I really enjoyed Over It. I thought it was a great follow up to The Kiss off. What is cool about this series is that I feel like each of the books can pretty much be read on their own, but at the same time they go great together. There is not much overlap between this book and the first book so it took me a chapter or two to get my bearings and remember everything that happened in the first book, but once I did I was rolling. And Laughing. And basically just having a blast reading this book. Over it is a fun, and fast paced misadventure. Everything seems to get messed up for Poppy, but that is all part of the charm and fun. A lot of what I had to say in my review of The Kiss off applies to Over it as well. I think this book is not only a great read, but I think its a social commentary on the paparazzi and instant fame and maybe some of the problems each of those things can cause. It is stuff that I see all the time in "real life". And I think that still may be my favorite thing about this series. Plus, music lovers all over the place with LOVE IT!

Poppy takes some of her royalty money from her hit The Kiss Off and goes to a weekend music festival. And as you can guess, hijinks ensue all over the place. This book had me laughing out loud multiple times. I'm glad I was at home. In The Kiss off Poppy was kind of rash in her actions, and she didn't really grow out of the act first, think later mentality, but it added to the fast pace of the story and the excitement of it. I like Poppy. She behaves just like a teenager would with all of this extra attention.

The secondary characters in Over It are great as well. Poppy's friends are hilarious, and the chemistry between everyone is so good. That's not to say that everyone gets along. But all of the dynamics are a blast to read. And the writing is just as fresh as it was in the first book. Sarah Billington does an excellent job of incorporating all of the industry "lingo". There are tons of music references and bands in this book. I really enjoy reading with pop culture references like this. The ending was a bummer though. It's a cliffhanger and its making me very anxious to see what is going to happen in the next book. I think fans of the Kiss Off and music lovers will really enjoy Over It.

Holy cow! This book was awesome! I have been on such a contemporary kick that I have been neglecting all of the other genres that I used to love. Including fantasy and science fiction. Oh, how foolish I have been. 3:59 reminded me just how much I love these genres. I need to go find other fantasy books to read right away. I haven't experienced a Gretchen McNeil book yet, but I have no idea what I was waiting for. This book is easily the best written, most exciting book I have read all year. 3:59 is very science heavy, but I never felt lost or confused by the scientific jargon. You could tell that Gretchen clearly did her research and she explained everything we needed to know really well through Josie and Penelope. (the two science-y ones in the story.)


I loved that even though there are two doppelgangers, Josie and Jo in this story it was only told through Josie's point of view. It would have been easy to switch back and forth between her and Jo in the beginning of the book when they were first seeing each other through the mirror, but I was so excited that the point of view never switched. I thought it really added to the story to have Josie put everything together for herself. Josie is such a smart girl- brilliant really, but she is also just a teenage girl that recently got dumped by her boyfriend. So when she looked in the mirror and saw her boyfriend happy with her other self, she saw what she wanted to see. That is what made her go from a good character to a great character in my mind. That sounds silly, doesn't it? but she was so realistic. She isn't perfect, she made some mistakes, but she more than made up for them in the rest of the book.


There are so many twists and turns in 3:59, I couldn't even predict half of them. Which made for such an exciting read! I couldn't put this book down. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole thing. When I had to stop reading to run errands or to do some work, I was actually annoyed that real life was interrupting my reading time. Gretchen McNeil knows how to write creepy. Man, the Nox was something I would have nightmares about. I would hate to live in a world with them. But they were fascinating. Everything in her world was actually. If you are a "world building" fan, you will LOVE 3:59 because the detail and description in this book is grade A. I think 3:59 is a must read book of 2013. Whether you are a fan of fantasy and science fiction or not, you need to read this book.

Dead Radiance was one of my favorite books a few years ago when it first came out and since then I have been so excited to continue the series. Dead Embers picks up right where Dead Radiance leaves off. Since the first three books are all out now, I would recommend reading series one right after another because TG Ayer has a super talent for crazy cliffhangers that leave you wishing for the next book to be in your hands ASAP. (Just a warning) This is going to be a really hard review for me to write without spoilers, because there are lots of the story that are based on twists and turns and crazy surprises. I will leave it at this- I am obsessed with Ayer's plot writing abilities. I love how she tells a story. She incorporated all sorts of Norse gods and creatures and really lets them shine in the story. And through all of their parts we learn all about Morse mythology, but none of it feels like an information dump. It just feels like we are immersed in Norse mythology and culture and I loved that.

Bryn really starts to grow and come into her own in this book. She still struggles with feeling different than the other Valkyries. She is more human in a way than them and it shows. She is a little too trusting and more open than the others, but I don't think those things are necessarily faults. I thought they were endearing qualities. And I loved the flying lesson scene with Fen. It was exciting and funny as heck! And this book would not be complete without Bryn's signature snark that I adore. She is a tad stubborn and hard headed but she loyal to a fault. I just really like Bryn. And in Dead Embers she has so much resting on her shoulders. She has a war to prepare for, and she has to go to Hel to rescue Aiden- her budding romantic interest from the first book, and to make everything even more interesting all of the Valkyrie warriors are coming back to Asgard with this mysterious black tar/goo substance that is bad news bears for them. Holy cow, there is a lot going on in this book! I ate it all up! I was just as engaged in this book as I was in the first. And you better believe I will be reading Dead Chaos right after this one! I need to know how what is going to happen next!

A bunch of the characters from the first book are back in the fray, including Bryn's human friend Brody. Plus some more Norse gods show up to make things interesting, like Thor. I will admit that I just saw the second Thor movie two weeks ago so I kept picturing Chris Hemsworth as this Thor. ;) (I'm sure everyone else did as well.) TG Ayer has done a fantastic job detailing the Norse gods and telling a riveting story. War is brewing and I just know that the next book will be EPIC!

Note: This book is New Adult and may be unsuitable for readers under 17. There are lots of mature language and explicit sexual situations.

Note #2: This is take 2 of this review. I got 3/4th of the way done with my last one and my computer crashed. -_-

Covert Assignment reminded me a little bit of the tv show Chuck. (Which is on Netflix right now and is AWESOME!) Chuck is about a spy for the CIA and NSA and part of what they do was recruit students out of a college. Elle gets recruited by the CIA in school because of the work she was doing on her masters thesis. They were really impressed with her analtyics work on metadata. They send over super hot agent Preston to oversee her research and to collect the data she gets for a mission.

Elle is super talented. She is so ambitious. She already got her bachelors degree and she is currently working on her masters thesis. Then she wants to go to law school and get her joint MBA/JD degree, she is all over the place! Not too many information science majors go to law school or business school. She has three completely different careers going on at once. I have to say after I got to know her, the information science major/career seems to be the best fit for her. I just couldn't see her in business school. Elle felt like she is just a plain little mouse, but she couldn't be more wrong. I loved that Preston never saw her that way. He thought she was one of a kind and he was totally right. Elle is bursting with passion and energy and she is just such a fun person.

I also loved how logical she was. She is logical to a fault. For example, when her D-bag of a boyfriend/ex boyfriend wanted to meet up and explain why he cheated on her with that skank Bella (Elle's words, not mine! Alright, I completely agree.) Elle uses logic to break down the situation into a step by step analogy of how they are like a broken algorithm. It made me chuckle. And holy cow, I hated Adam! I can't think of a single character in any book that I have hated more than Adam. He was just such a jerk! I can't believe how awful he was to Elle. How cruel and mean he was to her. He wanted her back together with him, but at the same time he put her down and told her she wouldn't be able to do any better than him and oh yea, he continued to cheat on her! I mean, how low can you get. I am so glad that Elle was so strong with him.

I am so excited to read the next book. Covert assignment had me on the edge of my seat. The main appeal for me was Preston and Elle. I just loved reading about the two of them. At first glance they seem to be so different but at the same time, they work so well together. This is going to be a series that I continue for sure. Covert Assignment was a total hit for me.

I love a good mystery and The Road To You is one of the better mysteries that I have encountered in a long time. This book will really keep you guessing. This book takes place in the 1970s and Aurora and Donovan's older brothers have been missing for over two years. Aurora finds her brothers journal out of the blue and as she starts to go through it she noticed that there are clues hidden throughout. I love that concept. Puzzles and scavenger hunt type mysteries are always really fun for me to read about. And this is a very intricate mystery. I was trying to solve it right along with Aurora and Donovan and I couldn't crack it before they did. Marilyn Brant did a really great job with this book.

Aurora is so determined. I really wanted everything to work out for her because she wanted it so badly. And nothing was easy for her. You have to remember that this book takes place in the 70s so there was no internet, no cell phones and CSI/ police forensics are nothing like they are today. There is almost no researching that Aurora could have done. If she wants to find her brother she has to literally go to all the places that they went and do some major footwork. Talk to the people they talked to, try and figure out what they were doing at each place and look for leads that way. And because of that sometimes the book seems a little long. It wasn't really slow pe se, it is just a long process that the two of them had to go through just to advance one step. But it was really interesting. Aurora was my favorite character. I liked Donovan too, but Aurora just seemed to be the driving force behind everything and her determination and can do spirit impressed me.

There is a little bit of a romance but it is very secondary to the main mystery. I liked it that way. Normally, I like more romance in my stories, but here it worked as a secondary aspect because this book really was about finding their brothers. I really liked the mystery that Marylin came up with. It was interesting and well thought out. I was really impressed with The Road to You overall. It was my first time reading one of her books and I can really see that she is a very detail oriented writer. Everything is so well described and the story seemed very fleshed out. It was an enjoyable read.

I have a little secret to share with you guys. Are you listening? I am a little burnt out on dystopian. Shh! I know that is practically blasphemous to say around the YA blogosphere. Dont' get me wrong- I loved the Hunger Games, and plenty of other dystopians, but then it seemed like every other book was a dystopian and well, they all kind of started to look the same to me. And I got kind of bored of reading the same formula over and over again. BUT Pawn was getting such good early reviews from bloggers that I love and trust so I just had to give it a try. And I have to say, I am really glad that I did. Pawn didn't seem to be just like all the other dystopians out there, and it was really well executed. I was already a fan of Aimee Carter's Goddess Test series, and I am really impressed with the world building that she had in Pawn. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and the world is awful and disgusting enough to have you completely invested in the series. I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the next book because something needs to be done! This blackcoat rebellion needs to start stirring the pot because I would hate to live in this world.

Kitty AKA fake Lila is just as disgusted with this world as I am. She is spunky, and defiant, but at the same time she is vulnerable and scared because she feels like she is completely powerless in this world. She has trouble reading so she had a reader for her big coming of age test. This test will determine what kind of life they will have. The scores are 2-7 and you need a 4 or above to have any kind of decent life. Because Kitties reader was slow she couldn't finish the test and she scored a 3. She is basically cast aside as a 2 or a 3. But that is just the start of her journey. She ends up a prisoner of the ruling family, pretending to be one of them.

There are so many political ploys in this book, it was hard to keep up with all of the lies. I was fascinated by the world that Aimee Carter created. The elsewhere disgusted me. I totally did not see that nightmare coming. The only thing that bugged me a little was that other than Kitty and Benji (and a little bit knox) I couldn't really love any of the characters. Everyone else in the family or book that we got to know was hiding something, lying about something. None of them seemed very trustworthy to me, so it was hard for me to get to know them. I felt skeptical of everything about them. I hope we get to know Celia and Knox a little better in the next book because I really want to like Knox.

I do love Kitty and Benji though. Benji's loyalty is impressive. You can tell that he really loves Kitty. There is no love triangle and no diversion to the romance. It's Benji and Kitty right from the start, even when they are apart from each other. The next book in the Blackcoat rebellion series looks like it is going to be even more action packed than this one. A lot of this book was setting up the players and the world. There was more fast paced action in the second half of the book, but the way the book ended I know the next book is going to be full of action and maybe even the start of a rebellion. I sure hope so at least! I am really interested in this series. I'm glad I gave Pawn a try. It was even better than I expected.

I love the touched Series. Blood Debt was one of my favorite books of 2012. Centaur Legacy picks up right where Blood Debt left off. Drake and Cami have escaped from Zandra's house and are off to find Hercules' arrow.

Cami really comes into her own in Centaur Legacy. She starts to explore the limits of her powers and she is really impressive. Maybe even a little scary when she is in action. I loved seeing her start to learn how to use her powers. Because she is from two really powerful bloodlines, she can do some really cool stuff. And I loved seeing her with Drake. Even though they had this awesome connection in the first book, they didn't really get a chance to get to know each other. Because at the time Drake was betrothed to Bianca and then Cami was kidnapped so they didn't have a ton of time to just enjoy each others company. So when they went to Ireland in search of this mysterious arrow, it was adorable to see them just talking and getting to know each other better. it seemed so ordinary but it was cute because they seemed just like any other normal couple falling in love.

But they couldn't be normal for long. Centaur Legacy is full of just as much action as the first book. Cami is so important that a lot of people want her, and they will pretty much do anything to get her to help them. They each want her to become bound to someone in their line so that their herd will gain power. Plus there is all sorts of interesting things about the Lost Herd going on. You learn a lot about the history of the herds and we even find out who Cami's long lost twin is. There is a crazy twist with Drake too. I didn't see that coming! Centaur Legacy is a great sequel to Blood Debt. I am so excited that I have the third book to this series because I love it!

This is such a great series. Fans of paranormal need to read these books. Heck, even people that feel burned out on paranormal books need to read the touched series. It is THAT GOOD. Centaur Rivalry picks up right where Centaur Legacy left off. This book had my emotions all over the place. I was excited, I was mad, I was confused when Cami was. Nancy Straight is such a fantastic writer. She has created such a vibrant and fascinating world using a mixture of paranormal and mythology. And in the third book we are introduced to another paranormal creature. All of the books in the Touched series are told from multiple points of view, but it never feels overwhelming. Actually, it is a great way for us to get to know a lot of the secondary characters as well as the main characters. I really connected with Nancy's writing style. She switched between the points of views seemlessly. She makes telling a great story seem effortless.

Cami is so loyal. I think that is what I like most about her. Brent, one of her half brothers, said something interesting in this book that I loved. He said that everyone was instantly drawn to Cami because she has no problem questioning authority and traditions if she thinks they are stupid. She is strong and independent. And even though it may seem frustrating sometimes, she is like a breath of fresh air to the centaurs that surround her. You just can't help but love her. And she never gives up on Drake. I think that is really admirable. I love the two of them together.

We get to know some new characters in this book and we get to see more of Cami's twin, Cameron. Zandra frustrated me to no end! I can't stand that lady! The way she spins everything makes me sick. But there is a lot going on in this story. The stories start out all over the place, but eventually everything comes together. I could not put this book down. I needed to see what was going to happen next. I also love that each of Cami's half brothers has his own mini storyline woven into the overall bigger story. Last book we got to see Beau meet Lacey and in this book it is Brent's turn. I ended up liking Brent more than I thought I would. At first glance he seems to be kind of arrogant, but there is more to him than meets the eye.

The touched series is paranormal at it's finest! With so many young adult and new adult books out there, sometimes it is hard to separate the really great ones from the average good ones. Take my word for it, this is one of the really great ones! I can't wait for the fourth book! Especially because of that cliffhanger...

By now you all know how much I enjoy mythology based books. I have read and reviewed a bunch of them in the Young Adult Genre and a couple in the New Adult genre, but I don't think I have ever read one from the perspective of the oracle. There have been books that deal with prophesies but none that deal with the person making the predictions. I thought that was a really interesting take on the subject.

The Prophecy of the Most beautiful deals with the becoming of a new oracle. A very important one at that. Chloe is treated awful at her old school, so even though she had to leave her family being whisked away to this crazy new life amoung the gods and demi gods had to be an improvement for her. And it must have been nice to know that she wasn't crazy. She kept having these "hallucinations" and no one really understood them in any other way but to call her crazy. At her new home everyone praised her for how special she was. But she was no ordinary oracle. No, apparently the gods and have been waiting over 2,000 years for her to arrive.

I liked Ace and Stafford and the whole demi-god gang, but it annoyed me that no one would give Chloe answers. She was just picked up from her life and brought here and she was kept in the dark. She was mad about it, but she still went along with what they wanted. I would have fought a little harder to find out just what was going on. Especially if it was about me and my life. There are still some unanswered questions left for the next book, but we do find out a lot of things in Prophecy of the Most Beautiful, include what the "most beautiful" is.

There is the signature adventure/ quest theme of mythology, but the cool part is that the oracle is part of the quest. Everyone just wants her to stay out the way and stay safe, but Chloe gets right in the middle of the fray. She just can't sit still, she has to be involved. I liked her spunky attitude. Prophecy of the Most Beautiful had a really cute and happy ending. I liked the way it was concluded because it was not a cliff hanger, but there is still plenty of stuff looming over Chloe and the rest of the gangs head. Lot's of great things to come in the next book. I am enjoying this series.

Shadows of Asphodel is an adult diselpunk. This is the first diselpunk that I have encountered, and honestly I wasn’t really sure what the difference would be from steampunk. I think the main difference that I found was with the weaponry in the story. The story is set in a very turbulent time in history, and I really enjoyed the way Karen Kincy incorporated the historical events as they were occurring throughout the story. She used the real people and the real events and interspersed them throughout the story. Even though I was a history major, I have not read many historical fiction books, especially not ones with as much steamy romance or urban fantasy/diselpunk elements. I have to say it was a really interesting mix. I don’t think I have ever encountered a story quite like Shadows of Asphodel. And it’s unique-ness was my favorite thing about the story. I loved Karen’s ability to combine elements from different genres so flawlessly.

Ardis and Wendel are the two main characters of this story and they are quite the pair. Holy cow, they might be two of the most guarded characters that I have read about in a long time. Getting either one of them to talk about themselves or reveal anything was like pulling teeth. And they both had such intense pasts that a few times I just wanted to shake them until they told me everything. They threw each other for a loop because neither one of them behaved exactly like the other thought they would. Wendel wasn’t quite as evil or repulsive as Ardis imagined a necromancer would be, and Ardis actually gave Wendel the time of day. (well, after a little while anyways.) I liked how much they surprised each other. Whenever I pick up an adult novel, I am looking for some good romance. And Shadows of Asphodel was full of sexual tension. These two had it in spades. I really liked how they interacted with each other, romantically and otherwise. I don’t even know who I liked more. I started out liking Ardis more, but I think somewhere along the way Wendel won me over.

I am a huge character driven reader, so I liked how well developed the main characters were in Shadows of Asphodel, but the world building was really impressive as well. There was so much going on, and the setting felt like such a big scale because they were on boats and on trains and traveling all around. It felt like a global novel. (if that makes any sense.) The pacing for the most part was good. There was always a lot going on, so for the majority of the book it felt fast paced. But a couple of spots it lagged for me. Just for a couple of pages at a time though, and then I was swept right back up in the excitement of the story. This is certainly a series that I am interested in continuing. It’s hard for me to describe this book because it’s like a beautiful mashup of a bunch of different things. Karen Kincy took history and magic and the setting and everything else and wove it into an incredibly interesting and unique story.