely flammable area. Let’s go outside.” Lydia grumbled. I followed her into the woods away from the barn a bit. She waved me back a few steps. “Are the woods less flammable than the barn?” I asked sarcastically. Lydia rolled her eyes. When I was at a safe distance she held up her hands, closed her eyes and just like lighting a match, blue flames sparked to life over her palms and fingers. She took a breath and the flames shook. “You’ve got this...” “Actually, I don’t think I do. How am I not getting burned, Renee? I should be—” “Don’t stress—” A spark fell, lighting the dead grass on fire. She started freaking out—screaming for me to get a bucket of water—when I opened my mouth to explain our lack of resources an orb of water hovered by me mid-air. It burst into a puddle on the burnt patch of grass. Relieved, I focused on Lydia bent over at the waist with her hands on her knees. “How’d you do that?” “There was a puddle by the railroad track.” She stood up and walked past me. “I don’t know. Thought it might be helpful.” Amazed, I grabbed her by the arms. “That was incredible.” “No. It wasn’t.” She jerked away from me. “What if I hadn’t seen the puddle? I don’t know what is happening to us, but it scares me, Renee.” Unsure how to convince her everything was okay, I remained silent. “You should be a little scared, too.” I shook my head. “At least to have a friend who could possibly light you on fire.” “You won’t.” I said. From the tilt of her head I knew she didn’t believe me. I changed the subject. “We should keep a diary to track our changes in case there are any patterns.” “Good idea. Then you can count the number of times I say, ‘creating fire from the tips of my fingers is hazardous.’” “Let’s head back.” I hurried in front of Lydia. “I know you’re scared. We have every right to be. We were attacked by something supernatural, the police didn’t believe us and it feels like no one is on our side, plus we have powers that are hard to comprehend.” “I’m sensing a but...” She folded her arms. “But,” I smiled, “we’re in this together. I help you, you help me.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and moved us into my backyard. “It’s just a feeling, but I think we’re meant to do more.” “Well, more needs to be going to bed because my head hurts and if your mom fusses at us for being awake still at,” Lydia glanced at her phone, “one o’clock in the morning, my head might literally explode.” “Yeah. Mom would kill us, and that would suck because I’m starting to like these powers.” I wiggled my brows. Lydia shook her head. “You can’t say having the power to control fire, wind, and water isn’t at least a smidge intriguing.” “Not sure yet. I’ll let you know when I don’t feel crazy.” She glanced at her hands again. “I know what you mean. And the next time those beasts or mutant men or whatever they were come at us, we’ll be prepared. Then the police will have to believe us.” Walking into the house, we headed straight for the stairs. “So, if you’re saying play this by ear,” Lydia said as we climbed into bed, “and I’m saying let’s forget it happened. How are we supposed to figure out our next move?” I smacked her arm. “Um, maybe fortune tellers are real?” “Ooh, good plan. Let’s hunt down a crystal ball, and while we’re at it, click our heels together.” We looked at each other and both smiled. “Goodnight, Renee.” She rolled over onto her side. “‘Night, Lydia.” I turned off my lamp and listened to Lydia’s breathing. We were going to figure this out. I knew it. Welcoming the warm blanket of happy dreams and kick-butt fighting scenes, I drifted off to sleep.

Cover Reveal: Charmed and Lethal

Synopsis: Best Friends living a normal teenage life find themselves caught in the middle of an ancient war between the Guardians and the Were. With their new-found powers they must choose the right path. But which side is good and which is evil? Follow Renee and Lydia on their road of self-discovery, forbidden love, personal growth, and friendship as they make friends and enemies that could ultimately mean life or death. Authors: Christine Eller started creating her own stories in 2006 after reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, which quickly escalated into an obsession for more swoon-worthy reads. She received her Creative Writing diploma in 2013 from LRWG. When she’s not dancing and singing with her kids, sneaking chocolate, reading, or writing - always writing - she’s semi failing at maintaining a normal life with her husband of fifteen years, four kids, and two dogs in Utah. Currently, she has two self-published short stories on Amazon. https://lynnettechristine.wixsite.com... Lin Ryals received her bachelors degree in Educational Studies from WGU. She resides in South Carolina and has been married for sixteen years. She enjoys being a mother to three children, two dogs, a cat, and multiple reptiles. In her limited spare time, she is up late writing and painting. You can often find her striking a yoga pose, reading, or spending time with her family. Mostly, she’s at home writing up lesson plans and expecting her Hogwarts acceptance letter any day. http://smithlinda60ls.wixsite.com/lin... To purchase the book (ebook or paperback), click HERE.

Book Review: Strays

Genre: YA Paranormal Synopsis (from Goodreads): Werewolves are struggling to survive. Jaze and those who remain of his pack build an Academy to protect the children who endured the genocide. Alex and Cassie arrive as orphans after losing everyone they love. The twins find themselves in a new world where they have to survive the politics and dangers of being a werewolf in a world that wants them destroyed.
But outside forces have found them. Can Alex protect his sister and survive the attacks of a man who wants them dead and will stop at nothing to see it happen? Plot (5 stars): This was such a fun story. A lot of it was cliche, but there was enough originality to it that I really enjoyed it. I mean, a school for the paranormal - it's done all over the book world. Of course, this doesn't mean I love it any less. I even wrote a book with this same idea in it. It's a werewolf school though. Yeah! I think it reminded me more of the school from X-Men though. The humans know werewolves exist and they tried to live together in peace, but something scared the humans so the humans went for what they normally go for - genocide. Many families were torn apart and children left without parents. Those children needed to go somewhere and this secret school for Werewolf children was born. The reader follows Alex, who is in his 6th year at the school, as he tries to break all the borders. Amidst all this, someone keeps trying to kill Cassie and Alex and they don't care who else they hurt to get to them. By the end of the book, the reader still doesn't know why. I'm assuming we find out in the second book, which is why this isn't a 4. Hopefully I'm right. Characters (4 stars): I loved all the characters. You had your funny ones like Pip and Amos. Your intimidating ones like Vance and Boris. Your dreamy ones like Jericho and Jaze. But then you had Cassie. Cassie is Alex's twin sister so she's one of the main characters. She's a fourteen year old girl who cries about everything and is portrayed in a way that kept making me imagine her as a seven year old girl. I kept hoping she'd leap up and attack someone and be strong, but she didn't! At all! Ever in this book. Maybe she does better in the next book. Alex coddles her, so I can see why she is that way, but it made me crazy. For that reason, and only that reason, I'm giving this category 4 stars. Writing (4 stars): The author can write. This is a self-published book and there were quite a few writing errors scattered throughout the book. It's hard to get them all when self publishing, especially if you can't afford a professional editor, but I really wish this one had less. It wasn't so much that it was too distracting though. The story kept moving and I was able to figure out everything. The author is a great writer though. I could see everything clearly in my head and loved it. Overall, I really, really enjoyed this book. I'm debating buying the second one, but I have so many to review that I'm hesitant. :)

Overall, I'm giving this book 4 Stars! **** If you are interested in purchasing your own copy of this book, feel free to click THIS LINK to Amazon. Author: Cheree Alsop is an award-winning, best-selling author and the mother of a beautiful, talented daughter and amazing twin sons who fill every day with joy and laughter. She is married to her best friend, Michael, the light of her life and her soulmate who shares her dreams and inspires her by reading the first drafts of each book. Cheree is a fulltime author and mother, which is much more fun than work! She enjoys reading, riding her motorcycle on warm nights, and playing with her twins while planning her next book. She is also a bass player for their rock band, Alien Landslide. Cheree and Michael live in Utah where they rock out, enjoy the outdoors, plan great adventures, and never stop dreaming.

For more information, visit her website HERE.

Die For Me by Amy Plum

I had never heard of this book before a friend of mine recommended it to me a few weeks ago. It's the first of a trilogy and is set in Paris, France in 2010. The story opens following Kate Mercer, who is depressed and living with her grandparents after her parents died in a tragic car accident. She cuts off ties to all her old friends back in America and is content being a recluse for the rest of her life as she works her way through high school. Then, she meets this mysterious Frenchman named Vincent. He is more than he seems. As she falls in love with him, it becomes clear that he is more than human, he is a revenant. He's a being who spends eternity giving in to the call to save people over and over again. In turn, killing him over and over again. He comes back each time, but it's hard for a mortal, like Kate to watch. Meanwhile, there's an eternal war going on that finds Kate in the middle. This is a typical human girl falls for paranormal boy story which we all know and love to read over and over again. The beginning of the story was hard to get through. Kate is depressed (for good reason) and so the story drags a bit. However, once things pick up, they really pick up. I was up until 1am finishing this book, despite my husbands groans of annoyance at the light. LOL! Amy Plum is the author of DIE FOR ME, an international bestselling Young Adult series set in Paris which comprises of three novels (DIE FOR ME, UNTIL I DIE, IF I SHOULD DIE) and three novellas (DIE FOR HER, DIE ONCE MORE, INSIDE THE WORLD OF DIE FOR ME). Her second series is a duology. Amy describes AFTER THE END and UNTIL THE BEGINNING as “a faux-post-apocalyptic, road trip, adventure, romance, thriller with a bit of magic.” Her third series is the DREAMFALL duology, which was optioned for television by DiGa Studios. (MTV’s Teen Wolf, Scream). The second book, NEVERWAKE, releases in August 2018. Her books have been translated into thirteen languages. After being raised in Birmingham, Alabama, in a rather restrictive environment, AMY PLUM escaped to Chicago to an even more restrictive environment at a university that expelled people for dancing. (And where she was called to the dean’s office for “wearing too much black”.) After all of that restrictiveness, she was forced to run far far away, specifically to Paris, France, where she only wore black and danced all she wanted. After five years in Paris, she ventured to London, where she got an M.A. in Medieval Art History, specializing in Early Sienese Painting (1260-1348) mainly because it promised almost no hope of finding a paying job afterward. Amy managed to find work in the world of art and antiques in New York. But after almost a decade of high-pressure lifestyle in the Big Apple, she swapped her American city for a French village of 1300 inhabitants. After signing with HarperCollins for the DIE FOR ME series, Amy left her job as an English professor at Tours University to write full-time. She now lives in Paris with her two children. She is a huge fan of Edward Gorey and Maira Kalman (and collects both of their books and art), as well as David Sedaris, Amadeo Modigliani, and Ira Glass.


For more info on Amy and her books, go here: http://www.amyplumbooks.com/ I give this book 4 stars: ****

Book Review: Orange by Ichigo Takano

From Amazon: "Everyone has regrets in life. So who wouldn't take the chance to change the past if given the opportunity? When sixteen-year-old Takamiya Naho receives a mysterious letter, claiming to be from her twenty-seven-year-old self, her life is suddenly thrown into flux. The letter informs her that a new transfer student by the name of Naruse Kakeru will be joining her class, and to keep her eye on him. What is Naho to make of the letter's contents and its cryptic warning?" My Thoughts: I'll admit, I'm not a huge manga reader. In fact, I don't think I've ever actually read manga, only graphic novels. The thought of reading right to left and started from the opposite side of the book threw me. In fact, as I was reading it, I often turned the page the wrong way. LOL! However, when I was standing in the library and my children were picking out manga, I read the description of this one and was intrigued. I wanted to read it. Surprisingly, I was sucked in the story. It often went back and forth between the future and the current. Or was it the current and the past? I'm not really sure, but it worked. :) I found myself invested in the characters and teared up with parts of it. I actually loved it. The characters were well thought out and even though there was a bit of a love triangle, it didn't seem so petty and shallow as a lot of other young adult books I've read. This follows six friends friends. Five of them receive letters from their future selves telling them the sixth one will die if they don't try to stop it. The thing is, the five friends have formed a life of their own. Will changing the past disturb their lives? Two of them are even married and are parents! Will it all be worth it? Will they be able to save their friend? It's a fun story.... not action packed, not full of magic, but a beautifully told story of friendship.


Rating: FIVE STARS ***** To view book on Amazon, click this link: https://amzn.to/2GNQzgw