Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin is a scientist that lives on the fringes of society. He is known for his research in things that aren't quite accepted by the rest of the scientific community. His most recent project is for a garuda, a bird-like creature, that has lost his wings. His job is to find a way for him to fly again. Isaac's girlfriend, Lin, is a bug person that has been recently hired by a notorious underworld drug lord to create a sculpture. Now, these two incidents have in common. Well, not too much as first, but as we read further into the story strange and unrelated events turn into a nightmare. Nearly invincible creatures are released into the city and are killing in ways no one can quite figure out and Isaac, Lin, and their friends find themselves the center of it all.

I really enjoyed reading this. There was sooooooo much going on that I was a bit overwhelmed when I first finished, but after sitting on my thoughts for a few days I realized how detailed the whole story was. Everything that was mentioned had a purpose. That purpose may not come into play for hundreds of pages, but the set up was perfect. The characters bothered me at first because they were very extreme in their personalities. But, again, as the story went along their quirks and extreme behavior all played a part. They also grew into completely new people as the events around them forced them to change their opinions and beliefs.

This is a great book for any fan of SteamPunk, science fiction, or fantasy. I wish I could remember how it got on my wishlist so I could thank the person who recommended it.

5/5

A touching tale of redemption just about sums this story up. We have Max, the ex Navy SEAL who has returned from duty scarred. Trying to be a "real man" he hides his hurts from his wife, Sydney, and they continue to eat him up inside until one night he snaps. It tears their marriage apart, and even though they love each other deeply, it seems that they will never be able to find their way back to each other.

Max was just the right mix of macho tough guy and a scarred and injured warrior. I enjoyed his character from the get go and his fragile relationship with Sydney was portrayed in a way that I could see the thin threads that just barely held them to each other. Both strong people, fighting for what they think is best.

Max's special ops team is full of personality. It was a wonderful group of characters that allowed the author to pull things into the story in ways that just seemed natural. Each and every person introduced plays a very special and important role in Max and Sydney's journey. It is a dark and very dangerous one, but one they must face if they ever hope to save their marriage.

The rating on this book could be split into two sections for me. The story of Max and Sydney gets 4-5 stars all the way. However, there is a parallel story line of Jon and Kimber that we follow as well (don't want to say too much more and give anything away). I found their story to be a bit over done and syrupy, predictable and a little preachy, and would only give it 1 or 2 stars. While their role was very important in the overall plot, I just didn't enjoy them much at all.

Overall a good book, one that doesn't show military as all glamorous, but how it can leave the mind as well as the body scarred, making it difficult to return to a "normal" life.

What would you do if you were a girl in colonial America faced with a tough choice? The choice between allowing your father to give you away in marriage to horrible men, or find a way to support yourself. Today that choice would be easy, but in Faith Westcott's time, her options seemed limited. She had to find a way to save not only herself, but her two sisters from what she saw as the horrible fate of marriages that they had no say in. Her choice to try and raise money is an interesting one. She turns to piracy...with the stable hand as her first mate and loud mouth parrot along for the ride.

Few people believe the tales of the fiery red haired captain, the temptress that lures ships to their doom, know only as the Red Siren. But Lt. Dajon Waite has had a run in with her in the past, where she took everything from him, and now he eagerly looks forward to laying his trap to capture her.

Faith beats Dajon at every turn. On the sea and on the land, she leads him in a merry chase that somehow ends up turning into a romance. But what will happen if he ever finds out that she slips to the seas at night to steal from the heavy merchant ships as they come into port?

3/5

We return to the coast of Charles Towne shortly after Faith is pardoned for piracy and wed to her Captain Waite only to discover that the middle Westcott sister, Hope, has stowed away on a boat for England to be with her lover, Lord Falkland. To her surprise the Lord Falkland has a Mrs. Falkland and Hope is set off at the next port to be sold on the auction block into slavery. An acquaintance from home, Mr. Mason, comes to her rescue, giving half of what he owns to buy her and take her back to her home.

This sets the stage for a trip through a hurricane, a ship wreck, and pirates with quite an odd moral code. While I found Hope to be a spoiled flirtatious brat, there was something endearing and vulnerable about her. Mr. Mason on the other hand is a self-righteous snot, and I didn't particularly care for him until Hope somehow worked her magic.

Once again, Tyndall has introduced not only memorable main characters, but a group of side characters that I fell in love with as well. The story was engaging and entertaining - a great follow up to The Red Siren. The story is once again a Christian tale, but avoids being overly preachy and just becomes another aspect of the story.

4/5

The youngest Westcott daughter, Grace, is about to find out a lot about life. She is betrayed and kidnapped by Captain Rafe Dubois, bound to be given to a Spanish don as vengeance for something her father, the Admiral did. Grace instantly turns to prayer and places her life in God's hands only to have him seem to do nothing.

I disliked Grace in a major way at the beginning of this book. She was everything I disliked about preachy Christians that think they are better than everyone else. Thankfully, Rafe was there to somehow show her the error of her ways.

This was quite a complex plot line, with many spins and twists to keep the action going. Rafe comes from a dubious past that is catching up to him, threatening not only him, but Grace, whom he has learned to hold dear. With all these interesting people roaming the pages, I found my favorite to be the little ship cat, Spyglass.

3/5

Anna has been best friends with Frankie and her older brother Matt for as long as she can remember. They go and do everything together until one awful day when the unthinkable happens. There is an accident and Matt dies, while Anna and Frankie live. As the girls and their families mourn and try to move on with their lives, Frankie has an idea. When they go on vacation, they make every effort to have a summer fling - to have fun and leave their sadness at home for a few weeks.

Anna reluctantly agrees. In their search for a summer fling they become different people. They lie and sneak around not only from other people but from themselves. Both have secrets they struggle to keep hidden.

While this was a touching story with some lively characters, much of it seemed disjointed or overly stereotyped. An enjoyable read, but could have been better.

3/5

At first glance Terra seems to have it all. She's tall, blonde, in perfect shape. But if you look a little closer as she turns her head, you can't help but notice the large port-wine stain on her face. What you won't notice is her family, and how it seems to be falling apart around her.

North of Beautiful is the story of Terra and her quest to find herself. Her beauty map is flawed, but she is unsure of how to fix it. Then she meets Jacob, a Goth boy with problems of his own. They find themselves navigating through their problems together as the map of their lives comes together.

The story is told beautifully. The author captures so many of the things I remember going through as a teenager, and while everything doesn't always work out in the end (much like real life), the characters find a way to discover who they really are and what is most important to them.

5/5

Ginny has a mission....a mission enclosed in 13 blue envelopes given to her by her Aunt with specific instructions on when and where she is to open each one. After much internal and parental debate, Ginny sets of on a grand adventure that begins in London. As Ginny works her way through the letters, Europe, and a steady stream of extremely helpful strangers, she begins to see her Aunt through different eyes and gains a better understanding of herself.

I really liked Ginny. She was shy with strangers but outgoing once she let you into her world. As she traveled and interacted with new, and sometimes very strange, people Ginny discovered that she was capable of doing so much more than she originally thought. A journey that Ginny first thought was all about "discovering" who her Aunt was, turns into so much more.

I enjoyed this book up until almost the very end. The places and people were engaging and lifelike. Even in what would normally be a mundane scene, the author managed to write in a way to bring out the excitement and anticipation that Ginny must have been feeling throughout the whole story. Now, the very end was a little different. I was all set to have things wrap up nicely and, well, end. But the story is set up for a sequel, which I didn't realize when I started. The ending wasn't cliffhanger enough to make me jump out of my seat and rush off to the library, but it was enough to leave me feeling frustrated that I couldn't just move on. Perhaps that was the point, and it's quite possible I would feel differently if I had known there was a book 2 going in.

3.5/5

We met the sisters Kate and Emily in the first book, Hollow Kingdom. Their life since the joining Goblin society has been "uneventful." They both have their jobs to do, although those jobs would seem strange to most humans, and have made a place for themselves in the underground kingdom. However, Emily is getting older, and as a human woman, the Goblin King is not so patiently waiting to see which of his subjects she will choose to marry. Everything goes a little crazy when Seylin, a friend Emily made in the first book, proposes and Emily doesn't even realize it! Completely offended and heartbroken, Seylin leaves the kingdom to try and find his ancestors, the elves. Once Emily realizes that Seylin has left and what she did to him, she sets off to find him and bring him back.

I still love Emily's character and I really wish we had seen more of her in this book. From the description, I thought it would be about half about her and half about Seylin. While Seylin was very heavily featured, Emily really lagged behind in coverage. Seylin is a very interesting character, but I didn't see him really grow or develop much here. I'm afraid that the second book in The Hollow Kingdom just isn't quite as good as the first, which is a trait I find quite often in series. I'm still going to try and read the third, but it will have to wait until I get some extra spending money.

3/5

This is the story of two girls and how they changed each other's lives. Charlie Duskin lives in the city, but even though she is surrounded by people she always feels alone. Her savior from this loneliness is her music. She plays guitar and sings, and she's actually quite good at it. It's too bad she's too shy to show anyone else her talent. Rose Butler lives in the country, next door to Charlie's grandfather. She is always with her best friends and never seems to stop having fun. But Rose wants to leave, she feels stuck in the country and want to go to a good school in the city.

The girls never really hung out together until this year. This year everything was beginning to change for both of them. And even though they don't even realize it at first, neither could have gotten through it without the help of the other. Both sets of eyes are opened to new experiences and new ideas.

This was a very touching novel of friendship. heartache, and rolling with the punches that life can throw at us. Told in alternating perspectives, it was fascinating to see the same situations from two points of view. The author wrote this in a way that wasn't jarring or interrupting to the story. This is definitely a must read book.

5/5