Look whats out today Mystic by Alyson Noel

I have yet to start reading this series but the buzz is good.  Not to mention the cover is gorgeous!  

Since arriving in the dusty desert town of Enchantment, everything in Daire Santos life has changed...and not always for the better. While she's come to accept and embrace her new powers as a Soul Seeker, Daire struggles with the responsibility she holds navigating between the worlds of the living and the dead--and her mission to defeat the evil Cade Richter.  But Cade's soul is inextricably entwined with that of her boyfriend Dace, putting their love to the ultimate test.  How can she can't defeat Cade if it means destroying Dace too?  And is their love strong enough to survive death—and what lies beyond?

MYSTIC is the third book in The Soul Seekers, a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.

 This girl reminds me of Selena Gomez

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortals, Alyson Noël, comes Fated—a breathtaking new saga brimming with magic, mystery, and an intoxicating love story that will steal your heart away. Meet The Soul Seekers.

Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter’s sanity, Daire’s mother sends her to live with the grandmother she’s never met. A woman who recognizes the visions for what they truly are—the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker—one who can navigate the worlds between the living and dead.

There on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire sets out to harness her mystical powers. But it’s when she meets Dace, the boy from her dreams, that her whole world is shaken to its core. Now Daire is forced to discover if Dace is the one guy she's meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.

 ALYSON NOËL is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Immortals series, the Riley Bloom series, and seven previous novels for St. Martin’s Press. She lives in Laguna Beach, California, where she is at work on her next book.

Review of A Soldier's Duty by Jean Johnson

A Soldier's Duty
Publisher: Ace (July 2011)
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Format: PB (432 pages)
Source: Purchased
Series: Theirs not to reason why #1
 
Rating 4.5/5

Ia is a precog, tormented by visions of the future where her home galaxy has been devastated. To prevent this vision from coming true, Ia enlists in the Terran United Planets military with a plan to become a soldier who will inspire generations for the next three hundred years-a soldier history will call Bloody Mary.

Review 

If the world is going to go hell and you need saving, you need, no WANT Ia on your side.  

To those that start this book and groan over the massive descriptions of guns and basic training, don't worry that's just basic and the action when it starts is amazing!

Ia's talents are revealed in small snippets and tantalizing teases thought out the book.  When the action does start it is exciting and really got my blood pumping.  Let's just say when Ia goes surfing, she does it precog style.

When it comes to world building, I think that Jean Johnson must have been born in the future and came back in a time machine.  I'm mean talk about impressive people.  The detail that she put into it is mind blowing and the reader will fall into that world and absorb it, hey where is my mechsuit?  

Ia, pronounced e-yee, is so well written she is walking off the pages.  Damn good first book in a series!

Quip from the book... 

"Corporal, you are currently bare-asteroid naked!" D'kora argued.

Review of Wounded by Jasinda Wilder

Wounded

Publisher:  (December 2012 )
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Format: e-book (277 pages)
Source: Purchased


Rating 3.5/5

War has taken everything from me. My family. My home. My innocence. In a country blasted by war and wracked by economic hardship, a young orphan girl like me has very few options when it comes to survival. Thus, I do what I must to live, to eat, and I try very hard to not consider the cost to my soul. My heart is empty, and my existence brutal.

The one impossibility in my life is love.

And then I meet HIM.

War is hell. It takes a chunk out of a man's very soul to do the kinds of things war demands of you. You live with fear, you live with guilt, and you live with nightmares. If you haven't been through it, there's no understanding it. War leaves no room for love, no room for tenderness or softness. You gotta be hard, closed off, and ready to fight every moment of every day. Lose focus for a split second, and you're dead.

Now the only thing that can save me is HER. 

Review 

This is a hard review.  Because on one hand it is a beautiful love story, on the other hand maybe not so believable.  The writing is quite good and the story flows seamlessly and without problems.  For me, I had a hard time believing that anyone could fall in love the way that Rania and Hunter did.  Not that they couldn't fall in love just the way it unfolded.  

You spent a lot of time with the two H/H  being unable to communicate.  She speaks Arabic and him not so much.  Spending so much time on Rania's Job and going into detail was a little much for me.  

I would have liked to have seen more of these two state side and falling in love rather then in Iraq falling in love.  Getting to know each other outside of war and the stress that not only Rania was going through but also Hunter.  

It was still very well written.   It did touch me in ways that made me sniffle a few times.   I'll read more from this author.  She addressed several, very ugly issues and still turned out a nicely done novel.  

 

BTSeMag May 2013 Issue #10

BTSeMag May 2013

Issue #10

New York Times bestselling author Angela Knight presents Unbound.  Take a peek inside this sizzling new wrap up to her phenomenal sci-fi fantasy adventure series.  This book also includes 3 new authors with stories aimed to fill that before bedtime reading attack.

Authors also featured inside:

Sandra Bunino

Jane Toombs

Lynn Hardy

Nora Weston

Jennifer Synder

Seraphina Donavan...and more

Columns

Read all about the newest book trends with Sandra's column: Chic Trends in Romance

Answer all those techy questions with Lynn's Writing Types.

Discover Movie Flashbacks, the latest on the horror scene, and authors can see if their sites measure up!!

Join us!

http://issuu.com/btsemag/docs/may_2013 




Review of The Taken by Vicki Pettersson

The Taken (Celestial Blues #1)
Publisher: Harper Voyager (June 2012 )
Genre: Supernatural Noir Trilogy
Format: e-book (432 pages)
Source: Purchased


 Rating 5/5

Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he's an angel, but that doesn't make him a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he's been dumped back onto the mortal mudflat to collect another soul--Katherine "Kit" Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped.

Bucking heavenly orders, Grif refuses to let the sable-haired siren come to harm. Besides, protecting her offers a chance to solve the mystery of his own unsolved murder--and dole out some overdue payback for the death of his beloved wife, Evie.

Joining forces, Kit and Grif's search for answers leads beyond the blinding lights of the Strip into the dark heart of an evil conspiracy. But a ruthless killer determined to destroy them isn't Grif's biggest threat. His growing attraction to Kit could cost them both their lives, along with the answer to the haunting question of his long afterlife . . . 

Review 

 Read it!  Love it!  Become one with the Rockabilly!

 It's very refreshing to read something so original and yet for the book to feel so timeless.  I loved the subtle hints of Rockabilly.  You were never overloaded with telling of what Rockabilly meant to Kit, it was natural and a part of her.  The writing is so refreshing and a pleasure to read that I really never wanted Kit and Griffin's story to end but go on.  So in a way I'm in luck because there is a 2nd, thank goodness.  I just really couldn't put this book down.  Amazing characters, excellent world building.  I could almost feel the heat of the strip in Kit's fancy, foreign convertible!  Now that is writing :)

 Quip From "The Taken"
Today was the first day of the rest of his life.  He could use another cup of Joe.

 

Review of Gunmetal Magic by ILona Andrews

Gunmetal Magic
Publisher: Ace ( July 2012 )
Genre: UF
Format: PB (326 pages)
Source: Purchased
Series: Kate Daniels World
 
Rating 5/5

  Includes a free bonus: a Kate Daniels novella, "Magic Gifts"
The "New York Times "bestselling Kate Daniels novels have been hailed as "top-notch urban fantasy" ("Monsters and Critics"). Now, Ilona Andrews delves deeper into Kate's world, and reveals its untold stories...
After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea's whole existence is in shambles. She tries to put herself back together by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend. When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano--the male alpha of the Clan Bouda, and Andrea's former lover--die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate. Now she must work with Raphael as her search for the killer leads into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta. And dealing with her feelings for him might have to take a back seat to saving the world...




Review
I can't harp on how much I loved this book.  This is the first book by Ilona Andrews that I've read but it will not be the first or the last.  Amazing world building doesn't really describe the easy word flow and scenery of this husband and wife duo.  You live it, you breath it and you become part of this world that they have built.  When I say that you can all but smell it, I'm not kidding.  I was tellaported into the Andrea/Kate Daniels world.  Now that's a cool ride!
  
Andrea was kick ass, and even though at first she didn't want to embrace her true Bouda nature, I loved it when she did.  Ever here of the phase "Go Big or Go Home"?  Well that is the Bouda that comes out of Andrea and once released she's not looking back or hesitating.

This to me is a true UF book and though there was a small amount of romance in it, our H/H moments were perfect and only added to the story.

Yes read this book and enjoy every moment of this rip roaring fun ride.  I loved it and I'm sure that you will too.  

 

Review of Fallen to Far by Abbi Glines

Fallen to Far
Publisher: Self-Published (December 2012 )
Genre: New Adult
Format: Hardcover (207 pages)
Source: Purchased

 Rating 5/5

To want what you’re not supposed to have…

She is only nineteen.

She is his new stepfather’s daughter.

She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far. 

Review 
I really loved this book.  Abbi Glines really knows how to hit your emotional buttons. Blaire was a strong and likeable Heroine.  She has of the faults of youth but also a maturity that is believable.  Rush is of course your typical hottie with some major attitude and an all around bad boy.  What I really love about Fallen to Far is the emotional impact I got from this book.  I just couldn't wait to see what was going to happen with these two.   This is what I think of as a great summer read and I'm looking forward to the next book.