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I loved Trisha Wolfe's Destiny's Fire so much! As soon as I found out that this was going to be a companion novel I JUMPED at the chance to read it. Astarte's Wrath is set in a completely different time period from Destiny's fire so for a while, it was hard for me to picture it as a companion. I just thought of it as a standalone book really. And what a great book it is! I love Egypt, and I have to say Trisha Wolfe did such an awesome job with the historical aspects of everything. I really felt like I was transported not only to Egypt but also into the past. I loved it. The history nerd inside of me was squeeing the whole book.
Star is a cool chick. Plus throw in this forbidden love business and Trisha's awesome romance writing abilities and I was completely hooked. Star comes from a long family line of guardians to the Egyptian pharaohs and rulers. And she becomes a guardian to a kind of swoon worthy guy. I liked Xarion. He was interesting. I appreciated that it was just a good ole fashioned romance. Sure it was completely forbidden, but it developed in a completely believable way and there was no pesky love triangle complicating things even further. I just loved the way it all played out.
I will say that it took me a little while to get into. At the start of the book, I was totally loving the world building and the historical aspect but I wasn't as into the plot. I think that was because I was expecting it to be more of a sequel and it was pretty much a whole different kind of book. But then it started to pick up and really started to love the characters and the story.
All the while this romance was blooming, we also got to see Star grow. She seemed so real to me. She had internal struggles, she was darn fierce (I know I wouldn't want to get in her way) and even in this one book you could see noticable growth in her from the start to the end. That is a testament to a good writer. I love reading Trisha's books because I know that the plot will be great, the world building fascinating and flawless and the romance will be incredible. If you have not read a book by Trisha you are really missing out. It doesn't matter whether you start with this book or with Destiny's Fire. You can read them each by themselves, but trust me when I say you are going to want to read both of them!
Star is a cool chick. Plus throw in this forbidden love business and Trisha's awesome romance writing abilities and I was completely hooked. Star comes from a long family line of guardians to the Egyptian pharaohs and rulers. And she becomes a guardian to a kind of swoon worthy guy. I liked Xarion. He was interesting. I appreciated that it was just a good ole fashioned romance. Sure it was completely forbidden, but it developed in a completely believable way and there was no pesky love triangle complicating things even further. I just loved the way it all played out.
I will say that it took me a little while to get into. At the start of the book, I was totally loving the world building and the historical aspect but I wasn't as into the plot. I think that was because I was expecting it to be more of a sequel and it was pretty much a whole different kind of book. But then it started to pick up and really started to love the characters and the story.
All the while this romance was blooming, we also got to see Star grow. She seemed so real to me. She had internal struggles, she was darn fierce (I know I wouldn't want to get in her way) and even in this one book you could see noticable growth in her from the start to the end. That is a testament to a good writer. I love reading Trisha's books because I know that the plot will be great, the world building fascinating and flawless and the romance will be incredible. If you have not read a book by Trisha you are really missing out. It doesn't matter whether you start with this book or with Destiny's Fire. You can read them each by themselves, but trust me when I say you are going to want to read both of them!
The tagline of this book is what sold me. A Contemporary Fairy Take- how awesome does that sound? Plus I love the cover. I think it is so ethereal and pretty. I ended up enjoying Nissa. I think it is a very quick read and it's heartwarmingly cute.
Nissa is a fairy godmother and it seems like that is pretty much all she wanted out of life. She is just one of those people, err...fairies that just loves helping others. She seems really sweet, but I also liked that you could see just a hint of spunk in her. It only peeked out once or twice, like when she was dealing with Brandon in defense of her friend but those moments were my favorite. I loved seeing Nissa stand up for someone and honestly, I had hoped to see more spunkiness from her. (even if she might have gotten in to trouble for it.) But it is easy to see that Nissa is just a lovely girl down to her core. She meets and falls in love with her romantic interest pretty early on. It didn't seem like insta-love (it is, but it isn't) to me because Bethany Lopez did a good job of laying out what the signs and symptoms were for a fairy mating. They hit you all at once and its not really something you can control. So while things were happening pretty fast, I understood that was why it was happening at that pace. It's the way of the fairies in love.
I know I just said that I didn't feel like the romance was rushed, and now I am going to say that I would have liked some more development in the story. But before you say those two things contradict, hear me out! I understand why the initial attraction and romance all happened so fast (see above), but overall I thought the book was a very quick read. One that I really liked, so I would have loved to see it stretch out a bit. I love the small details in books and the slow progress of character growth and development so Nissa had a tendency to feel a little rushed at parts. I would have liked to learn a little more about the fairy worlds or about Nissa's fairy godmother assignment.
Other than the slight issue I had with pacing and details, I thought Nissa was a really fun read. I think it would be a perfect supernatural beach read. It is light and fast and you can probably read the book in one shot. I found it easy to just fall into the story and float along with Nissa on her journey until you look up and you are done with the book. I really liked the book. The story ended at a great place and the ending seemed very satisfying for me. If you are looking for a cute contemporary romance and a quick light hearted read, Nissa is the book for you! Plus, how can you say no to that cover?
more at http://bookbriefs.blogspot.com
Nissa is a fairy godmother and it seems like that is pretty much all she wanted out of life. She is just one of those people, err...fairies that just loves helping others. She seems really sweet, but I also liked that you could see just a hint of spunk in her. It only peeked out once or twice, like when she was dealing with Brandon in defense of her friend but those moments were my favorite. I loved seeing Nissa stand up for someone and honestly, I had hoped to see more spunkiness from her. (even if she might have gotten in to trouble for it.) But it is easy to see that Nissa is just a lovely girl down to her core. She meets and falls in love with her romantic interest pretty early on. It didn't seem like insta-love (it is, but it isn't) to me because Bethany Lopez did a good job of laying out what the signs and symptoms were for a fairy mating. They hit you all at once and its not really something you can control. So while things were happening pretty fast, I understood that was why it was happening at that pace. It's the way of the fairies in love.
I know I just said that I didn't feel like the romance was rushed, and now I am going to say that I would have liked some more development in the story. But before you say those two things contradict, hear me out! I understand why the initial attraction and romance all happened so fast (see above), but overall I thought the book was a very quick read. One that I really liked, so I would have loved to see it stretch out a bit. I love the small details in books and the slow progress of character growth and development so Nissa had a tendency to feel a little rushed at parts. I would have liked to learn a little more about the fairy worlds or about Nissa's fairy godmother assignment.
Other than the slight issue I had with pacing and details, I thought Nissa was a really fun read. I think it would be a perfect supernatural beach read. It is light and fast and you can probably read the book in one shot. I found it easy to just fall into the story and float along with Nissa on her journey until you look up and you are done with the book. I really liked the book. The story ended at a great place and the ending seemed very satisfying for me. If you are looking for a cute contemporary romance and a quick light hearted read, Nissa is the book for you! Plus, how can you say no to that cover?
more at http://bookbriefs.blogspot.com
What I love about the ebook pack is that it has all 12 volumes in one book. It's so convienent! It was like having 12 installments or novellas all in one. It kind of reminded me of watching a 30 minute tv show. You could read one part in no time at all but it was still more than just reading a few chapters of a book. I liked having stopping points. I felt like I was reading a whole book, which is pretty impressive seeing that each novella is about 50 pages or less.
I thought the way the first book was set up was a great introduction to Snow White for us. I loved the way it was written. We got to know Snow pretty well. The similarities to the original snow white were amusing to me. I love the professor and all the guys next door. And then things start to get interesting. The introduction of the vampire and paranormal elements is what really caught my interest in this series. (I will be splitting my review up by volume I think, so I won't be giving too much away here.) Snow is an adorable character. She was just the right amount of clueless about her looks. I do kind of wish she was a little more questioning about what was going on, but to her credit it did all seem to happen really fast. We get more answers later on. The first volume certainly peaked my interest and made me want to keep reading. There is even a hint of love interest in this first part.
Another thing I like about the shorter volume idea is that it takes the sting out of cliff hangers. When one part ends on a cliff hanger, it never bothered me because I knew that I could just keep right on reading. I kind of hope to see other series done in this multiple shorter volume idea. I love being able to just read a volume or two in under an hour. And Blood and Snow is a great YA paranormal to start with! If you get the complete collection, I bet you won't be able to stop after just one volume.
More at http://bookbriefs.blogspot.com
I thought the way the first book was set up was a great introduction to Snow White for us. I loved the way it was written. We got to know Snow pretty well. The similarities to the original snow white were amusing to me. I love the professor and all the guys next door. And then things start to get interesting. The introduction of the vampire and paranormal elements is what really caught my interest in this series. (I will be splitting my review up by volume I think, so I won't be giving too much away here.) Snow is an adorable character. She was just the right amount of clueless about her looks. I do kind of wish she was a little more questioning about what was going on, but to her credit it did all seem to happen really fast. We get more answers later on. The first volume certainly peaked my interest and made me want to keep reading. There is even a hint of love interest in this first part.
Another thing I like about the shorter volume idea is that it takes the sting out of cliff hangers. When one part ends on a cliff hanger, it never bothered me because I knew that I could just keep right on reading. I kind of hope to see other series done in this multiple shorter volume idea. I love being able to just read a volume or two in under an hour. And Blood and Snow is a great YA paranormal to start with! If you get the complete collection, I bet you won't be able to stop after just one volume.
More at http://bookbriefs.blogspot.com
Mythology was an interesting read. It has all these layers. And each layer just gets better and better. The story kind of just evolves and grows until it takes on a life of its own. It's been a while since I have read a book over 400 pages, and I loved the length of Mythology. It felt like there was actual meat to the story. I like short books because I can read them quickly- it's like instant gratification, but I really love longer books that I get to savor and enjoy like this one too.
Hope and Micah are the main players in this story. Then there are a few minor characters thrown in like Johnathan (who I totally loved!). I really liked Hope. But honestly, she has an awful gift. It is so much of a burden for her. She can see people's darkest moments and I can't imagine that would be easy for anyone to carry around with them. But she handles it all really well. I am really impressed with the strength that she shows in Mythology. She is a tough little cookie, and oh so loyal to the people that she cares about. I liked that about her.
Micah is the type of guy that I can see being swoon worthy for almost everyone that reads this book. He is hot, and nice and good to Hope, but there is just something about him. I liked him, I just wasn't jumping up and down with giddiness at the thought of him. I can't even really tell what was slightly offputting for me. I think it was that I always thought he was hiding something. (and yes, I know that he was in fact hiding something, but it just seemed like more than that to me.) I didn't know if I could fully trust him, but I think that was just my hang up. I do think Micah is a great guy and a really cool character that goes through a lot of great growth in the story. I think a ton of people will love him, something didn't just fully click for me. I liked him but I can't throw the big L word around just yet. Johnathan on the other hand just seemed so adorable to me. I can't wait to see more of him (hopefully) in the next book!
Mythology has a lot going on. There are guardians and demons and gods and tons of conflict. I liked how everything was described. Helen Boswell's writing is great. This is not a typical mythology book, it is more of an angels and demons kind of story. I had lots of questions while I was reading and some of them got answered but I am looking for even more answers in the next book. And you better believe I will be reading the next book! I can't wait.
Hope and Micah are the main players in this story. Then there are a few minor characters thrown in like Johnathan (who I totally loved!). I really liked Hope. But honestly, she has an awful gift. It is so much of a burden for her. She can see people's darkest moments and I can't imagine that would be easy for anyone to carry around with them. But she handles it all really well. I am really impressed with the strength that she shows in Mythology. She is a tough little cookie, and oh so loyal to the people that she cares about. I liked that about her.
Micah is the type of guy that I can see being swoon worthy for almost everyone that reads this book. He is hot, and nice and good to Hope, but there is just something about him. I liked him, I just wasn't jumping up and down with giddiness at the thought of him. I can't even really tell what was slightly offputting for me. I think it was that I always thought he was hiding something. (and yes, I know that he was in fact hiding something, but it just seemed like more than that to me.) I didn't know if I could fully trust him, but I think that was just my hang up. I do think Micah is a great guy and a really cool character that goes through a lot of great growth in the story. I think a ton of people will love him, something didn't just fully click for me. I liked him but I can't throw the big L word around just yet. Johnathan on the other hand just seemed so adorable to me. I can't wait to see more of him (hopefully) in the next book!
Mythology has a lot going on. There are guardians and demons and gods and tons of conflict. I liked how everything was described. Helen Boswell's writing is great. This is not a typical mythology book, it is more of an angels and demons kind of story. I had lots of questions while I was reading and some of them got answered but I am looking for even more answers in the next book. And you better believe I will be reading the next book! I can't wait.
*For some reason this review was hard to write spoiler free, but I attempted anyway*
The Space Between is set up really interestingly. There are multiple point of views and also a shift in the time frame. The book splits between present 2012 and past 1989. There are two couples in the book and I liked getting to see an in depth look at the 1989 couple as well through the journal that Leni found.
Leni seemed to get most of the book "air time" so I consider her the main character. I liked Leni a lot. She is a strong one. The hard part about what is happening to her and Jeric and then 1989 couple as well, is that the people closest to them start forgetting about them first. That has to sting. You are esentially left all alone, when your whole "old life" is basically taken from you. No one remembered her. She came back from outside the country to find that her home and uncle were gone. How crazy is that? I would totally feel like I was losing my mind. Especially with these mysterious flame tattoos showing up out of no where. Yea, I don't know if I would have been able to hold it together like she did.
Jeric was interesting too. He was a deaf player. And he was a huge player. A major hit it and quit it type. But there was insta attraction to Leni for reasons that you will find out later on. I liked that the whole book was kind of shrouded in mystery. It was kind of like a "these things are happening now and you will be confused and you won't know why but you are being kept in the dark for a reason and you will find out in due course" type of plot. Sometimes that works for me and sometimes it frustrates me. I will admit that it took me a little bit to get into this book. I hadn't fully connected with Leni when the first time shift occured and then I was getting to know the "first" couple so I wasn't fully invested in Leni, and therefore not as interested. But then the book started to pick up for me and the mystery surrounding everything started working. I really enjoyed it. It made me just want to keep reading faster and faster so I could find out what was happening.
I loved the romance in the book. At first I wasn't totally feeling it but the couples grew on me. At first it kind of felt more like a compulsion rather than romance but as you learn more about what is happening to/with them and you get to know the character more it completely became real for me. Really fantastic actually.
This is my first book by Kristie Cook and I was really hugely impressed with the quality of writing. She has a way with words. It is no wonder why everything thinks she is an amazing writer. I completely agree and I can't wait to read some of her other books! I like that this is going to be a series. Now that some of the background has been laid and some of my questions have answers I am totally ready to dive into the next book.
The Space Between is set up really interestingly. There are multiple point of views and also a shift in the time frame. The book splits between present 2012 and past 1989. There are two couples in the book and I liked getting to see an in depth look at the 1989 couple as well through the journal that Leni found.
Leni seemed to get most of the book "air time" so I consider her the main character. I liked Leni a lot. She is a strong one. The hard part about what is happening to her and Jeric and then 1989 couple as well, is that the people closest to them start forgetting about them first. That has to sting. You are esentially left all alone, when your whole "old life" is basically taken from you. No one remembered her. She came back from outside the country to find that her home and uncle were gone. How crazy is that? I would totally feel like I was losing my mind. Especially with these mysterious flame tattoos showing up out of no where. Yea, I don't know if I would have been able to hold it together like she did.
Jeric was interesting too. He was a deaf player. And he was a huge player. A major hit it and quit it type. But there was insta attraction to Leni for reasons that you will find out later on. I liked that the whole book was kind of shrouded in mystery. It was kind of like a "these things are happening now and you will be confused and you won't know why but you are being kept in the dark for a reason and you will find out in due course" type of plot. Sometimes that works for me and sometimes it frustrates me. I will admit that it took me a little bit to get into this book. I hadn't fully connected with Leni when the first time shift occured and then I was getting to know the "first" couple so I wasn't fully invested in Leni, and therefore not as interested. But then the book started to pick up for me and the mystery surrounding everything started working. I really enjoyed it. It made me just want to keep reading faster and faster so I could find out what was happening.
I loved the romance in the book. At first I wasn't totally feeling it but the couples grew on me. At first it kind of felt more like a compulsion rather than romance but as you learn more about what is happening to/with them and you get to know the character more it completely became real for me. Really fantastic actually.
This is my first book by Kristie Cook and I was really hugely impressed with the quality of writing. She has a way with words. It is no wonder why everything thinks she is an amazing writer. I completely agree and I can't wait to read some of her other books! I like that this is going to be a series. Now that some of the background has been laid and some of my questions have answers I am totally ready to dive into the next book.
Alpha Girl deals with some situations that may not be for everyone. There is a student/teacher relationship and they had a pretty significant age gap as well. If that kind of thing is not your cup of tea, then Alpha Girl may not be for you. But if you like or don't mind that, then Alpha Girl may be the werewolf paranormal for you. I totally love the cover of Alpha Girl. It all just works for me. And the best part is, after reading the book, the girl on the cover is the perfect Rose! I was able to picture her the whole time I was reading and my mental image matched up with that one, which doesn't happen all that often for me.
So what age group is Alpha Girl for? That is a hard one for me. Rose is 17, which is young adult age group and all of the characters are high schoolers, but some of the content is for older readers. It had a young feel to it and Rose still very much seemed like a 17 year old. (meaning she had her immature moments) but the content is more New Adult-ish. Final verdict? I think to be safe, this is a new adult book.
What I liked the most about Rose was that she went after what she wanted. That is an admirable quality. It was especially courageous considering that she was basically a punching bag for all of her classmates. Her self esteem really took a beating, but she didn't let that stop her when it came to Mr. Stone. And I liked that. Rose has a spunky edge to her, which was a nice surprise to an otherwise kind of plain jane gal. Mr. Stone was interesting too. I liked his kind of possessive and slightly jealous streak. I liked that he didn't just jump into something with her because he knew it was taboo. And honestly, the student/teacher relationship didn't bother me at all, but I do wish that he was a little bit younger. The age gap creeps me out more than the teacher thing. It just kind of makes me cringe. I pretended he was in his mid 20s, to be honest. My favorite thing about Mr. Stone and Rose was that they loved the way the other person smelled. It was so cute to me because Rose was always teased by her classmates for smelling like a "wet dog".
I enjoyed the progression of Alpha Girl. It is a brisk read, but I didn't feel like it was rushed. I thought there were a few immature moments and a bit of choppiness at parts but other than that the book was an easy and enjoyable read. I liked that there were not a ton of characters because it allowed me to get to know Rose really well. If you like werewolves and you like new adult romance, you should check out Alpha Girl by Kate Bloonfield!
So what age group is Alpha Girl for? That is a hard one for me. Rose is 17, which is young adult age group and all of the characters are high schoolers, but some of the content is for older readers. It had a young feel to it and Rose still very much seemed like a 17 year old. (meaning she had her immature moments) but the content is more New Adult-ish. Final verdict? I think to be safe, this is a new adult book.
What I liked the most about Rose was that she went after what she wanted. That is an admirable quality. It was especially courageous considering that she was basically a punching bag for all of her classmates. Her self esteem really took a beating, but she didn't let that stop her when it came to Mr. Stone. And I liked that. Rose has a spunky edge to her, which was a nice surprise to an otherwise kind of plain jane gal. Mr. Stone was interesting too. I liked his kind of possessive and slightly jealous streak. I liked that he didn't just jump into something with her because he knew it was taboo. And honestly, the student/teacher relationship didn't bother me at all, but I do wish that he was a little bit younger. The age gap creeps me out more than the teacher thing. It just kind of makes me cringe. I pretended he was in his mid 20s, to be honest. My favorite thing about Mr. Stone and Rose was that they loved the way the other person smelled. It was so cute to me because Rose was always teased by her classmates for smelling like a "wet dog".
I enjoyed the progression of Alpha Girl. It is a brisk read, but I didn't feel like it was rushed. I thought there were a few immature moments and a bit of choppiness at parts but other than that the book was an easy and enjoyable read. I liked that there were not a ton of characters because it allowed me to get to know Rose really well. If you like werewolves and you like new adult romance, you should check out Alpha Girl by Kate Bloonfield!
If you are like me, then contemporaries are my go to summer. And Between These Lines is perfect for a quick and surprising but totally entralling romance. But it was totally different than I first thought it would be. I thought it would be this easy breezy book but there was much more meat on its bones than just a fun beach read. I loved it so much! You can't help but fall in love with the characters and root for them the whole time. And the alternating point of view from chapter to chapter is a stylistic favorite of mine. I love getting to know the main guy and main girl this way. Plus I like the inside peek into a guys point of view in contemporary romances especially.
Chase starts out the story, which makes me feel like he was the true main characters and I have to say that I enjoyed it was the guy and not the girl. Typically the girl in the story takes center stage, and in between these lines both Chase and Evie are prominently featured but I still felt like it was a little bit more about Chase's story, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
I liked Evie a lot but Chase just melted my heart. I just really connected with him. I wanted to just walk up to him and hug him half of the time. Sometimes to try and cheer him up and sometimes just because he was way too adorable. Evie was pretty cute too. Her boyfriend really bugged me and so did her friend, Tara.
I thought that Between These Lines was going to a light and easy romance, but it is darker and more complicated than that. Chase and Evie both have so much going on in their lives. They have both been called "damaged" for one reason or another. Chase lost his parents in a horrible accident and Evie's parent's marriage is falling apart and she is left to fend for herself. It was sad to think about these two great teens having to go through all of that on their own. Which is why I liked them so much for each other. They were able to bring each other out of their funks.
Between These Lines is beautifully written. You can't help but to get sucked into the world of Whitley prep with its secrets and manipulation and Shane. (ugh I hate Shane!!) The ending completely took me by surprise too, which is not all that easy to do. Jennifer Murgia is a really fantastic job with Between These Lines and I think you need to go out and read it right now!
Chase starts out the story, which makes me feel like he was the true main characters and I have to say that I enjoyed it was the guy and not the girl. Typically the girl in the story takes center stage, and in between these lines both Chase and Evie are prominently featured but I still felt like it was a little bit more about Chase's story, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
I liked Evie a lot but Chase just melted my heart. I just really connected with him. I wanted to just walk up to him and hug him half of the time. Sometimes to try and cheer him up and sometimes just because he was way too adorable. Evie was pretty cute too. Her boyfriend really bugged me and so did her friend, Tara.
I thought that Between These Lines was going to a light and easy romance, but it is darker and more complicated than that. Chase and Evie both have so much going on in their lives. They have both been called "damaged" for one reason or another. Chase lost his parents in a horrible accident and Evie's parent's marriage is falling apart and she is left to fend for herself. It was sad to think about these two great teens having to go through all of that on their own. Which is why I liked them so much for each other. They were able to bring each other out of their funks.
Between These Lines is beautifully written. You can't help but to get sucked into the world of Whitley prep with its secrets and manipulation and Shane. (ugh I hate Shane!!) The ending completely took me by surprise too, which is not all that easy to do. Jennifer Murgia is a really fantastic job with Between These Lines and I think you need to go out and read it right now!