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Book Reviews

Justice (Deck of Lies #1) Review

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Image from Goodreads

Title:  Justice (Deck of Lies #1)

Author:  Jade Varden

Published:  2011

Genre:  Young Adult

Purchase Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) from Amazon.com

 

Rain is transferring to a new high school in the middle of the school year.  She was one of a select few to get a scholarship to a very prestigious and expensive school.  Her first day is awful, especially when she accidently spills something on the most popular girl in the school, Carsyn, during lunch.   However, Carsyn still asks Rain to accompany her and a friend to go shopping after school.  Rain should have thought about it more beforehand, because Carsyn is about to not only get revenge on Rain, but ultimately change her life forever.

Wow, I wasn’t expecting so many things that happened in this book, and that is going to make it pretty hard to talk about without giving anything away!  But it was great.  I love when I’m surprised, and I was, multiple times.

Rain is a likable protagonist, but man, does she have bad luck.  I feel for her, because so many things keep going wrong.  Like big life changing things.  But somehow Rain manages to push past these things and get by.  I guess she has no other choice, but to me she is a strong character.

Also, I knew it was book one of a series, but I still thought that the book would end with closure.  But it didn’t, so now I’m going to need to read the next one to see what happens.  That’s okay though, because Ms. Varden sure does know how to tell a story and keep you intrigued.  So if you like a book that will surprise you and keep you in suspense, pick up Justice by Jade Varden.

 

 

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.***** 

 

Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing Review

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Image from Goodreads

Image from Goodreads

Title:  Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing

Author:  Steven Luna

Published:  August 2013 by Booktrope Publishing

Genre:  Fiction, Coming of Age

Click here to buy Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing on Amazon

 

 

Tyler is having a rough year.  His mom got diagnosed with cancer and died shortly after.  It’s so painful for Tyler that he thinks of her as being ‘uncreated’ rather than dying; he can’t seem to use the word associated with death.  He is gifted with his guitar, a real prodigy, and he has an audition at a prestigious school.  Tyler plays his piece perfectly and then totally blows it…on purpose.  He keeps messing up with things like school, and his relationship with his dad, and eventually gets punished for it.  The punishment is that he has to clean the house and garage, in which he ends up finding his mother’s journals.  Tyler soon finds out some family secrets that could change his whole world.

This story took me on a ride through Tyler’s life.  I felt like I was him, experiencing everything through his eyes.  I remembered what it felt like to be a teenager.

Tyler’s relationship with his dad, Tom, is really hurting since his mom died.  Tom does try, but Tyler is just so angry about his mom that he’s kind of a jerk on purpose.  I feel bad for Tom (well, both of them really), but there is some sort of closure in the ending, so the book is not going to leave you depressed.

So if you want to reminisce and feel like teenager again, or you have a teenage son yourself, give Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing a try.  It’s not often I come across young adult/new adult books written from the male’s point of view.  And honestly, I wouldn’t have picked it up for myself, but after reading it, I’m glad I gave it a chance.

 

 

My Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*****   

Elect (Eagle Elite #2) Review

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Image from Goodreads

Title:  Elect (Eagle Elite #2)

Author:  Rachel Van Dyken

Published:  December 10, 2013 by Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Genre:  New Adult, Romance

Click here to preorder/buy Elect from Amazon.com

This is the second book in a series.  So if you like to be totally surprised, go read Elite first.  You can see my review on Elite here.

 

Trace’s grandfather is in hiding for killing the De Lange leader.  Nixon has to figure out if the De Lange family was behind Trace’s parents’ murder, and he needs to find out fast.  One of the original Sicilian families has come over to investigate the death of the De Lange leader, and they want Trace’s grandfather to pay; a life for a life.  Nixon needs to work fast to save Trace’s grandfather, but he also needs to keep Trace under protection, keep their relationship a secret.  So Nixon and Chase do the only thing they can think of, have Chase who is already acting as Trace’s bodyguard also act as her boyfriend.  Will Nixon’s plan have a happy ever after or will Trace forget about Nixon, and fall in love with Chase?

Warning:  once you read the prologue you’re not going to want to stop.  Elect is a continuation of Elite.  The only thing that’s different is that the story is told through Chase’s and Nixon’s point of view instead of Trace’s.  I normally am partial to the female’s point of view, but I still thought this was a great book.

I love to be surprised when I read a book, so I hope I’m not giving too much away.  As you can probably guess there ends up being a sort of love triangle with Nixon, Trace, and Chase.  That’s all I’ll say about that.  🙂

The one thing in the story that didn’t feel real to me was how the characters acted like carrying a gun, beating people up, etc, was no big deal.  But then when I thought about it, if that is the life that they grew up in, then maybe they are just so used to it and desensitized about it all by the time they are in college.

I have some go-to authors, and Rachel Van Dyken is becoming one of them.  She has an art for storytelling; she brings you into her world and you don’t want to leave.   I would definitely recommend Elect.

Elect is available to buy on December 10th, 2013.

 

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.*****         

 

Winter’s Island Review

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Image from Goodreads

 

Title:  Winter’s Island

Author:  Lillian MacKenzie Rhine

Published:  2013 by Match Point Publications

Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Erotica

Click here to buy Winter’s Island from Amazon.com

 

 

Cay Winter’s is taking a road trip when her aunt Lulu calls.  Lulu wants Cay to go to St. Thomas to chaperone her 17 year old cousin who will be attending college there; Lulu is also paying all Cay’s expenses.  Cay wasn’t about to turn up that opportunity so she headed home to pack.  Cay and her cousin, Malcolm, fly to St. Thomas and on arrival meet Malcolm’s mentor, William.  Cay is taken aback by him and his appearance so much that she actually passes out.  She comes to and William is by her side.  They start to form a relationship, but William is moody and gets angry easily.  William also warns Cay to stay away from his brother.  Will Cay find love in St. Thomas, or something else a little more…paranormal?

I did not finish this book.  I got to page 82 out of 159, so I read a little more than half.  I really didn’t like the story at all.  Here are some reasons why.

The lack of contractions during conversations.  When people talk casually they use contractions, and if they don’t, it just doesn’t feel real.  There are some instances in other books, where the use of no contractions show how formal a person talks and that is purposely done.  But that is not the case in this book, because all the characters talked without contractions.  There were the occasional ones thrown in every now and then, but most of the time it went something like this:

“I do not know William.  I am not comfortable in crowds of people.  Do not ask me why, but I am not okay with this [..}” (p. 51)

Also, I couldn’t always tell who was talking because there would be two different quotes with two different people talking in one paragraph.  A lot of times I had to backtrack to figure out who was actually speaking.  Here’s an example:

“Hey Cay.  I am starving.  There are a few crab legs and shrimp calling my name.  Did you want me to bring you something back?” Malcolm licked his lips looking toward the food stands in the distance.  “No thanks.  I think I will wait until William gets here.”

“Okay your loss.  I will catch up with you later.” Malcolm jogged off towards tables filled to the brim with edible items from the local eateries.  “Have fun kiddo! She yelled as she unhitched her lens cover, watching the men dressed in warrior attired complete with shields, spears, and face paint. (p. 78)

Other than the technical issues, I just didn’t like the story.  It didn’t feel real; I couldn’t get lost in it.  The story would jump; a character would be there in the scene and then all of a sudden be leaving.  It was too choppy.  The chemistry between the characters didn’t feel genuine either.  The whole story didn’t feel real.

Also, I didn’t know I’d be reading an erotica.  I’ve read them before, so it’s not a problem, but I just thought it was poorly done, and the terms used in sexual situations were just corny.

There was one good part that I did like, when the aunt, Lulu, was telling Cay about how she got pregnant with her son Malcolm.  In that one part, I did get temporarily lost in the story.  But that was the only time.

I gave Winter’s Island a fair chance, but I didn’t enjoy the book at all.  I would not recommend.

 

My Rating:  1 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.***** 

Burning Embers Review

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Image from Goodreads

Title:  Burning Embers

Author:  Hannah Fielding

Published:  2012 by Omnific Publishing

Genre:  Romance

Click here to buy Burning Embers from Amazon.com

 

Burning Embers takes place in Africa in the 1970’s.  The story starts out with Coral, mid-twenties, at sea on her way to Africa.  She is escaping an engagement gone bad, and visiting her family home where she grew up.  Coral meets a mysterious French man on ship, and then keeps running into him.  His name is Rafe, and she is warned by many that he is a playboy; a womanizer.  The warnings aren’t enough to keep Coral away, however, but should she have listened?

Coral wasn’t my favorite.  I just didn’t connect with her.  Some of her reactions just didn’t seem right.  For instance, she ran into her ex-fiancé after a few months and she didn’t feel any emotion.  That just doesn’t make sense.  I understand that he wasn’t the right guy for her, she probably didn’t’ love him like she thought she did, but I still felt like she should have felt something, you know?

The story was told from Coral’s point of view, but one or two times it was told from Rafe’s.  I felt like it wasn’t really necessary and kind of ruined the flow, especially since it was only his point of view one or two times.

Overall though, it was a good book.  I read it in a few days, and for the most part it kept me interested.  That’s why I am giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

 

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****