Marie August's Blog, page 9

Book Review: Luck of the Dragon by Susannah Scott

Dragons in Las Vegas!

Luck of the Dragon by Susannah Scott

Reading Level: Adult Paranormal Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 24, 2013
Publisher: Entangled: Covet
Pages: 161 pages
Source: Author
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Dr. Lucy De Luca is an internationally respected expert in jewel appraisal, but her brother Joey is a gambling addict who frequently falls into crime to support his habit. Unfortunately for Lucy, in addition to Joey being her only family, he is her twin, and she can't stand to let him suffer the consequences of his self-destructive actions. In order to protect his life from a violent mafioso-type to whom Joey owes money, Lucy reluctantly agrees to act as the inside-person on a jewel heist, because she's in Las Vegas on assignment to appraise a king's ransom of jewels. Lucy's appraisal contract is with Alec Gerald, the handsome, charismatic owner of The Crown Jewel, a brand new, utterly magnificent, Las Vegas casino. A public display of the jewels is slated to be a centerpiece of the casino's grand opening, and the mafioso has commanded Lucy to perform underhanded machinations which will open the way for him to steal Alec's jewels.

Lucy's mission is even more impossible than she feared because, unbeknownst to her, Alec is the powerful head of an ancient dragon clan. Though he is centuries old, Alec looks like a man in the prime of his life, because he is all but immortal--except for one potentially fatal flaw. In the not-too-distant future, he will lose his power to morph into a dragon, and become nothing but a frail human, unless he locates his destined mate.

It is obvious to Alec almost immediately that Lucy is not all she seems and, with great shock, he soon realizes that, though she has no dragon in her at all, she might actually be the salvation he seeks, his intended mate.

This is a fast-paced contemporary, paranormal romance with plenty of thrilling adventure. Lucy and Alec are both complexly motivated protagonists, and we are allowed to know each of them from up close and personal as the novel is narrated in their alternating points of view. Lucy and Alec have powerful sexual chemistry, and the progress of their smouldering relationship is highly entertaining.

In addition to the two villainous antagonists driving the main conflict of the story, Lucy's ne'er-do-well brother and the mysterious, terrifying mobster, there are multiple well-intentioned antagonists among Alec's dragon clan who oppose his relationship with Lucy because she is human. Each of these secondary characters is sharply and convincingly drawn, but none of them is ever allowed to upstage the two main protagonists.

Last but not least, the Las Vegas setting of this delightful story is colorful, exciting and authentic, and the idea of dragons hiding in plain sight in one of the glitziest cities in the world in a jewel-themed casino is a delicious, high concept.

All in all, this is a terrific read for fans of adult, paranormal romance, and I am looking forward to further books in this series.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Romance Plot: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided to me by the author to make it possible for me to read it so that I could write a review.

Book Review: His Kiss by Melanie Marks

Wonderful YA romantic comedy

His Kiss by Melanie Marks

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: November 2, 2011
Publisher: ThunderStruck Publishing
Pages: 108 pages
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Ally Grange is a classic Good Girl. She doesn't go to wild parties where other teens drink and hookup, unlike Bad Boy Griffin (Griff the Grief-Master) Piper. To her dismay, she's been unable to outgrow a crush-from-afar she's had on Griff for several years now, ever since he gallantly came to her defense when his hockey teammates embarrassed her by teasing her when she clumsily dropped her books in junior high. But in spite of her secret infatuation with Griff, Ally is positive she would never date a boy like him. Not that he would ever consider asking her out, because he doesn't date anyone. He's never so far had a girlfriend, only brief flings.

Instead of dating Griff or any other Bad Boy, for the past two years Ally has dated a Good Boy, sweet, sensitive Aiden, who shares her passion for writing songs and spending cozy evenings on the couch watching movies. Her best friend insists that Aiden is more of a girlfriend than a boyfriend, and that Ally needs to move beyond a boring vanilla guy to someone more exciting, but vanilla is Ally's favorite flavor of guy. She wants a safe, predictable relationship minus uncomfortable, life-disrupting passion.

Unfortunately, all of her comfort is blown to pieces when Aiden sabotages their two-year relationship by allowing another girl to come between them. He implores Ally to come with him to a party thrown by his science-lab partner, a beautiful, popular cheerleader named Fauna. Ally's suspicion that Fauna is trying to steal her boyfriend is humiliatingly confirmed when Aiden permits Fauna to drag him with her into a closet for a fast makeout session during a game of Spin the Bottle called Three Minutes in Heaven. Ally is devastated that Aiden would be that disloyal, and it seems all too obvious to her, and the 30 other teens playing the game with them, that Aiden wants Fauna as much or more than he does Ally. Then, unexpectedly, the spinning bottle points at Griffin, and he shocks everyone in the room by choosing Ally to be his heaven-mate in the closet. In the throes of angry disillusionment with Aiden, Ally abandons every rule she's ever made for herself about Griff and unresistingly follows him into the same closet that hosted Aiden's downfall. Griffin is a tender, sweet, and astonishingly skilled kisser, something Ally already knows from personal experience. Aiden has no idea--nor does anyone else but Griffin--that this is not the first time Ally has kissed Griffin. A year before, a kiss was Griffin's price for giving into her plea that he not physically put Aiden in his place for presumptuously trash-talking team-captain Griffin from Aiden's lowly position as a newby member of the hockey team. This second experience of kissing Griffin is memorable enough that Ally is roiled with conflicting emotions, longing to return to the tame safety of her relationship with Aiden and simultaneously yearning for the promise of adventure that surrendering to Griffin's obvious interest in her could bring to her life.

This is a really fast, fun read. Ally and Griffin are both very likeable characters. Ally is a naively innocent girl, but she has principles she never hesitates to defend. In the midst of so many dark, "edgy" YA novels these days, it is a refreshing pleasure to encounter a "cleanread" teen novel such as this one where the heroine refuses to go along with the culture of underage drinking and casual sexual hookups surrounding her.

Though this engaging novel never goes beyond kissing, there is a satisfying amount of sexual chemistry between Ally and Griffin. It is both funny and adorable the way she becomes Griff's secret pal by making him treats in her cooking class and anonymously putting them in his locker every day, and it's equally amusing and sweet that Griff obviously enjoys her nurturing gifts.

I would recommend this book for girls as young as 12, all the way up to adults, like myself, who enjoy YA romantic comedy.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Romance Plot: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review Emerald Green (Ruby Red Trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier

Conclusion of a trilogy of young adult, time travel novels with a romance subplot

Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: October 8, 2013
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pages: 464 pages
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

This is the third and final book of the Ruby Red Trilogy. These young-adult, time-travel novels are by a German author and have been translated, to date, into 26 languages.

Sixteen-year-old heroine Gwyneth Shepherd (Gwen) is the "Ruby," a crucial addition to an existing, mysterious Circle of Twelve who are all time travelers. The main villain of the series is Count Saint-Germain, the founder of the Circle. He was born in 1703, and was the first to utilize a chronograph to prevent uncontrolled time jumps. In addition to the ability to travel through time, he has several other magical abilities which are revealed in this book.

In Book 1, Ruby Red, we are introduced to Gwen's world. Her cousin Charlotte Montrose, who is almost exactly Gwen's age, has been trained all her life as the one person of her family this generation who is presumed to have inherited the time travel gene--until the day that, out of the blue, Gwen has a terrifying experience of unexpected and uncontrolled time travel. From that moment on, it becomes obvious that she, not Charlotte, is the Ruby, their family's designated time traveler.

In Ruby Red and its sequel, Sapphire Blue, Gwen struggles to catch up with all the studies she needs to complete in order to safely time travel. Her assigned companion for all of her official time-travel excursions is handsome, arrogant, eighteen-year-old Gideon de Villiers, who is the Diamond of the Circle of Twelve. Gwen and Gideon experience many misadventures of varying complexity and danger in Books 1 and 2, and those adventures continue in Emerald Green. Across all three books, Gwen grows increasingly infatuated with Gideon, in spite of the fact that he blows hot and cold in the romantic interest he displays toward her.

In addition to being a time traveler, Gwen can see ghosts, and in Sapphire Blue, she acquires a quirkily bizarre companion named Xemerius. He is the ghost of a demon in the form of a stone gargoyle whom only Gwen can see. To me, he is reminiscent of Quasimodo's humorous gargoyle companions, Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, in Disney's animated movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Xemerius is extremely chatty and disruptive of Gwen's life, but he proves his worth as a valuable friend to Gwen on multiple occasions by running spying missions for her to discover what the adults who are part of the Circle are hiding from her.

I would not label this series "paranormal romance," because the romance with Gideon is not the main focus of the story, and it is very slow to develop. Instead, the A-Plot consists of Gwen's time travel adventures and the mystery of who the villain is and what he wants. In short, if readers approach this series not expecting intensity and passion between Gwen and Gideon, they can avoid needless disappointment. My own labeling of this series is that it is chick-lit time travel, because Gwen is a classic, chick-lit, adorably hapless, slapstick heroine. I don't personally see that as a negative. I'm always happy to discover any YA book, in a field saturated with extremely dark, post-Hunger Games dystopians, that is light and humorous in tone.

I experienced the first two books in this trilogy as audiobooks, but I was not patient enough to wait for the audiobook version of Emerald Green as the third and final book of this internationally bestselling series, so I snagged the first copy I could lay my hands on through Amazon's Vine program. However, if the audiobook that eventually comes out is of the same quality as the other two, it will be well worth owning.

The world-building and magic of this series is not particularly complex, and it is G-rated enough that all ages can potentially enjoy it, from preteen to adult. It is very much a "clean read" series, avoiding swearing, sexual situations, and drugs. There is only one scene involving drinking in Book 2 when Gwen accidentally gets drunk at an 18th century party because she doesn't realize there is strong liquor in the delicious punch.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 4

Subcharacters: 4

Fantasy World-Building: 4

Time-Travel Plot: 4

Romance Subplot: 3

Writing: 4

Overall: 4

Book Review: Pepped Up by Ali Dean

R-rated YA/NA girl-power, sports novel with romantic-triangle subplot

Pepped Up by Ali Dean

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: August 25, 2013
Pages: 238 pages
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Sixteen-year-old Pepper Jones loves running, and she's fantastic at it, even though she's only been running a little over two years. In fact, she's well on her way to achieving her goal to become a national cross-country champion this year, while still a junior in high school. The only thing complicating her life is her long-term crush on her best friend, seventeen-year-old senior, Jace Wilder. They've been neighbors since they were toddlers. Pepper's parents died in a car accident when she was a baby, and Jace's mother deserted him and his father when he was four. Pepper's grandmother, Bunny, became her guardian, and she became Jace's chidlcare provider, too, when he lost his mother. Pepper regarded Jace in a sisterly light until the summer Pepper was thirteen and Jace was fourteen, and she suddenly became aware of how gorgeous he had become--and the unsettling reality that girls were flocking around him, vying for his attention, many of them physically pawing him in the process.

Unfortunately for Pepper, the odds of her ever being more than a little sister to Jace are slim to none. He's never flirted with her or in any way indicated that he has any romantic interest in her. And at the end of the previous school year, she overheard Jace telling one of his friends that he could never date her, because she's like family to him. As a result, Pepper has done her best to hide her true feelings from Jace, not wanting to lose him as a friend. But it's a constant, painful struggle to accomplish that, because her heart is shredded anew every time she's forced to witness womanizing Jace accept the latest of an endless string of eager offers of sex from girls Pepper considers far more attractive and sophisticated than herself. He's so in demand, in fact, that he's recently begun enjoying the sexual favors of college girls from the nearby University of Colorado (UC), as well. Yet, in the midst of all this debauchery, it's evident to everyone who knows Jace--except Pepper--that he's never gotten emotionally involved on any level with any female other than Pepper.

In contrast to Jace, Pepper is practically a nun. She's never dated, other than a fellow member of her track team escorting her to the prom last year as "just friends," and she's never even been kissed. But suddenly, her lack of a love life might actually change, because Ryan Harding has come to town.

Ryan is a new student at Pepper's high school who is a star, cross-country runner like Pepper. He's moved to Colorado from California because his father is the new coach at UC, which Pepper hopes to attend after graduation. He's almost as handsome as Jace, and certainly as athletic and ripped. And where Jace is a talented football player courted by numerous top-drawer university football coaches, Ryan is a potentially world-class runner, equally pursued by athletic departments at prestigious universities all over the country. Ryan is also almost as fawned on by every girl in sight as Jace.

But there are major differences: Where Jace refuses to see Pepper as a romantic partner, Ryan admits what all the boys at school know--and have never said to Pepper's face because of Jace's over-protectiveness--that Pepper is a beautiful girl and ideal girlfriend material. In addition, where Jace is a classic "man whore," Ryan has only dated one girl in his life, and he was faithful to her for the entire three years of their relationship, up until just before Ryan's family moved across the country and Ryan ended the relationship. Also, unlike Jace, Ryan only drinks the occasional beer and does not get drunk or do drugs. Additionally, Ryan doesn't spend his time, as Jace does, hanging with the popular crowd at school, even though he is eagerly accepted in their ranks from the start. Instead, he chooses to socialize with Pepper's laid-back, track-team friends. Best of all, he shares Pepper's passion for running.

Pepper realizes her choice should be perfectly clear between these two boys: forget her unrequited crush on Jace and accept a relationship with a high-class guy, and she does try her best to carry out that decision. But unfortunately, as soon as Pepper begins dating Ryan, Jace suddenly starts acting like he's anything but Pepper's pseudo-brother, and more like he's--could it be?--jealous.

What I liked:

This author is clearly a very talented writer. Her writing is smooth, and her characterizations are vivid and three dimensional. Pepper is a dynamic, extremely sympathetic heroine. I enjoyed the use of first-person point of view, and I found the window into Pepper's running world fascinating. It is obvious the author knows that world very well but, more than that, she conveys it in such a way that, even if the reader knows nothing about running and could care less about it, Pepper's experience of it is exciting enough to inspire readers young and old to jump into a pair of running shoes and take off. The setting in Colorado also comes alive on the page and makes the reader long to visit that amazing, mountain-filled state.

What isn't suited to my own individual taste:

First, while listing what I didn't enjoy, I want to make clear that I am not grading this book down for not being entirely to my own personal taste (as you can see by the 5-star rating), because I don't consider that a literary crime. Many other readers may find the aspects of this book that did not suit me to be a perfect match for their reading interests.

First, I'm not myself a fan of YA romantic triangles because, as is the case in this book, sometimes the guy who ends up with the heroine is not who I had hoped she would choose. It is a testament to how great the rest of the book is and what a wonderful heroine Pepper is, though, that I found it impossible to put the book down, in spite of its romantic triangle. Just in case I didn't make it absolutely clear from what I said already, Pepper is one of the most terrific heroines in YA/NA I've encountered, whether in indie or mainstream YA/NA novels.

Second, I'm not a fan of R-rated YA/NA novels, which is what I consider this book to be, and I had many squeamish moments at the various bacchanalian activities portrayed onstage or mentioned as occurring offstage in this book. Pepper, herself, though, truly respects her own body as her vehicle for the passion of her life, her running, and as the book is in first-person point of view, the reader is not encouraged to see either drinking, drugging, or mindless sexual activity as a positive choice.

If you enjoyed this book's girl-power, sports plot, you might also want to read:

Cinderella Steals Home by Carly Syms (baseball)

Cinderella in Cleats by Carly Syms (football)

Cinderella in Skates by Carly Syms (hockey)

Falling Hard (Roller Girles #1) by Megan Sparks (roller derby)

Hooked by Liz Fichera (golf)

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally (softball)

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally (horse-racing jockey)

In particular, if you liked the platonic, "man-whore," best-friend subplot of this story combined with a girl-power, sports main plot, you'll love:

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally (football)

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Setting: 5

Girl-Power Sports Plot: 5

Romantic-Triangle Plot: 3

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson

Absolutely wonderful YA romantic comedy!!!!

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: August 15, 2012
Publisher: Fire & Ice Books
Pages: 224 pages
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Mattie Lowe's father is a famous, wealthy artist who has been divorced six times. He's a sweet guy, but utterly obsessed with his art, and even when he marries other artists, they feel neglected and leave him. Mattie is the daughter of his first wife. Ella Christensen is the daughter of Wife Number Two, who married Mattie's dad when the girls were two and divorced him a few years later. Mattie is the only biological child of her father, but he always considered Ella his daughter, and when Ella's mother died of breast cancer at the end of the girls' sophomore year, Ella came to live with them because she didn't know who or where her biological father was.

Mattie likes Ella, but she's very conflicted about her. She's jealous of Ella because she's a beautiful, blond cheerleader who is popular with everyone at their elite, private school, teachers and students alike. Yet Ella is anything but conceited. In fact, she's practically a saint, constantly involved in good causes, and kind and supportive of everyone, especially Mattie. Ella's major flaw as far as Mattie is concerned is that, ever since the end of their junior year, Ella has been dating Jake Kingston, a boy that Mattie considers Ella's male counterpart. He's equally gorgeous, popular and kind to everyone he meets, and Mattie intellectually realizes that Jake and Ella are made for each other. But what her mind knows, her heart refuses to accept, because Mattie has been hopelessly in love with Jake since she was nine years old.

I am a huge fan of romantic comedy, and this is an utterly outstanding example of that genre. The humor comes from the wit of the heroine, and the hilarious repartee between her and Jake. I love them both. The subcharacters are also vividly drawn, including Ella, Mattie's father, her callously critical mother, the school principal, Mattie's art teacher whom her father is dating, the Mean Girl amusingly named Mercedes Bentley, and Mercedes's equally malicious boyfriend Scott.

The book is set in California, near the beach, and it is accurately portrayed. The author uses a lot of cultural references, but they are never irritating because they are always funny, and they range across a broad period of time, from the 80's forward, so they won't become dated if this little gem of a book becomes a classic.

There is a really fun subtext of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice within the story itself simultaneously to Jake and Mattie overtly working as a team on an assignment for their English class, putting P&P into a modern context. Mattie creates anime drawings of P&P characters, and Jake writes an accompanying script. Meanwhile, the entire book echoes P&P in that Jake's personality contains features of both Fitzwilliam Darcy and Charles Bingley, Mattie has many similarities to Elizabeth Bennet, and Ella is very much like Jane Bennet.

The HEA ending is utterly delightful, and the author promises a sequel which occurs four years after this story, in which we will have a chance to experience these wonderful characters again. I can't wait.

For those interested in parental guidance information: This is a G-rated, "clean" read. Mattie is a virginal girl who has never been kissed. There are no wild parties and no underage sex, drugs or alcohol.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Romance Plot: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: Haint Misbehavin' by Maureen Hardegree

Ghost Handlers #1, fun, chick lit, ghost story for young teens

Haint Misbehavin' by Maureen Hardegree

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: June 10, 2011
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Pages: 220 pages
Source: Purchased
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

This is the first book in a fun, paranormal YA series about Heather Tiley, a fourteen-year-old girl who attracts ghosts.

It's the summer before her freshman year and geeky Heather, who has endured years of ridicule from her peers because she suffers from multiple skin and respiratory allergies, is determined to reinvent herself by convincing her pretty, popular, older sister Audrey to back her as she enters the brave new world of high school in the fall. Unfortunately, just as Heather is reaching out to win over her sister, Heather's first period arrives, accompanied by a disastrous development--Heather can see ghosts, and most of them are unnervingly demanding.

The only silver lining in this horrifying situation is that Heather can apparently only be compelled to wrangle one ghost at a time. But the one who latches onto her is an overwhelmingly boisterous ten-year-old girl from the 1800's named Amy who makes incessant demands on Heather to entertain her.

The only way for Heather to offload Amy, and escape the embarrassing situations she constantly creates, is to figure out what is holding the little girl in this realm. But Amy refuses to cooperate, and it will take every bit of ingenuity Heather can muster to ferret out the mischievous ghost's secrets.

It was a treat discovering this lighthearted, G-rated, YA paranormal novel in the midst of a sea of dark, R-rated YA in today's marketplace. There is a tendency among many reviewers to label any book that is not "edgy" as "middle-grade," but I do not view this book that way. Yes, it is a "clean" enough read that girls as young as 10-11 can safely read it, but it is a solid-enough story that teens as old as 15 will enjoy it as well, and adults who are fans of the YA genre will definitely find this a very entertaining read. The story is filled with comic adventure, the characters are lively and three-dimensional, and Heather is a likeable, warm-heartedly hapless heroine.

I would label this book as both a comic coming-of-age tale and chick lit. The emphasis is on Heather's various relationships, family, friends, social enemies and, of course, ghosts.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Fantasy World-Building: 5

Writing: 5

Chick-Lit Plot: 5

Overall: 5

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Book Review: Messed Up by Janet Nichols Lynch

An abandoned teen cares for himself

Messed Up by Janet Nichols Lynch

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Release Date: March 1, 2009
Publisher: Holiday House
Pages: 250 pages
Source: Copy from Publisher
Reviewed By:Kate McMurry

R.D. is a fifteen-year-old Mexican-American boy with Cheyenne ancestry who's had a very rough life. His father abandoned him. His mother is in prison. His grandmother has recently deserted him. And to top it all off, his grandmother's longtime boyfriend, Earl, who has continued to care for R.D. after her departure, suddenly drops dead. To avoid being sent to a group home, R.D. pretends his grandmother is still around to care for him and struggles to take care of himself, supporting himself by forging Earl's signature on his Social Security and pension checks.

I've read multiple young-adult novels with the premise of a teen pretending he or she has not been abandoned in order to avoid foster care, but what makes this story unique is R.D. He's a very strong and sympathetic protagonist. It's clear he feels the harshness of his life deeply, but he never surrenders to despair. It's fascinating reading about how he learns how to take care of himself, and in the process gets a handle on how to deal with school and making himself into a person who has a chance to succeed in life, in spite of terrible odds in a world filled with gangs, drugs and violence.

This book is written in a clear, uncluttered style that never intrudes on the moving story. It's in first-person point of view, and R.D.'s personality leaps off the page in his thoughts, his reactions to the dark world around him, and the particular language he uses, such as "sez" for "says," "cept" for "except," and slang like "homies" and "saggin-and-baggin."

From page one there is a strong sense of what a basically decent person R.D. is. He clearly wants to stand back from life and be an observer, to survive by staying uninvolved in the terrible situations around him, but his heart won't let him. This is vividly illustrated when he sees a small girl getting beat up by a much larger girl, and he can't refrain from stepping in and stopping the fight when he imagines in his mind, "the little girl's head cracked open, blood streaming over the sidewalk." The death scene with his caretaker Earl is macabre and horrifying, but rather than crumbling from the strain of losing yet one more caretaker, R.D.'s response is to find a way to take care of himself--while at the same time feeling guilty that his need to survive is stronger than his grief.

It is always great to see a YA novel with a male protagonist, but especially welcome that this author has created a compelling hero so vividly alive he becomes a dear friend by the end of the book.

I rate this book as follows:

Hero: 4

Subcharacters: 4

Writing: 4

Plot: 4

Overall: 4