Ruthie Knox knows how to write wonderfully complex and interesting characters and embed them in a story that keeps you turning the pages. I loved May and was glad to see her growth throughout the story and of course I loved Ben. I'm pretty sure I never thought I would say anything like this but - I would be happy to have more of this cranky beekeeper in my (book) life.

Ruthie is one of those authors on my auto buy list and she never disappoints. She writes great love stories that make me want to dive in and read what will happen because I know I can expect great female leads and swoony, hot male heroes.

Definitely check this book out when you can. You won't be disappointed....trust me!

Review to come.

Of Monsters and Madness was an interesting story. There were things I enjoyed and things that fell a bit flat for me but overall this was a book that had me intrigued throughout the novel.

I thought the build of the world that Annabel lives in was done well by Verday. She created this atmosphere that had me from the beginning.

I also enjoyed the characters. Annabel is smart and she is trying to fit into a world she is completely unfamiliar with. I enjoyed seeing her relationship build with her grandfather and the other secondary characters around her. Annabel’s father was definitely someone who was unlikable and although Annabel continues to try to win him over, she doesn’t find much success. I wanted him to show her she was even a little bit important to him and he just never came through on that piece.

The things I wasn’t so excited about in this one revolve around the mystery and plot. I admit the mystery of what was going on was somewhat predictable but the pacing is what hurt the story for me overall as it felt slow. I also thought it felt light on the horror part..not that I need to have this but I guess I was just expecting more.

Overall this one was just ok for me but I wouldn’t rule out checking out another story by Verday. I thought there was a lot of potential with this book and while it did fall a bit flat in places, it was still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Egmont USA for the review copy.

Prototype is the follow up book to M.D. Waters’ first book Archetype and I have to admit I was waiting a bit impatiently for the follow up as I really wanted to know what was in store for Emma and Declan. If you enjoy Sci-Fi thrillers, definitely check this series out. **Keep in mind, this is book two so if you have not read Archetype yet, you may want to hold off on reading. I will do my best to not include any spoilers but can’t promise anything.

As the story picks back up, we find that it has been over a year since she left Declan at the lake and she hasn’t had much success in tracking down her parents. As she follows a lead on her parents, she finds out that Declan isn’t dead like she thought. As a matter of fact, he has just offered up a pretty hefty reward to anyone who brings Emma back to him alive. Obviously this creates a pretty dangerous situation for Emma and she quickly realizes she doesn’t have many choices on places to go for protection. Because of this, she ends up back with the Resistance and face to face with Noah.

Emma is a solid character and I liked her. I think Waters did a wonderful job of showing me how, as a clone, she really was a different person from her host. Yes, they shared some memories but she was 100% a different person and she struggled with how people thought of her. As she comes back into the Resistance, it is clear some of the people don’t trust her and there are also some that don’t even see her as human but the people that really matter to Emma really do see her as a separate person.

As Emma becomes more integrated to the team, we get introduced to Leigh and Miles and I have to admit, they were one of my favorite parts of the book. Leigh because she became someone Emma could be friends with – that was something she didn’t really have and it definitely was a time when she really needed it. Miles was a favorite because he was somewhat inappropriate and funny…but also super smart.

Of course, Noah is there as well and it is clear he still struggles with his feelings for Emma. Despite this, he has moved on (or so it appears) and is now in a relationship with Sonya. Sonya, for all intents and purposes has been Adrienne’s mother for the last year and because of these two reasons, Emma decides to not push her feelings on either Noah or Adrienne…even though she wants to. With that in mind, they still can’t help but feel what they feel and Sonya quickly starts to feel threatened.

If you’ve seen my Goodreads update, you will know that Sonya is definitely not a favorite character. She does and says a number of things that just make her a horrible person and despite her trying to justify her actions by saying she was only trying to protect Noah and Adrienne, she really was doing it for herself.

On to Declan….I have to admit, I wanted more of him. I wanted to know what was going on with him over the last year and yes, I know the story isn’t from his perspective, but I still wanted it. With that said, we get the general idea of what happened when Dr. Travista found him at the lake and now that he is back to normal, he is determined to get Emma back. In a way, I felt sad for him. Yes, he loved Emma but he was willing to do whatever he wanted in order to get her back. Trust me when I say that he lost any sympathy from me by the end.

One of the minor pieces to this story that bothered me (in places) was the dialogue. Not because it was bad but because the writing felt very formal due to the lack of contractions. There were times that I had to internally adjust because every time Emma spoke, it felt a bit off. People don't always say "do not" or "cannot" or "will not" and it was so consistent it didn't feel like it fit. Again, take this for what it is…a minor issue to an overall enjoyable and engaging story.

A lot of things happen in this book and I don’t want to give anything away. I will say, we get to learn more about Emma’s parents, see Emma’s relationship evolve with Noah, and we also learn more about the clones. There is a bit of science, a lot of action, and even a bit of romance. If you are looking for a story that will keep you turning the pages to the very end, definitely check this series out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton Adult for the review copy.

3.5 stars...Review to come.

Our Broken Sky is a novella in the Chaos Theory series and while I don’t normally review novellas I thought I had to say something about this book. This story is about Valerie and I have to admit, she is one of the characters I found most interesting in The Wicked We Have Done. The novella covers a period of time just before Valerie entered prison and it also flips forward to when she is in the Compass Room and meets Jase. If you haven’t read book 1, you may want to stop reading here. I won’t give any spoilers but anything I talk about might give something away inadvertently.

Valerie is gritty and brash and she doesn’t apologize for it - I think that is what I like most about her. She also really cares about her family – her twin sister Veda and her father. Getting the backstory to how Val ended up in prison was nice as it showed there was more to her (which I suspected) than what we saw in The Compass Room . It also showed what lengths she will go to in order to protect the people she loves/cares about. As she plans to get revenge on those who raped her sister, it was almost scary how focused she was - she also had absolutely no remorse for what she did.

Since The Wicked We Have Done is mostly about Evalyn, it was great to have a different perspective on The Compass Room as well as what was happening to each of them. I enjoyed seeing the relationship develop between Valerie and Jase…and then ultimately what happened at the end when she got out. Again, it showed another layer to a character that could have been fairly one dimensional.

If you enjoyed book one, I have a feeling you will enjoy getting a bit of a glimpse into this character and her story. Perhaps it might even tide you over until A Vault of Sins comes out in September….perhaps. Definitely check this out when you can!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin/Intermix for the review copy!

This book..GAH, I loved it and couldn't put it down.

The characters in this book are far from perfect and that is what makes this story. Joss is someone who has never dealt with the past - she has had 2 major tragedies happen in a short amount of time

Spoiler

- the death of her family and then shortly after, the death of her best friend Dru.

Instead of addressing any of the tragedies, she moves to Scotland for school. During her time in Scotland, she becomes friends with Rhian and James - they are really the only people she has let become close to her and even then, there are lines that she doesn't cross with them and topics that are not discussed.

Braden Carmichael...Yikes. I can say that yes, he has issues but holy man....totally worth it. He is good looking, successful, and honest. He is also caring, smart and quite the sweet (dirty) talker.

Once Joss meets Ellie and Braden she realizes she needs to get it together and start addressing her issues and right in the middle of everything going well, life happens. I'm not going to go into the details but I will say, there were times I wanted to shake Joss. She needed to get out of her own head and sometimes she just couldn't.

This story is about life, love and everything that makes it great, interesting, sad and everything else. The relationships that develop between Joss and everyone she now considers her family are touching and it was exactly what I was looking for.

Stronger Than You Know tells the story of a fifteen year old girl who has dealt with things she never should have had to deal with. It also tells the story of how she learns to navigate the challenges that come along with trying to figure out who she is and where her place is in the world.

I have to admit, when I finished this book, my first thought was that I would never ever do this story justice with a review. This always happens to me when I read something that I absolutely love and Jolene Perry has catapulted this story onto my favorites shelf by creating characters I loved and a story that made me go through just about every single feeling.

Joy grew up with a mother who neglected and abused her and she allowed her boyfriends to treat her horribly as well…in every single way you can imagine. I was immediately pulled into Joy’s story and while she is adapting to living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins, they are also adapting to living with her. Their lives are impacted just as greatly as Joy’s is and I thought it was wonderful how much they were willing to do in order to help Joy.

While every single one of these characters just made me want to climb into this book and give them all hugs, I have to call out her Uncle Rob. While at first Joy struggled to be comfortable with him, he completely understood he needed to give her time and space. I loved seeing their relationship change and grow until she realized that he really was there to make sure she was safe and he would do whatever he could to provide that security for her. Admittedly, he was one of my favorite characters and this was one of my favorite parts of the story.

As Joy faces her fears and setbacks, she begins to build relationships with not only her new family, but also people like Daisy and Justin. These characters both played different roles in Joy’s growth and change and were critical to her moving beyond her issues. They both showed her she has strength, feelings, and friends no matter what happened in her past.

Since this story is from Joy’s perspective, we go through the highs and lows right alongside her and that is the piece that made this story so impactful for me. While Perry doesn’t go into a lot of detail of what happened to Joy, enough is revealed for us to know that she went through hell and through a twist of fate, ended up with a loving and caring family that treated her like their own sister/daughter. The good times had me grinning like a fool for her and the bad times had me almost in tears for the pain and suffering she was feeling.

Now, I know some people are saying that they didn’t think a lot happened in this book and I have to disagree. I think the challenge here for some is that this is very much a character driven story (which I LOVE) and all of the things that happen are linked to the growth and change in Joy and those around her.

Hopefully my rambling isn’t horribly distracting and helps you realize that this is one of those stories that make it impossible for me to do it justice. Just trust me and check out this book when you can as this is a moving story that pulled me in and even now has me thinking about everything.

Thank you to Netgalley and Albert Whitman & Company for the review copy.

Harder is book two in the Caroline & West series and I have been waiting patiently for this next book not only because I grew to love these two characters and wanted to know what happened to them after they separated but also because I love Robin York’s writing and was excited to have more of it.

Book two picks up months after book one ended. West is back in Silt and they have been apart for a little while. Add to that, they haven’t even spoken since West told Caroline he was seeing someone else…about 2.5 months ago. So of course, Caroline is surprised when West calls her to tell her that his father is dead. Despite this, she decides that this is her opportunity to go to Silt and find out what is really going on.

Immediately when Caroline meets West outside the airport, she knows something is off. He isn’t his normal self and he is closed off from her. No matter what she tries to do to get him to talk to her, he does whatever he can to distance himself from her. I can’t say what happens (and it wasn’t ok) but eventually West gets what he wants (or says he wants) and Caroline leaves Silt.

Caro is a strong character and willing to do what she thinks is right even if the end result has the potential to impact her negatively. She has grown so much over the course of these two books and I really enjoyed seeing the change in her. Let me interject here that Caroline is definitely a better/stronger woman than I am. Based on her response to what happened and how I imagine I would respond, she is absolutely the better person. I don’t know that I could have come back from that and everything would be fine but kudos to her.

As the story progresses, West finally decides to get his crap together. Where he originally felt he would be trapped in Silt so that he could care for and protect Frankie, he realizes that Caroline was right. He can do that and get an education due to the scholarship Dr. Tomlinson was offering him. Because of this, he decides to go back to Putnam which puts him back in the vicinity of Caroline. While it is true that there were times I was thoroughly pissed off at West, I also felt so bad for him. He clearly had a horrible childhood and it was evident that his family was a disaster. I completely understand why he didn’t want Caro pulled into that life.

With all of that said, this book is ultimately about hope and forgiveness. Robin York pulls you into the lives of these characters and absolutely pulls you through all the emotional ups and downs they go through….and I loved it. There is sadness and pain but there is also love and friendship and these are the things that make me love York’s writing. She seamlessly ties all of these things together to create a story that I couldn’t put down. If you like the New Adult genre I recommend you check out these books. I admit that Robin York is on my auto buy list (including her books under her other pen name – Ruthie Knox) and if she isn’t on yours, you should put her there immediately!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the review copy.

Loved this one! Review to come.