Monsters on the March had some big shoes to fill. I LOVED Scary School and I was looking for just as many, if not more, laughs from book 2. It did not disappoint. Monsters on the March is just as fun, zany, and flat out hilarious as book 1 was. If you have a child that will not read, give them the scary school series. They will be reading and laughing in no time.

This book features your same favorite students and monsters as Scary School had, along with a whole cast of new creatures. Also like scary school, I loved how each chapter was about one specific person but the book still managed to create an over-arc plot line. Which involved the Monster King. Yes King!

Scary School and its sequel, Monsters on the March have the unique quality to appeal to both boys and girls. And trust me that is not easy to do at those young ages. This is one of the most fun middle grade books I have read in a long time. I couldn't stop laughing! And it is not just a kids book, there are tons of pop culture references that will likely go over kids heads but that I really enjoyed reading them. I especially loved the adventures and writings of Steven Kingsley. ;) Kids will love the mixture of scary and silly. It would be such a fun book to read with them. I am a huge fan of Derek the Ghost (my favorite ghost writer) and Scary School.

very cute short story. I liked the addition of it to the special edition.

Drive Back the Darkness is a cool fantasy book. If you like quest/adventure type of books, with lots of awesome fantasy creatures and magic thrown in Drive Back the Darkness is the book for you. There are false princesses, an evil ruler, animals that can talk, and lots of magic. Sounds cool, right? Heck yea it is!

Ellie wasn't my favorite character at first. I thought she was very impulsive and it didn't seem like she thought before she spoke. Not to be totally rude but she did a few things that made her seem like an idiot. But she realized her mistakes pretty early on and she actually did something about it. That was so great! Once this happened, I adored her. I thought she was determined and fiesty. In a land where magic is normal and everyone grows up around it, Ellie was super out of place by not knowing how to do any magic. Which is so ironic considering how powerful she is. But I enjoyed her magic lessons and watching her learn and grow throughout the journey.

I liked Ellie's group of friends. They were a random group for sure, but they worked really well together. I liked the love interest between Devin and Ellie, but I would have liked to see them get to know each other a little bit more. It was a bit of insta love, which doesn't bother me too much as a reader because they did have a pretty powerful connection- but I do know that a lot of other readers really don't care for insta-love. I also wanted to see some more of his friend, (insert friend's name). I thought I saw some genuine moments when he was around Ellie and I would have really liked to see that explored more. I hope it happens in the next book because I have a soft spot for him.

There is a huge theme of good v. evil in Drive Back the Darkness. There is a corrupt and evil ruler, but everyone seems to either be under his influence or way too scared of him. For most of the book I was pretty skeptical that Ellie and her rag tag group of friends were going to be able to do anything. But then they got to the palace and city and everything changed. There were quite a few twists and turns throughout the story and I thought they were perfectly placed. About 3/4 of the way through the book I got super excited to find out what would happen. Drive Back the Darkness is a book that builds. It gets better and better as it goes on.

The writing is good and the world is pretty awesome. Every time I learned about a new group of people or animals I got a little more excited. I love seeing a fantasy world pieced together for the first time. More of the focus was on world building in this book than on character details, so I do hope in the next book it focuses a little more on character relationship and development. Other than that though, Drive Back the Darkness is really good and book 2 has so much potential! I can't wait.

Unmasking Maya was a quirky and cute book. I read it pretty quickly- in under a day I think, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. I wasn't blown away by the book, but it was a solid and entertaining read. I can't really say why I wasn't blown away by it, everything about Unmasking Maya was good. The characters were unique and interesting. The plot was cutsey and quirky and modern, and the romance was adorable. The writing was wonderful. I loved the writing style more than the actual plot of the book, which makes me excited to read more of Libby's books. Ok, I don't want to come across that I really disliked this book, because that is not the case at all! I really enjoyed the book and the writing.

Maya was so intriguing. Right away you know that she is hiding a secret and it seems to be a pretty big one. I was pretty interested in finding out her secret. I thought she was bright and sassy and lots of fun. She seemed the total opposite of Derek, who also seemed to be to be hiding a secret but it was more Maya's story than his so his secret came out much later in the story, though it was just as juicy. I don't really know if I would have been ok with his secret. Derek seemed to be much too perceptive for his own good. He just seemed to know everything. I liked him but I found him a little hard to believe sometimes. He grew on me though and in the end, I was rooting for him and Maya.

One thing that I completely loved about Unmasking Maya were the careers chosen for the two main characters. They were so fresh and modern. Maya was an artist that worked mainly in textiles. I would have loved to seen an example of her work so I could picture it better, but everything she made sounded so beautiful. And derek was a tech genius running his company in silicon valley. Again, a very modern job. I loved how unique these careers were.

Libby Mercer's writing in Unmasking Maya stole the show for me. It was the reason that I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I would love to read another book of hers to see more of her writing style. It was really easy to read and the flow and pacing was great. The characters didn't make me fall in love, but that happens sometimes. I can totally see other people completely loving Derek and Maya. I didn't dislike them by any means, they just didn't make me want to jump up and down and squeal. However, even with my lukewarn feelings towards the characters, Unmasking Maya is a fun and fresh story. One that I really enjoyed.

Fate's Design was the last book that I read in 2012, and I am happy to say that I ended the year with a book that I really enjoyed. Fate's Design takes place mostly in Italy. I have always wanted to visit Italy. Throw in a very attractive guy that is so gentlemanly and some cool paranormal elements. What's not to love??

Megan is the main character along with her twin sister, Morgan. At first I kept getting the two of them confused because their names were so similar but the book is Megan's story so it mainly focused on her. Megan is the more reserved twin and she is always stuck in her sister's shadow. But even so, I loved how close of a relationship the two of them had. They looked out for each other and that is so nice to see. Alex enters the story pretty quickly and I was just as taken with him as Megan was. There is a lot of mystery surrounding him, and I enjoyed learning more about him as the book went on.

A lot of the story centers around Megan's strange dreams. There is a lot going on with a bunch of the dreams in the first 1/4 of the story, so it's important to pay attention to them. I loved watching how everything fit together later on in the story. Fate's Design was really well thought out. Everything came together nicely.

There are hints of a love triangle to come but I am really interested in how it is all going to turn out. I love Alex so I can't imagine that I would want her to chose another guy, but there are some cool surprises that are thrown in towards the end of the book that may make me change my mind. The action also really picks up towards the end of the book. Which just made me even more excited for book two!

Note: this is an adult book and contains mature situations

This is a spicy quick read for anyone that is looking for a fun escape. I read this book really quickly and all in one shot. It was more like a novella to me. I approach novellas and novels differently. When I am reading a shorter story, I am looking more for instant gratification and plot/action, and less on character development and nuances. This book delivers on that completely!

Lacinda wins a trip on a singles cruise. I really liked Lacinda and I felt like I understood her more than I expected to. Kay Dee Royal does a good job of explaining the characters motivations and emotions. I liked how she was a little slow to open up, but then once she did, she gave herself over completely.

As for secondary characters, I really liked Blade but his friend, that helped him plan everything, really got on my nerves. She just seemed to think that people were puppets. But that was really my only drawback with One Plus One. Other than her, I really enjoyed this book.

One Plus One is like taking a vacation. It is a fantastical escape. it is not deep or extremely detailed, but it was a lot of fun and a good read.

The Dirty Secrets of Markham Savoy is the first book in the Colebrook Academy series. It's one of those books that I would call a young adult/ new adult crossover. It could go either way depending on the later books but it is hard to tell which direction it will lean just on this book alone. I liked The Dirty Secrets of Markham Savoy and I think the series could be something I would get easily addicted to. It was more of a foundation book than a plot advancing book though. It sets up the characters and it does some really good development to get to know each of them.


Markham is an interesting guy. He comes from a super rich, super powerful old family and because of his connections, he basically runs Colebrook Academy. I mean, really runs. He can make pretty much anything happen, and at one point piper referred to him as a mafia don and I thought that was such a great comparison. But what I did like about him, is that he is really smart and well read. And he has the biggest soft spot for his younger sister.


Piper is an awesome chick. She is smart, strong and has a wicked dry sense of humor. Even though Markham was the main character in the story, I kind of saw him through Piper's eyes. Don't get me wrong, I have a slightly higher opinion of him than she did for most of the book. (she really thought he was scum) She gets to see glimpses of the real Markham and that was what her and I both liked the most. I felt like I really connected with Piper.


The Dirty Secrets of Markham Savoy is set in an exclusive high school academy, so it not the most original plot, but to me it is a classic. One scenario that I feel can be done in so many different ways, so I still enjoy it a lot. And I liked C.C. Dalton's take on the prep school experience. The book was a little short, which might be why I didn't think a ton of stuff happened, other than the character and background development. That is why I am so excited to read the second book in the series, because I feel like that is where we will really get rolling and I think everything is set up for this to be an awesome series.

This is a great addition to the bonfire chronicles and bonfire academy series. (I group the two series together because they take place in the same time frame and with the same characters mostly, so I just see them both as one larger series. I would read the bonfire academy series before the bonfire chronicles series FYI. Update: the author has actually recommended mixing up the series and reading the books in this order Faustine, Initiation, Integration, Uprising, Retaliation.) It has been a while since I journeyed into the world of Cordelia and Faustine so it took me awhile to get my bearing. There are a lot of characters in this story and a lot of paranormals and they don't give the backstory on everything, so be sure to read Faustine at least before starting Uprising. But once I remembered who everyone was, I got swept up into the action of the story.

Uprising is much faster paced than Faustine, because they are in a state of emergency. Code uprising is activated pretty much at the beginning of the story, and from then on in it was non stop running around and action. I thought it was really exciting. The book splits up in sections, and each section has chapters. I liked the Cordelia sections more than the faustine sections, but that is because I like the romance in the cordelia parts more. I like Faustine a lot and she has really come a long way in this book, but I just love Cordelia. It still cracks me up that Faustine is this bigggg bad part demon and she is so scared of tiny little spiders. I loved that it was mentioned in this book too because I thought that was so funny in the last book with her little nightmare room trips.

There is a lot of stuff going on in Uprising. I really enjoyed the story and the writing and characterizations are excellent. There are so many different people with different powers and different kinds of creatures, but you really do learn a lot about all of them. And it was great watching the students at bonfire academy start to grow up and expand their powers. They all took charge in this book. Imogen Rose has proven over and over again how talented she is at telling a story. I love her world building and her characters. This lady can write a great book! I really enjoy her bonfire series. I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Dark and Stormy is a very quick book about a love spell. When I started reading and saw that a love spell was at play, I was thinking “oh no”, but I was pleasantly surprised that once the spell was cast the Regina and Reddick didn’t automatically start falling over themselves to get to the other person. It didn’t feel over the top or crazy cheesy. It was just a quick story about two people finally seeing how great they are for each other.

Regina and Reddick are both total workaholics. They live for the job and they are both very competitive. They are honestly like the same person. I feel like they actually would be a good match. They story gives you just enough set up and background information to allow you to get to know Regina, Reddick and their boss, but not much of anyone else. You get a glimpse of the other people in the office but they are mostly just background noise in the story. Once you take a day or two to explore the office, the magic of the spell starts to heat up between the two of them.

A storm forces them together and they bond over a project they are working on at night. I would have liked it more if this book seemed to be a fun start of something more and that was it. I would have liked them to just hint at future feelings, but Reddick full out thinks he is in love with Regina. That was the only thing that bugged me a little about the story. It was too quick for love, but other than that I thought this book was fun and sexy. I quick little story that was impressively developed for its mere 136 pages. You should read this book if you are looking for a quick magical weekend romance.

This review is for Run To You parts 1, 2 and 3. This is a serial series, and so far the first three parts were released together. The next three parts (parts 4, 5, and 6) will be coming out together in June 2014. Each of the three parts is short, like a novella, but together they made a good sized book. I am loving this series! I would easily read right on to the next three parts back to back (to back) if I had them. It is addictive. I felt like I was on a netflix binge and I just couldn't stop watching the next episode.

Run To You features a family that has different psychic abilities, that is on the run. Tessa is the only one without any gifts and even though she is the "normal" one of the family with the least to hide, she is the most guarded of the bunch. She never gets close to anyone. I loved getting to know her whole family and learning about each of their gifts. But soon the focus of the story shifted to Tristan. He is always so kind and great to Tessa, or Sarah, as he knew her. I loved watching her become close to someone outside of her family for the first time ever. Their romance was just so sweet and full of promise and hope. All the exciting things from a first love.

The cool thing about this series is that you get two great stories. You get the sweet and adorable romance and you also get the pulse pounding mystery/action/intrigue plot from the family always on the run from this Dennis Connelly. I can't tell which aspect of the story I enjoyed more. If I had to pick, I would say the romance because Tristan just melted my heart.

Parts 1 and Part 2 each ended with a bombshell dropping. I didn't really see either of them coming, which was such a great surprise for me. And the cliffhanger ending of the second part set up what pretty much the whole third installment would be about. It was like a mini mystery in and of itself. While I did kind of see where the third book was going, it was still full of twists and turns and information reveals for me to be totally riveted. This book was different than anything I have read in a while, and I absolutely loved that about it. This is a series that I will be continuing for sure. I highly recommend it.