Review - Twisted by Gena Showalter

Twisted by Gena Showalter

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Synopsis: His vampire girlfriend might have brought him back to life, but he's never felt more out of control. There's a darkness within him, something taking over; changing him. Worse, because he was meant to die, death now stalks him at every turn. Any day could be his last.
Once upon a time, the three souls trapped inside his head could have helped him. He could have protected himself. But as the darkness grows stronger, the souls grow weaker - just like his girlfriend. The more vampire Aden becomes, the more human Victoria becomes, until everything they know and love is threatened.

Life couldn't get any worse. Could it?

Review: It took me FOREVER to muddle thru this book! I gave it two stars but in all honesty I really didn't like it at all! I felt like I had stepped into the twilight zone! I LOVED book one and book two was meh okay but this one was just horrid! The same characters I had grown to love and enjoy are now either boring or I dislike them. It's like a totally different story?

Then I got so confused with all the voices. It got to the point I didn't even know who was speaking and I loathe this Aden. He is mean and just pure hateful and it doesn't fit well with the loving character I met in Book 1 at all and Victoria who I enjoyed being tough has turned into a fraidy cat more or less?

At this point I don't know if I even want to continue this series.



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Review - Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Synopsis: Amy Goodnight knows that the world isn't as simple as it seems—she grew up surrounded by household spells and benevolent ghosts. But she also understands that "normal" doesn't mix with magic, and she's worked hard to build a wall between the two worlds. Not only to protect any hope of ever having a normal life.

Review: This was really disappointing and I had such high expectations for Texas Gothic and sadly it didn't deliver for me at all. I was looking for a ghost story to make my skin crawl or at the very least give me the heebie jeebies but instead was left with a main character, Amy, who mostly just whined about her sister who threatened to wreak havoc on her "normal" life with her ghost busting equipment or either griping about the cowboy next door who she was so obviously attracted to!

Review - Fire and Ice by Karen Maneely

Fire and Ice by Karen Maneely
Released: November 28, 2012
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 324KB
Format: Kindle
Source: Freebie
Rating: 2/5

Bobbie Burke loves to play hockey and is the most talented playing in a large Burke family, with four older brothers. The only problem is Bobbie's a woman and the most she could ever hope for, now that she graduated college, is maybe a spot on the US Olympic team.

The Philadelphia Fire just finished the previous season last in the league. Management is desperate to turn the team around and make it to the playoffs. What they needed was a forward that could score goals and win games.

This was a wonderful love story between teammates. Bobbi grew up in a houseful of men hockey players having lost her mother at a very young age so she was no stranger to playing rough. She has had to overcome alot of obstacles to play in this basically male dominated sport but she loves the game and has put personal relationships on the back burner as far as having a major rule of not dating other hockey players so Connor has his work cut out for him when he becomes very attracted to her being not only her teammate but captain of her team.

I am not even a sports fan but was able to enjoy the story and I loved the relationship between Bobbi and Connor and also the friendship Bobbi made with Laura, one of her teammates wives. Bobbi had never really had any female role models to relate to so it was interesting having her go thru all these different relationships and evolve not only as a pro hockey player but as a more feminine character as well.

What I didn't like and why I gave such a low rating to such a wonderful story was the amount of editing errors. I usually don't even mention problems with editing but there is just so many of them as well as one whole chapter that is just totally missing. Without going into alot of detail it was a really significant chapter where something happens to Bobbi and she has to miss a few games. It just really took alot away from the story having to constantly read and re-read just to make passages make sense.

**edited to add that the missing chapter has been added since I downloaded my copy.

Review - Speed Dating With The Dead by Scott Nicholson

Speed Dating With The Dead by Scott Nicholson
Released: June 25, 2010
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 349 pages
Format: Kindle
Source: Freebie
Rating: 2/5

When Digger Wilson brings his paranormal team Spirit Seekers International to the White Horse Inn, he is skeptical that his dead wife will keep her half of the bargain. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, and just before she died, she promised to meet him there.

But when one of the conference guests channels a mysterious presence and an Ouija board spells out a pet phrase known only to Digger and his wife, his convictions are challenged.

I wish I could tell you that I LOVED this book because I wanted to so much as the storyline made for an exciting read but alas I can only give it a mild "like". I picked it up full of expectations but even after the first 100 pages I was not feeling it at all and had I not been depending on it to fulfill several reading challenges I may have marked it DNF and I almost never do that. I trudged on and eventually about middleways it did begin to get interesting with ghosties popping out left and right and folks started disappearing but still although it redeemed itself in the end I felt it was just too little to late plus I never became involved or even really cared about any of the characters, not even the main ones being Digger and his daughter. I will say I did take great pleasure in a few of them getting exactly what they deserved especially Janey Mays!

On the upside though I do believe this would have been a far better movie than book. I would love to kick back and watch this on the screen!

Review - Unbreak My Heart by Helen Scott Taylor

Unbreak My Heart by Helen Scott Taylor
Released: April 3, 2012
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 132 pages
Format: Kindle
Source: Freebie
Rating: 2/5

They were inseparable until family conflict tore the teenaged sweethearts apart. Nine years later, she turns up at his prestigious hotel with the paparazzi at her heels and the six-week-old daughter of her celebrity ex in her arms. She has nowhere left to run except back to the place where she left her heart. Can they forgive the pain of the past, accept each other as they are now, and rediscover the childhood love that was snatched away from them?

A really quick read but it lacked something and I can't quite put my finger on it. We've got a young man and woman who were teenage sweethearts but boys father didn't think girl was good enough for his son so he finds a way to part them and yada yada boy breaks girls heart and she moves on and winds up with another man and has his baby and now is on the doorstep of teen sweetheart who supposedly never got over her either but it seems they are both too busy living in the past to try to have a future together.

I got annoyed after a while because they couldn't decide whether to rekindle what they once had or leave it be and then they kept misunderstanding how the other was feeling but if they had just sat down and talked and got to reknow each other and take more time maybe all the nonsense that went on could have been avoided.

I did enjoy the tender scenes with Andre and the baby though. It's rare to have such a sweet interaction between a baby and a man especially when it's not his own!

Review - Beast of Darkness by Lisa Renee Jones

Beast of Darkness by Lisa Renee Jones
Released: July 1, 2008
Publisher: Silhouette
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 288 pages
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: 2/5

Sarah is a mortal who hears the voices of spirits. Driven by tragedy, she chases sightings, investigating the supernatural. Called to Nowhere, Texas, she finds not ghosts, but terrible danger...and demons.

A soldier in the war between good and evil, Max is one of the oldest demons, stained by centuries of darkness, fighting to keep others safe without hope for himself.

Betrayal and loss haunt both of them, keeping them from finding peace. And yet to save an entire town, Max and Sarah must do the impossible: let go of the past, and find a future with each other.

Love is their only weapon. Nowhere is the battleground.

This is their last chance.

This was okay but I almost gave up on it several times. Started out good but then it just kinda started sizzling out after about the first chapter. I did not read the first two books of this series but I just don't feel they would of made much difference on my thoughts of it.

Nothing in it really stood out for me from any of the other zillion paranormal romances I have read nor did I ever connect or feel anything towards any of the characters and that is a must for me to enjoy a story.

Review - Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Released: April 25, 2006
Publisher: Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320 pages
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: 2/5
Author Site: Melissa de la Cruz

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times.

I almost put this book down several times because usually if I'm not into a book within at least the first 100 pages then I never will be but I have heard such great things about this series that I stayed with it and Blue Bloods redeemed itself in the last few chapters somewhat. I gave it two stars sadly just for laying the groundwork to hopefully a more meaningful adventure in the second book.

The characters never came to life for me and were just drab and boring. The only one with any finess at all was the evil minded Mimi who basically single-handedly kept the story alive with her jealousy and bad attitude. I kept waiting on Jack to break out of his shell and show me something but even though he had a few spurts of life and interest in Schuyler he always let his father and twin (Mimi) rule his world.

Bliss and Dylan was a relationship that I saw potential in and just when I was becoming involved (FINALLY) in the story, chaos and mystery break out and the book ends.

Schuyler who I would think should be a main character is just flat and at first I was hoping her and Jack would become a team/couple but Jack acts as though he has no mind of his own so then their is Oliver but one minute he is acting like a child and the next he is all knowing so I just easily got disgusted with the characters.

Another thing that just bugged me to no end was it was almost midways before any mention of vampires and angels ever came into play. The first half was merely high school kids on their day to day crisis

Review - Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Released: April 26, 2011
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 336 pages
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: 2/5
Author Site: Megan McCafferty

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

I found Bumped to be just a meh book....it wasn't bad it's just one of those I had gotten all excited about and found it to not live up to my expectations.

The story in itself I found interesting but I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Usually I can at least really hate the villain/bad person but there really isn't one nor one that is particularly that great. They just weren't very likable or easy to relate to.

The story felt rushed and alot of times I found I was sitting there thinking..what the heck? I didn't know who was the most mixed up me or the characters because one minute you got the church raised twin being all holier than thou and the next minute she is doing the very things she supposedly came to talk her twin out of doing.

The ending was no big cliff hanger for me and I am not sure at this point if the next book is in my near future if at all unless my local library happens to have it.

Review - The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching

The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching
Released: March 21, 2011
Publisher: DarkSide Publishing
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 310 pages
Format: ebook
Source: Kindle
Rating: 2/5
Author Site: G.P. Ching

When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. A beautiful and mysterious neighbor offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. But in exchange she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a protector of human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him.

Sadly I had a hard time with The Soulkeepers. I really don't know if it was the religious parts or what but I can say I would have found it a bit more enjoyable if they had not been thrown in. I just don't think I needed to know every few chapters who believed what and who didn't. I just felt like it should have been mentioned in the synopsis somehow but instead when I read the above synopsis I had no clue about all the religious parts inside.

There were some other parts in the story that I really didn't get or see why they mattered either like what difference did it make if his mom was Chinese or why did the grandfather stipulate in his will that the family business could only be passed to a male heir when he knew nothing of Jacob and only knew his other child had a daughter? I also had a hard time wondering why Uncle John seemed to welcome Jacob with open arms but it was his wife and daughter who dissed Jacob?

Other than that Jacob's character was very fleshed out and it was interesting following him thru his many life changes and obstacles to find his mom and even fall in love. This was just not the book for me it would seem and I just don't see me continuing with the series.

Review - The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies

The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies
Released: May 3, 2011
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Age Group: Middle Grade
Pages: 208 pages
Format: Hardback
Source: Publisher
Rating: 2/5
Author Site: Katie Davies

I am really kind of on the fence over this book. On the one hand it was a quick child's story, told thru the "language" of a child, about finally getting a pet hamster and all the responsibilities of taking care of a pet but on the other hand I found it quite graphic as it paints a significant picture of the deaths of past pets and even a section that made me want to puke when they dug up a dead animal to rebury it more proper. It was just ewwww. Maybe I am wrong in feeling as I do but I just dont think it's a story that should be geared towards children ages 8-12.

There's not much else I can comment on except it's a book about death, pets, and children's investigations. Which I enjoyed the little investigative parts where the kids go in search of who killed the hamsters but still...it's just a bit much. Just not something I am ready for my kids to tackle right now. It's a shame to because the book itself is just so darn cute. It's made up to look like a spiral bound investigative note pad and when you open it up towards th spine inside is printed up to look spiralbound as well. The drawn illustrations were really cute to.

Review - Eden by Tony Monchinski

Eden by Tony Monchinski
Released: November 29, 2011
Publisher: Permuted Press
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 320 pages
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating: 2/5
Author Site: Tony Monchinski

Seemingly overnight the world transforms into a barren wasteland ravaged by plague and overrun by hordes of flesh-eating zombies. A small band of desperate men and women stand their ground in a fortified compound in what had been Queens, New York. They've named their sanctuary Eden.

Harris--the unusual honest man in this dead world--races against time to solve a murder while maintaining his own humanity. Because the danger posed by the dead and diseased mass clawing at Eden's walls pales in comparison to the deceit and treachery Harris faces within.

I tried really hard to like this book because I am very pro zombie but it was just hard for me to get into. This is one that would have made a far better movie than book because of all the jumping around it did. It just did not read well for me because it starts out with zombies attacking then it jumps to the past then to a set of totally different folks then back to the zombie situation then another visit to the past and so on and so forth.

It's sad because it has the potential for a remarkable story had it been put together more chronologically. It was just to hard to keep up with what was going on as it is. I may have even been able to deal with it had the author marked the chapters like I have seen in some books like where they say "present day" or "2 months ago" ect... I should have been able to read this book in about an hour or so but instead it took me about a week because I kept wanting to throw it against a wall and not because it was that bad a book but because I wanted to like it so bad and couldn't I kept getting frustrated and puttin it down and reading books in between it and kept trying to get into the flow of it but alas it was to no avail.