I downloaded this book for free and am so happy that I did! Emma Learns to Sprout is a sweet children's book about a little girl who learns to sprout lentils with the help of her mom. This is an invaluable book for children that'll teach them about eating healthier and sprouting, of course! The next time my nephews come over I am going to read them this book. Actually, I'll have the oldest read it to me, and then we'll try sprouting our own lentils. :)

The illustrations for Emma Learns to Sprout are amazing! I love the use of color.

I recommend everyone (teachers, nannies, parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles) to get this book and teach the kids in their lives how to sprout!

Kelly Hashway’s writing is always captivating. She does a phenomenal job of getting into the heads of her characters and making them come to life on the pages. She created a fascinating school for Ophi and gave them intriguing powers to control zombies with their Gorgon blood. At different times I laughed and cringed. Actually, I cringed a lot at the end. I enjoyed reading Alex’s story, the prologue to Touch of Death, and I am very much looking forward to reading Jodi’s story next.

Earl Blacke is stuck in a time that is not his own (present time) after passing through a portal. He has made a good life for himself though, and now he makes sure that nothing else can enter through that very same gate, but something got through and it wanted his girl, Charming. When Charming escapes through the rift with a strange human-looking man, Earl has to keep her disappearance a secret.

At the same time, Daelin, Charming’s sister, has just arrived in town hoping for a fresh start after losing her job in NYC. She encounters countless small-town folks, all of them a bit odd, which made them all so much fun! I enjoyed the references to books and writing that M. PAX added to Daelin’s perspective. It was a perfect touch for a character who accepts a position at a library. Daelin is a wonderful character. I fell for her immediately. She is spunky and tough, and has a love for literature.

Beaked phantoms, resurrected cowboys, headless people, ghosts, and murder makes this story a very entertaining read.

In the beginning I did find myself confused about Earl and his past as we don’t get to read about his time in 1888 as an outlaw or how he went through the rift. However, as I kept reading things started to make sense and the questions lingering in my head were answered one by one.

When Grace’s pod crash lands in an unknown planet, she is met by aliens. I was enchanted by the vividness of this story; the description of the planet and the aliens was exceptional. Just like with “Plantgirl” by M. Pax, I can imagine this as a book that shows how Grace lives in this strange planet.

Touch of Death starts out with a lesson all teenagers should know: not to use their phone while they drive. When Jodi reaches for her phone, she accidentally hits a deer and kills it. While she kneels over the deer, she gets a nose bleed and her blood magically brings the deer back to life.

The one thing that got me in that scene is that Jodi wiped the blood off her hand from her nosebleed onto the deer’s fur. I don’t see anyone doing that. I would’ve wiped it on the inside of my shirt, or had shown a drop fall from her nose and land on the deer instead. The fact that she wiped her blood on a dead deer was weird.

Anyway, I enjoyed the mythology in the beginning of Touch of Death. Mythology is one of my passions, which is why I enjoy Kelly Hashway’s books so much, because she rewrites them and uses them in fascinating ways. I actually had no idea that there was a 13th zodiac sign though, so that was a treat to learn.

The end of chapter one is where things start to get good. And, without revealing anymore of the plot, I’ll just say I was just as nervous as Jodi was. And things really get exciting when Green Eyes (Alex from Kiss of Death) gets into the picture.

Another thing I noticed is that Jodi sure pricks/cuts herself a lot. I understand that’s the point of the story but it’s a bit predictable. Despite that though, everything that happens after she pricks herself is entertaining.

I enjoyed the insight Kelly Hashway gave us for a teen who was homeschooled and whose mother was a teen mom. These are two very realistic circumstances in this generation and it was nice reading about a YA character who dealt with both while growing up.

The end had my jaw dropping. There were so many twists and turns and each one was exciting. I felt like applauding at the conclusion of this book. Over all, this was a fun read.

The Blue-Haired Boy has two amazing YA characters. I haven't read about characters like them in a long time. Courtney C. Stevens wrote a great story about youth, love and truth. I'm looking forward to reading Faking Normal.

I was hooked from the first few sentences. Darcy Flynn captured the emotions of grief, and the sadness of losing a loved one so well that I sympathized for Katie, a fifteen year old who just lost her big brother. The flashbacks in the beginning give us touching memories between a brother and sister that reminded me of my own brother. Katie is a great character, young, fragile and full of such emotion. Reading about her as an adult in "Keeper of My Heart" will be interesting.

Darcy Flynn's writing is beautiful, effortless, and captivating. It's impossible not to feel what her characters feel, see what they see, and want to keep reading about them.

Katie's aunt is a real witch with a capital B! I adored Pop, wishing he were my own grandpa, and Max is a true officer and a gentleman. I liked him immediately upon reading his conversation with Katie's bitter aunt.

As promised with the title, there is a kiss and it is everything...the start of a story. The ending is also perfect, as I knew it would be.

If you want to read a short prequel to a promising romance, read this!

Once again, PK Hrezo does a phenomenal job creating Bianca Butterman's voice. She's fresh, witty and sarcastic, and I love it! If I was a teen in her time, Bianca and I would get along very well.

Diary of a Teenage Time Traveler is a fun look at Bianca and her life before Tristan Helms waltzes in, and she gets her certification. Learning about her first live concern for Frozen Solstice, her time trips, and how/when she got her star tattoos was a treat.

I am proud to say I'm a Butterman fan, and anyone else who loves the Butterman Travel series will enjoy this quick read.