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Title: Demon Envy & Speed Demon
Author: Erin Lynn
Goodreads: Demon Envy & Speed Demon
Buy on Amazon: Demon Envy & Speed Demon
Summary: (From first book) Being a teenager can be hell-especially when you're friends with someone who was born there.
Kenzie Sutcliffe woke up to another normal morning-until a demon popped
up in her shower. While trying to get rid of a monster zit, she dropped
her acne lotion in the tub. And when fifty bucks' worth of it swirled
down the drain, it freed a demon from his prison portal. A mysteriously
geeky-looking demon.
So now Kenzie is saddled with a creature
who looks and acts like every other guy she knows-that is, annoying. At
least Levi has a job-if you can call it that. He has to stir up envy and
jealousy in humans, or he starves. All he's tempting Kenzie to do is to
crawl back into her bedroom and hide there forever. Because no one is
going to be coveting her life after this.
I recently took the time to read these books and I have to say, they were precious. The story is pretty creative, what with Kenzie opening up portals to a demon prison in her home. She is the only one who can open or close these portals. Levi is just great. I love watching the two of them fight their attraction to each other. The second book especially jumps into a bit more romance and watching Levi is just perfect.
I was incredibly disappointed to see that there was not additional books in the series. The end of Speed Demon leaves you knowing that the series is not completed, but it has been quite a few years now since anything was released. A journey to Erin Lynn's website produced this:
When is the next teen DEMON book out?
Unfortunately, this too is a publisher decision, and as of right now, there will be no third book. Can you see me pouting? I really want to finish the series and am toying with the idea of publishing them myself on Kindle. If you would be interested in a Kindle edition, let me know!
Disappointing on all fronts. I couldn't help myself. I contacted her, hoping to hear something about it and when it might be possible to see anything. I got this mail back in response:
Thank you, Jodi! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them. :-) I am working on carving out some time in my schedule to finish the series so when it happens, it will be up on my website.
Best,
Erin
So hopefully the next books will be begun being written soon. I urge everyone to contact her and ask for them as well. I'm certain she would love to know they are desired.
In the meantime, even if the series is not completed, I highly recommend reading these two books. They are quick and easy reads and are just such fun.
Title: Breathless
Author: Cole Gibsen
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 11, 2012
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Edith Smalls is a broken little girl. She wants nothing more than to
blend into the background and stay invisible and under the radar. She
skirts along, staying just out of trouble so that her strict Military
stepfather doesnt send her away to military school. In attempts to
please him, she goes on a date with kids that she would never typically
hang out with. The date ends in a horrible boating accident and Edith
getting terrorized by a savage girl in the water. It's easier to feign
amnesia than to admit she was attacked by a mermaid. After meeting
Bastin, a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes, she has to fight
not to lose her heart to an impossible love.
As I read through
this story, I really wanted to like it. It did hold my attention and I
did blow through it like I would a really good book. At the end, the
whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth. Edith and Morgan were
very good characters, actually, I think most of the characters were
good.
Sir was a horrible man. I dont care what his reasons for
being the way he was were, he is a monster. I found myself gritting my
teeth and becoming overly enraged every single scene he had in the book.
I kept wondering why Edith or her mother didnt stand up to him. He
needed knocked down a peg. At the end, even after his issues are made
known, the mother still stays with him. Its just unhealthy. I know it
was made to look like he would be getting help, but after 13 years of
being that monster its just not right.
Edith and Bastin's love
affiar was unbelivable. Did they fall for each other over a greater
period of time, or was it really only about the 2-3 weeks that I thought
the book took place over? Were they star crossed lovers? Seriously, I
dont see how it worked. Bastin went from being someone who didnt know
real emotions to suddenly being in a deep painful love? I just couldnt
buy it.
Reading the summary of the book, I was expecting more
action. A LOT more action. I was horribly disappointed in all of it. The
climax was poorly planned and when it happened it was emotionless. It
wasnt built up very well, its like this was meant to be entirely a love
story and the action was thrown in during an editing request. It was
disjointed and just didnt mesh with the rest of the novel.
The
ending was bad as well. I believe this is meant to be a stand alone
novel and yet the ending was left fairly open-ended. It had a bit of a
cliffhanger in general. What is the purpose of that? Not to mention that
the cliffhanger left it open for a book that would be horrid to begin
with.
It had a few cute scenes with good dialog, but it lacked too much else to be worth more than 3 stars.
Title: Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1)
Author: Anna Banks
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 10, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★
Galen, a Syrena prince, is on land searching for what might be the key
to the survival of his species. He believes he finds what he seeks in
the violet eyed Emma. After witnessing her talk to a shark, he knows she
must of Of Poseidon, possessing the abilities of the long dead general.
Now he must help her discover who she is, try to help her shift into
her form and prepare her to mate with his brother Grom, all while trying
not to fall in love with her himself.
This book was wonderful.
It jumps right into the story, and while a lot of it shouldve been
predictable to me, I was pretty blindsided at the ending.
I
loved all of the characters. Seriously, every one of them were pretty
perfect to me. The banter was funny, the random thoughts they had were
entertaining, I laughed through so much of it.
The writing
flowed well in my opinion. I had a nagging feeling that Emma accepted
what she was a bit easily, but at the same time, I feel like she sort of
knew. Besides, with the length of the novel she wouldnt have had time
to angst about it and I think it wouldve made me like her far less if
she did.
I had been needing a really good mermaid story for a while and this one just took the cake and made me so happy to read.
Title: Legacy Lost
(Of Poseidon #0.5)
Author: Anna Banks
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon (Or read for free: Here)
Dates read: June 11, 2012
Rating: ★★★★☆
This
prequel covers the story of Grom and Nalia, third generation, first
borns of their respected kingdoms. They are to be mated to keep the
gifts of the generals available to their race. They start out disliking
each other, but it quickly changes to love.
I know this was a
prequel and meant to be short before of it, but it almost seemed a
little too short. Their interactions were small and shallow. I really
wasnt fond of either one of them. Grom is pigheaded and shallow and
Nalia is stubborn and seems like a spoiled brat. Their relationship
being more than attraction was pretty unbelievable to me. Their entire
love affair feels like it was dependant on "the pull", the myth that two
Syrena could feel drawn to each other as a way to make more powerful
offspring.
I still couldnt help but rate it high. The purpose of
a prequel is to make you want to read the main story and this one did
just that. It opens up questions and makes you wonder how things are
going to play out. I, once again, read the prequel after the first book
and it only opened up more questions than anything. So while it felt
shallow and unbelivable, it served its purpose wonderfully.
Title: Awry (The Archers of Avalon #2)
Author: Chelsea Fine
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 15, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★
Scarlet Jacobs is cursed to live a short life and be "reborn" some time
later. When Scarlet dies and then reawakens to the life she was just in,
she knows the curse is changing. Along with her band of immortal
friends and her mortal best friend, they must race to find the fountain
of youth before she dies again.
Oh my, Chelsea Fine can you do no wrong?
This
book was fantastic. The first one was wonderful, but this was so much
more wonderful. I loved the flashbacks, I loved being able to see why
Scarlet was engaged to Gabriel when it was so obvious she loved Tristan.
I adored her and Tristan's courtship, it was just so very much like
them.
I loved Heather before, I adore her now. I want a Heather
of my own. Nate really opens up in this book and is just the funniest
geek ever. I like that Gabriel and Scarlet work through their
relationship, but I can't help but feel sorry for him. I would love to
see him and Heather get together at some point.
The plot really
opens up and thickens as things go on. Mr. Brooks' part in things was
unsettling but at the same time, I think it was fine since he is so much
of a hermit and you find that he is involved in his own way.
Overall
this book was fantastic. I was dreading the ending, knowing this
couldn't be the end of the story. I am just thankful that the
cliffhanger isn't as horrible and heartwrenching as it was in Anew. Fantastic novel, fantastic series. I eagerly await more.
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Title: Night School (Night School #1)
Author: C.J. Daugherty
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 04 to 05, 2012
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Allie has been a bit of a troublemaker since her brother Christopher ran
away. Now she has been arrested for the third time this year and her
parents have had enough. They ship her off to board at Cimmeria Academy
for the summer term where she has no access to phones, stereos,
computers, or the outside world at all. The rules are incredibly strict
and then there is also the Night School classes that other students are
not allowed to know about or watch. When Allie is attacked one night, it
begins a string of events leading to a death during a dance and secrets
around every bend. When it seems like everyone is lying, she must find
out who she can trust, and quickly, before the danger catches up with
her.
I want to say first, that this book is incorrectly shelved
on Goodreads. Its listed under Paranormal and Vampires, and there are,
regretfully, neither within it's pages. Seeing those shelves and then
reading the summary, especially the part about the Night School had me
super excited thinking that the story was going to be similar to Vampire Knight.
As I met the characters (Especially Sylvain) I got more and more
hopeful so part of my disappointment may be based directly on the book
being mishelved.
The characters were fine. There are a few side
characters that you feel might have more importance but end up fading
away into the background. Others are kept so mysterious that it makes
them poorly characterized. Allie drove me a bit batty. She starts out so
troubled and sarcastic and then she flipflops as soon as she is in the
academy and is suddenly a good student. Her panic attacks are random and
some of them quite uncalled for. Its like the author has no knowledge
of such things but wanted to make her more broken and added them in
anyway. Having Carter tell her about his old attacks was just pointless.
It was a "too little, too late" characterization. Then, Allie's lack of
thinking about her family and old friends was misplaced and random. Its
almost like the author went through and thought "Oh! I havent had her
think about her parents in a while *adds in passing*. Oh! This person
needs a bit more characterization *adds randomly*".
The story
focuses too much on the love triangle. The anger/hatred/jealousy between
Sylvain and Carter is too unexplained. There wasnt enough tension in
the triangle and so the whole thing falls apart. You start out adoring
Sylvain and then he becomes a wanker and you just fall into Carter the
same way Allie does. Its like, why even have bothered with the triangle
at all? Then, as things go by and Sylvain apologizes for being a wanker,
Allie just ups and forgives him without worry. She still trusts him and
its misplaced.
Because of the love triangle being so forefront,
the story itself lags. The climax happens incredibly late and its
horribly anticlimatic even then. You can tell that this was meant to be a
series. The author wanted to make you asks tons of questions and give
you few answers but in the end she makes you ask your tons of questions
and gives you no answers. Nothing is cleared up or properly resolved.
Everything is just swept under the run until company leaves, obviously
to be tackled in the next book, which is always a poor idea. If you wait
to tackle all the questions in the next installment you end up
forgetting things or dragging on the story and annoying your readers.
Regardless
of all the bad, I still enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable read with a
frustrating ending is all. I think if the next installment were already
out then I would have much warmer feelings for this novel.
Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 03, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★
Ever notice how once someone enters your life, they are everywhere?
Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend, Kennedy, to the college of his choice just to have him break up with her so he can play the field. While at a party in attempts to get her spirit back, she is attacked by her stalker and rescued by the mysterious and handsome Lucas. Lucas seems like the perfect person to help her forget about Kennedy, but her feelings grow quickly. At the same time, in attempts to not fail Econ, she begins emailing the intellegent tutor, Landon. Their email exchanges are fun and witty and she quickly begins to wonder about the man behind the emails. Now she has to dodge her ex, steer clear of her stalker as he spreads rumors of them hooking up, and try to see who she can actually trust as a connection between Lucas and her tutor arise.
I really loved this book. The story was well written and paced well. Usually, I am not a fan of drama, I like things to be fluffy and sweet. This book contains rape triggers, but it isnt the main focus of the story. The rapes werent graphic either. The most graphic of them was the first, and it was only an attempted rape. It went on to mention that it wasnt the girl's fault, and included a message of empowerment for the victim.
I enjoyed all of the characters except for Buck, but I think that was done purposely as you want to see him for the monster he is. I thought the characters were well developed. There are times where Lucas feels a little too good to be true, but you do learn his flaws as the story develops. Ive known guys like him so I cant say that he isnt a real possibility for a person.
Jacqueline and Lucas are perfect together. Their banter and interactions are wonderful to read through. Lucas is hot, you cannot deny that. He leaves fire where he goes, all men in novels should be so hot. It can almost seem like they fall for each other too quickly, but when two people are so perfect for each other, I cant see why time should matter much. I was weary about them getting together, a victim and her hero seldom work, but I feel that since she wasnt actually raped when he saved her that it worked out well. I wouldve been more worried had she clung to him after having actually been raped.
The story was perfect. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to reread it as soon as I was done.
Title: What A Boy Wants
Author: Nyrae Dawn
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 02, 2012
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Sebastian Hawkins is the Hook-up Doctor. He knows how to help a girl get
any guy but because he has spent so much time watching his Mother's
failed relationships, he doesnt believe in love. When he starts falling
for his best friend, he realizes he is in way over his head and doesnt
have a clue.
I was horribly disappointed with this book. The plot
seemed promising and cute and Im a sucker for the name Sebastian so I
dove right in.
Sabastian drove me a bit nutty. I didnt like how
he talked. The whole time I just wasnt too crazy about the fact that he
was the main character. Aspen seemed really nice, but I couldnt connect
with her. Pris was such a side character that I couldnt connect with
her. Out of everyone, Jayden was the most interesting character and he
was as much in the background as Pris was.
What bothered me the
most with this book was how predictable it was. I knew exactly how the
book was going to play out, exactly how it would end by the end of
Chapter Two. You should never know how a book will end that early! I
kept reading, hoping I would be wrong, but everything played out exactly
as I thought it would and that just killed it for me.
The book
wasnt completely dull, but I couldnt connect to the characters or the
story. Knowing how it would end before the book had even really started
was awful. If you are desperate for something fast and light that you
wont get connected to, its a good read. Otherwise, dont waste your time.
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Title: Shadows (Lux #0.5)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 07, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★
The last thing Dawson Black ever expected to do was fall in love with a
human girl. He never thought it was something he would need to be
concerned about, until he meets Bethany Williams that is. Their
connection to one another is instant and their love quickly blossoms.
However, Dawson is an alien. His secret is as dangerous as their love.
I really wish I had known about this novella before I read Obsidian.
This tells the story of Dawson and Bethany and really lets you see into
the prejudices against Katy in the next story. For a novella, it was
suprisingly long.
Dawson and Bethany were as absolutely lovable as Katy and Daemon are in Obsidian.
Their relationship is just pure and loveable. They lack the tension
since they both just throw themselves into their love for one another.
The
ending is just heartbreaking. Such a melancholy conclusion to such a
pure love. I am in love with this series and recommend it to everyone.
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Title: Obsidian (Lux, #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: May 29 to 30, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★
This book! Wow!
Katy and her mom move from Florida to West
Virginia a few years after Cancer takes her father from them in efforts
to start over with their lives and move on from the cloud of depression
that comes with such grief. They move in next door to Daemon and his
twin sister Dee. Dee instantly bonds with Katy and the two become fast
friends. Daemon is a total jerk towards her and makes it quite clear
that she should stay away from Dee. Daemon grinds on Katy's nerves but
at the same time she cant help to be attracted to this man that even
Gods would be jealous of. When trouble strikes, Daemon comes to the
rescue and saves Katy, much to her suprise. She had thought something
was off about the twins, but it becomes increasingly obvious that they
are more different than she thought. So different in fact, that they are
Aliens.
The story is fantastic. It is engaging and pulls you in
right from the start. The plot is entertaining and well thought out. The
twists and turns are perfect and well placed. It is so hard to find
anything wrong. There was one scene where Katy notices Daemon is wearing
sweats and the next page he is putting his hands in his jean pockets,
but otherwise the whole thing is just perfect.
I love how the
aliens are described. It gives new meaning to it. Because of Hollywood,
too often aliens are insect-like and creepy. Its nice to see aliens that
are beautiful and amazing.
The characters are brilliant.
Everyone feels so well thought out and developed. The side characters
were engaging and nice to read about without shoving themselves into the
front of the stage. Dee is adorable. She is so desperate for a friend
that you feel sorry for her, but as things progress you understand why
she is that way and it becomes nearly impossible not to love her.
Daemon
and Katy have killer tension through the whole thing. Their banter is
fantastic and you cant decide if you want her to slap him or just rip
his shirt off and jump him. They are so obviously perfect for each other
right from the start and its so fun to watch them slowly see that and
still fight how drawn they are to each other.
All in all this
book was completely perfect. A good book should be throughally enjoyed,
well chewed and digested. This book digests you instead. It sucks you
into its grasp and then fondles you, leaving you flushed and scandelized
but wanting so much more.
Very highly recommended for all!
Title: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star
Author: Heather Lynn Rigaud
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: February 14 to 16, 2012
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
This book was so awful. I wanted to like it, I really did. I started out hoping it would be light and funny like Prom and Prejudice and I was horribly disappointed.
This
book was poorly written, the same vocabulary words being used over and
over to describe things. It only held my interest because I was so
certain it would just have to get better and by the time I realized it
never would I was too far in and couldn’t stop because of my personal
rule to always finish a book.
The characters fall flat for me. I
couldn’t get into any of them and they weren’t believable to me. It
felt like the author kept going back and forth from having the
characters stand out in a modern way to reverting to Victorian times. It
made for a really unsettling read. They seemed like completely new
characters given familiar names instead of familiar characters placed in
a different setting as I thought they would/should be.
The story
was lame and felt tossed together. The book felt like an excuse to
write smut, and even then it wasn’t even good smut. The sex scenes were
rushed and mechanical with no flow to them at all.
It really felt to me like the Author had only seen the movies, and never read Pride and Prejudice and wanted to capitalize off the insta-fame that comes with writing a Pride and Prejudice variation.
All in all I was horribly disappointed and quite sad that I wasted my time here.
Title: Anew (The Archers of Avalon, #1)
Author: Chelsea Fine
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: February 11 to 13, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★
The story is about Scarlet Jacobs, who wakes up in the middle of the
forest with amnesia. She suffers from a curse that has had her living
partial lives and being reborn since the 1500s. Along with the immortal
brothers, Gabriel and Tristan Archer, and their friend Nate they seek
out to find the Fountain of Youth to end Scarlet's curse before she dies
once again in this life.
The story was incredibly unique. I had
never read anything like it before. It had me hooked from the very
beginning. The writing style is wonderful and easy. Here we have a
melancholy theme and yet I laughed my way through the story. The writing
is kept just light enough to ease you through it, while holding on to
it's heart-wrenching theme.
The real blue ribbon here are the
characters. Scarlet is a wonderful heroine. She isn’t over the top, or
powerful. She is making the most of her life with her amnesia. She tries
to stay upbeat as she takes things one day at a time. The only berating
she does to herself is when she is cursing herself for being attracted
to one Archer while she is dating the other. Heather, Scarlet's best
friend, is a blessing. This girl is funny and loving, the very type of
person you would want in your own life. As for the Archer brothers;
Gabriel disappointed me a bit. He starts out swoon-worthy and then kind
of fades into the background as Tristan starts to take center stage.
Tristan I instantly liked. I love dark brooding characters though. You
give me a boy who is cold and mysterious but with a heart like his and I
am hooked. I would have liked to see more of Scarlet's guardian, Laura,
but I have this feeling there is more to her than what meets the eye.
I’m usually wrong about my hunches, but I kind of hope that my hunch
will be spot on with her. I would just love to see the twist. I figure
we will see much more of her in the next installment.
A lot of authors cannot pull off a truly enjoyable love triangle, but Chelsea Fine did a fantastic job. The worst part of the book was the cliffhanger. I am not a fan of cliffhangers and Anew had the worst of them all. I am simply dying waiting for the next installment.
There
were a few editing mistakes, but none that really got to me. I think my
biggest regret with the book was the lack of a picture of Tristan's
tattoo. I was having trouble envisioning it in my mind, and a photo of
it didn’t exist in my ebook copy. (EDIT: Chelsea Fine posted an image of the tattoo to her blog! Finally!)
All in all a wonderful piece of literary art that I recommend to one and all. Bravo Mrs. Fine, bravo.
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