A Thrill Ride

I recently finished reading the Torn Trilogy by Erica O'Rourke. It's YA but doesn't feel YA...does that make sense?!? I mean, yes, it is about a girl who is in high school and I can see where the life events she's having to endure and the decisions she's having to make can be stripped down to reveal the same basic issues all teenagers struggle with. But man...the things Mo has to face are so much more than what most teenagers have to. So that's what I'm saying...

Maura "Mo" Fitzgerald first learns about a world separate from the one she lives in when she witnesses her best friend murdered. Outside her world, where she has to deal with the rumors of her family's involvement with the mob and her father's incarceration, outside of attending an elite private school where she's trying to earn early acceptance into NYU and outside of working at her mom's restaurant, Mo has learned of the Magic world and the Arcs. Her best friend, Verity, knew about the Magic and her role in an ancient prophecy. But now that Verity is gone, Mo is now to fulfill that prophecy...if she survives that long. Learning to deal with and live within the Magic world is treacherous, especially since there's a faction within that realm out to cause a revolution. And it's not only those in the Magic world who are after her. She's learned that her family is indeed involved with the mob. With a new mob leader trying to take over in town, Mo begins walking a dangerous path - playing both sides against the other. 

In her corner, she has Colin, the bodyguard her uncle has assigned to watch over her in the human world. Colin is safe and solid and understands her human world as well as her dealings with the Arcs. But Colin has his own secrets. And she has Luc, who is mysterious and is drawn to Mo from the start. He's also her partner in the Magic world's prophecy. Mo tries to keep her two worlds separate. She tries to ignore her feelings for Luc (whom she believes is only interested in her for her part of the prophecy) while focusing on her feelings for Colin. Mo's trying to stay true to herself and figure out what exactly that means, find her own way in the world and what her place is in it. Mo eventually figures out how to balance her worlds, protect those she loves, and allows herself to fall in love...all while saving worlds, both human and magical.

There's a lot of angst and action and love in this series. It was exciting and heartbreaking. And it all made for great reading!

The Perfect Game - A Perfect Read on a Snowy Day

Here is my first review of a TFEiC author. 

The Perfect Game by J. Sterling

This is a little novel (190 pages) with a BIG emotional punch! I was impressed with the character development and the plotting and pacing. Cassie, a college student studying photography, just wants to get her degree and land a job doing what she loves. Jack, a college baseball player, is the epitome of the word "player". The two meet one night at a fraternity party and Jack is immediately intrigued. Cassie thinks she'd do well to avoid him, and his dimples, and his adoring fangirls. If only she could. Jack has set his sights on her like a heat seeking missile. =) She eventually agrees to a date. And that changes everything.

Cassie and Jack both have some "heavy" baggage coming into this relationship. They both have MAJOR trust issues. However, they are able to work through them and it makes their relationship strong enough to withstand a lot. I will say that there were times I was yelling, literally yelling, at Jack when he was being an idiot. But although he screwed up immensely, Cassie did some things that I wanted to shake her silly over. But in the end, these two get their HEA. 

I also want to mention the very strong supporting cast. I'd love to see Dean and Melissa get their own book(s). 

Oh, the ending...goodness. I loved it. It was so romantic. =) I will definitely be reading more of J. Sterling!

What I'm Up To...

So, in August, I read a couple of books by a couple of indie authors (reviews to come, reviews to come =). When I checked out their websites, I discovered that said authors were going to be attending a signing event in Chicago on September 29. I thought to myself, "hmm, I think I'll figure out a way to make it to Chicago for that!" However, my hubby was going to be out of town that weekend and also, it was my son's birthday weekend. Again, I thought "hmm, I could make a birthday trip out of it and take all the kids...wouldn't that be fun?!?" BUT, I just couldn't justify the airfare (although it was good airfare, I'd still have hotel, etc.) I just couldn't swing it. So, I decided what I'd do instead is read one book from every author that was going to be attending TFEiC (The First Ever Indie Conference). And I HAVE NOT been disappointed yet! I'm going to be posting a list of the authors that were at the event and crossing them off as I read them. (You'll see I've already read quite a few...and honestly, I read entire series at a time because I just couldn't stop once I got started...they're that good! =) And I have reviews in the works on all the books because I can't wait to share about them. Some of the authors are no longer "indie", having been signed by publishers thanks to the sales of their awesomely written books. I couldn't be happier for them...it is really a shame that they weren't already signed but I admire them greatly for publishing for themselves...I'd have missed out on a lot of awesomeness if they hadn't. You should check them out too - wouldn't want you to miss out on greatness!

Ahh, It's Good to be Back!

As you know, I moved over the summer. That is the rather simplistic explanation for why I've been offline for months. Getting unpacked, settled in, getting my kids back to school, enjoying the peace and quiet offered in the mountains =) ...anyway, I've made the decision to jump back in with what I'm reading now. As I have time, I will blog about the MANY books I read over the summer, because I know you all WANT to know about what I've been reading. =) 

My current self challenge is to read at least one book by each of the independent authors who are part of the TFEiC Book Signing Event. I can't make it to either of the signings (*sniff*) but as I'd already read several of the authors involved in the event, I decided to check out them all. I can honestly say that I've been so impressed and I'm hoping to see much more recognition for these authors!

The author I just finished reading is Tina Reber...I read both books in her Love series and I LOVED them both! Love Unscripted is the first in the series. We meet Taryn Mitchell, a bar owner in a small Rhode Island town who has recently had her heart broken. Taryn is very satisfied to keep her friends close and men at a distance. We also meet Ryan Christensen, a super-hunky A-list actor, who only wanted to act but has been elevated to a status that includes paparazzi, rabid fans, and absolutely no privacy. Then one day, Ryan steps into Taryn's bar while being chased and man-handled (woman-handled?) by some fans and Taryn's world is turned upside-down. Love ensues, eventually, and both Taryn and Ryan have to figure out how to balance love with all the craziness a Hollywood life brings along. 

Love Unrehearsed continues Taryn and Ryan's story. They have more trials and tribulations to endure including crazy former girlfriends, a stalker-ish bodyguard, jealous friends, life changing secrets and  invasive press. Is their love strong enough to last a lifetime?!? Hell, yeah! 

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed Ms. Reber's style. She took the time to really bring to life such believable characters and portray how much celebrities endure just to do the job they love. And that they really would like to just live a "normal" life. I was so proud of Taryn and Ryan for coming through it all, growing stronger as individuals and as a couple. And the cast of secondary characters was awesome - even the "evil" ones! =) Oh, and the romance...well, I love how slowly Ms. Reber built up the tension between Taryn and Ryan and how tenderly and passionately their love could be displayed. The chemistry was explosive at times! Wowza!

These were extremely addicting reads (I binged on them both, one right after the other) and I highly recommend them. 

Catching Up

Ugh! I'm so behind!! Does the fact that I'm moving count as an excuse? We have decided to move from the suburbs to the mountains! So I've been dealing with all that selling a house and then buying a house entails. But I'm very excited! So now that you're caught up on my personal life, let's get you caught up on what I've read since you last heard from me. =)


Defending Jacob by William Landay...a B&N Recommends book that my book club chose to read. This book was enthralling, gut-wrenching, and disturbing. The story revolves around a family where the dad, Andy, is an Assistant District Attorney in a small town. Andy is put in charge of an investigation of the murder of a 14 year old boy. Andy also has a 14 year old boy, Jacob, and at a point early in the investigation, Jacob becomes the prime suspect in the murder. The story is then about defense of Jacob and the fallout of being charged for a crime - both for the suspect, the family, and the community. As said in the book, you can be proven "not guilty" but never proven innocent. I think the main point of the story is "how well do you ever really know someone?" Andy has his secrets, Jacob has his. And let's not forget about Mom...who struggles under the weight of these secrets once they're made known. Do you really know what your own child is capable of? Do you really want to know?


As a parent, it was disturbing to read because I don't want to know what it's like to lose a child in this manner nor to have a child charged with this crime! 


I did think the author portrayed Jacob as older than the average 14 year old. Perhaps I'm just naive, but Jacob seemed older and more of a stereotyped teenager than a well-crafted character. I also found fault in how Mom was written in that she was the daughter of a psychologist and believed in talking things out; however, her reaction to these extreme circumstances was to shut down. And I just found that to be illogical.


Overall, I liked the book. It hooked me right away and despite its issues, I still wanted to read it and did enjoy it.




The Hunger Games trilogy...by Suzanne Collins...yes, I HAD to read this before the movie came out although I still haven't made it to the theater. I LOVED this books. If you don't know about these books, WHAT ROCK HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING UNDER?!? =) I don't think a synopsis is necessary because as I just stated, you have to have been under a rock to NOT know about these books. I can say that I'm totally "Team Peeta" and I love that Katniss can be a role model to young girls...strong, independent, resilient, she's got it all! Must read (if you haven't already!)




The Ugly Duckling Debutante by Rachel Van Dyken - I picked this book to read because I was in the mood for a piece of historical fiction. This book ended up being more of a romance set in an historical time period - where the characters spoke in a more modern fashion than Regency fashion...however, despite it not necessarily being historically accurate, it was an enjoyable read. I did find it tedious and redundant at times, but overall I'd recommend it.


It's about a girl named Sara, who has been raised to believe she's worthless and ugly. But when she's 21, her family is in need of her marriage to someone of fortune as her sisters have eloped and her father has incurred too many debts. So Sara's aunt, who is married to an Earl, takes her to London where she'll enter the Season and hopefully enchant a well monied man. The aunt has a plan - she will enlist the help of her cousin, who is a Duke, to teach Sara the ways of the ton...but actually it's her plan to have her cousin fall head-over-heels for Sara. The plan works, all too well, except for the fact that Nicholas doesn't believe he deserves a woman such as Sara. But after being caught in a compromising position, the couple must marry. In the end, it is revealed that Sara's aunt is actually her mother and we learn other secrets and details of Nicholas' life and Sara's Mom's...But all's well that ends well. And Sara and Nicholas get their happily ever after.


As I said, if you like your historical fiction served with accuracy, then this book is not for you. But if you're looking for a light read set in an historical period, you'll like this book.




A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day...a fascinating entry in a new urban fantasy series! Ms. Day has built a world in which humans live side-by-side with angels in various forms and don't even know it. When the Creator created humans, he sent down angels, known as the Watchers, to observe us. However, some of the Watchers became enamored of humans and built relationships with them. These Watchers became the Fallen - former angels who lost their wings and now feed on the blood of humans. The Creator sent an elite force of angels, call the Sentinels, to punish and police the Fallen. They are responsible for removing the wings of the Fallen and then policing their actions. The Sentinels were given a force of Lycans, creatures of angels and demon blood who can shift to wolf - but are not werewolves, to protect the Sentinels and offer support in their mission of policing and punishing the Fallen.


Okay - that's the world building in brief...onto the story...Lindsey, a human who witness the death of her mother at the hands of vampires, has some interesting talents that allow her to pick out those not human. Since she became an adult she has hunted vampires in her search for vengeance for her mother's death. What Lindsey doesn't know is that she is also a vessel for an immortal soul that makes her a target for the Fallen (who want to change her in to a vampire) and a Sentinel, who has loved her for over 200 years. Adrian, the leader of the Sentinels, sees Lindsey at an airport and immediately recognizes her as the vessel of the soul of his love, Shadoe. He immediately engages her and the two embark on a relationship that sees Adrian falling for Lindsey herself, rather than the vessel of Shadoe's soul. But of course, the odds are against them as someone or something is trying to incite a war between the Sentinels, the Fallen, and the Lycans...and it's up to Adrian and Lindsey to keep the world from falling apart.


I enjoyed this novel immensely and because of a certain follower's comments =), I spent a lot of time thinking about why. Besides the enthralling story and well-built world, what really piqued my interest was the mythology of the angels, fallen angels, nephilum, etc. This is something I've always been interested in so I liked having this mythology woven into a new story.


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Phew! There you have it. You're pretty much caught up with what I've been reading and I'm finally caught up on my blog! Once I get settled in my new home and I have LOTS more time to read =), you'll see me here more often. Thanks for stopping by...

Out of the Flames, Indeed!

So I read another rather interesting book lately...another that I would have never chosen on my own but it was recommended by a co-worker and he hasn't steered me wrong yet. =) It was non-fiction - basically about a book that was almost lost to us forever. But it was about SOOOO much more. It takes place during the reformation and I have to tell you that it's made me want to do so much more reading on this period of time. I mean, I knew about Pope Leo and I knew about the Medici family but I had NO idea that Pope Leo was of the Medici family! And I found it so interesting to learn that Martin Luther went to the monastery because he "wasn't the brightest bulb in the box". But I digress...


The book is really about two men and a book...Michael Servetus and John Calvin. (yes, that John Calvin) Michael Servetus was a genius and at 13, his father sent him to university at Zaragossa. There Michael came to the attention of Juan de Quintana who latched on to Michael, and made him his personal secretary. When Quintana left Zaragossa for Toulouse, he took Michael with him. This put Michael in a unique position where he mixed with powerful people. While working for Quintana, Michael was able to attend the coronation of Charles V. This made Michael question some of the things his Catholic church was teaching and doing. So he learned Greek and Hebrew so he could read the original bible and see where the Catholic church could make changes and thereby serve the people more correctly. He wrote a book entitled On the Errors of the Trinity, which, of course, since it took issue with a little something the Catholic church called the trinity, the church and the Inquisition felt was heretical. So at 19, Michael Servetus was condemned to death. He ran...to Switzerland and then to France. He changed his name and enjoyed the freedom of humanism which was flourishing at Paris University. He studied and wrote and argued...with among other men, John Calvin. Now John Calvin had his own ideas about religion and wanted to show Michael the errors of his ways. And Michael, naturally, was convinced of his rightness (which, by the way, I was convinced of as well) so he was having none of it. John, seeing the "success" of Michael and his book, thought he'd write his own book and thereby gain the popularity and power that he craved. Calvin's book was NOT a bestseller and Calvin, who was apparently a gigantic narcissist, decided it was Michael's fault in some way and so would spend the rest of his life hunting Michael down in order to have his life and ideas destroyed. 


At some point, Servetus ended up back at the University of Paris and studied medicine this time. He later goes to Vienne and practices as a country doctor there. He also works on a book, Christianismi Restitutio, and corresponds with John Calvin, both of which would bring about his downfall. In the end, Calvin succeeded in his mission to destroy Servetus. He had Servetus burned at the stake along with all the copies of his book he could find. And he ordered that all Servetus' books be collected and destroyed. However, 3 copies miraculously survived...along with John Calvin's personal copy.


As a side story, Michael Servetus, while studying medicine at Paris University, actually discovered how the circulatory system worked...years before Vesalius, who is credited for the discovery. And if this book was never discovered, we'd never have known all the genius of Michael Servetus.


There is so much more to this story...the history of how the printing of books affected the reformation. How much of society that was under the control of the church. And how the church used the Inquisition to try to keep people under their rule while they themselves did things in such excess as to actually disgust those faithful who so loved the church and were so disgusted by the abuse they witnessed the church indulge in. Not to mention the history of how medicine was changed with the discovery of how the circulatory system functioned. And also the beginnings of modern medicine here in America. Oh, and also the history of a little branch of the christian church known as the Unitarian Church. I'm just barely scratching the surface in this review. 


This book was so informative and inflammatory (but in a good way) for me. And it also created more questions for me. Oh, I will have to read more books! So I hope you'll check out this book sometime. And let me know what you think!

It's About a Circus?

I recently read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. While at a swim meet, I had another parent see that I was reading it and ask what is was about. I had a hard time describing it, actually. I read it for book club with my co-workers and when we met to discuss it, I told them of this interaction. I said I kinda felt like this book defied definition. Although I'd heard it described as a romance a la Twilight, I don't think it fits in that category. It involves lot of magic but it's not really Harry Potter...So a few of my co-workers threw out their thoughts and I felt that one in particular described the book pretty well...a modern day fairy tale. So that's what I'm going with. =)


The Night Circus is primarily, in my opinion, an argument between two schools of thought fought on a world stage with players who haven't the slightest idea of the consequences of their actions (at least initially). Two men, one a teacher and the other once his student, have differing ideas on how best to teach magic and whether or not innate ability matters. They have been "challenging" each other for decades and a particular challenge is the focus of this story. 


The magician, Prospero, issues a new challenge to his old tutor, the "man in the grey suit". Prospero is using his six-year old daughter as his pawn. The man in the grey suit chooses a student/opponent, in a much more detached manner. and thus the players are in place. 


As the years pass and the "students" are groomed for their challenge, a stage is set. The place where this challenge will be played out will be in a circus...but not just any circus. A circus that defies the definition of circus; a circus that shows up out of nowhere, leaves while no one is watching and is only open at night.


Not part of the teachers' plans is for the opponents to meet and fall in love. And therein lies the flaw that will bring down the house of cards. Because neither party is willing to essentially remove the other from the playing field. So who wins in the end?


As I said, I really feel like this book defies description. And although I enjoyed it, I felt that the author could have done some things to draw the reader in a bit more. The book has a wide array of interestingly eccentric characters but because there are so many, we never really get to know any of them. I would have liked to know more about Prospero and the man in the grey suit. And I really would have liked enjoyed a more in-depth detailing of the relationship between Celia and Marco. Also, I felt Ms. Morgenstern's detailing of the circus itself as well as the other locations visited could have been done better. She took great pains to set up this whimsical world yet I never really felt a part of it.


Overall, I did enjoy the book. I just felt like it could have been so much more.

Soul Screamers II

I just finished My Soul to Save, the second in Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series. And I was NOT disappointed!


This time around, Kaylee gets involved in NetherWorld-ly intrigue in order to save the souls of Tod's ex and her little sister...who both sold their souls for fame and fortune but didn't really know what they were signing on for. Kaylee feels obligated to help in recompense for the souls her aunt "sold" and also because she believes that these kids, selling their souls to a media mogul, really don't know what they're agreeing to. And if she can save just two from that, she's making a difference.


She and Nash have to deal with the typical teenage issues like consequences to skipping school or missing your curfew. And then there's the NetherWorld issues of flesh eating plants and monsters...and not drawing the attention of creatures who are not so fond of bean sidhes. And add in Kaylee's lessons in bean sidhe ability...well, it's a lot for a teenage girl.


I really enjoyed this book! It has action and suspense and drama. And I find I admire Kaylee's pluck. She's a strong heroine and that appeals to me. I like how Rachel is dealing with the estranged relationship between Kaylee and her father. And I'm enjoying the growth of Kaylee's relationship with Nash. I also like the setting since I once lived in Arlington/Dallas and am familiar with the landmarks and highways, etc., that Rachel uses. 


I can't wait to see what other mischief this pair gets themselves into!