Salt by Danielle Ellison

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Salt by Danielle Ellison. Penelope, a young woman, lives with her sister and grandparents since their parents are deceased. The family members have magic, except for Penelope who lost her magic when her parents died. She’s testing to become an enforcer but she needs her sister close by so she can use her sister’s magic to help pass the tests. She meets Carter on the day she was struggling to kill a demon. Carter starts out as a mysterious stranger and becomes everything to Penelope as they work together to discover the truths about their backgrounds and family history. I rate this book 4 stars for suspense, action and dynamic characters!

Pushing the Boundaries by Stacey Trombley

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Pushing the Boundaries by Stacey Trombley! Myra travels to a health clinic in Haiti with her mother and a group of Americans. Myra is of Pakistani heritage and her mother is a doctor. Her mother expects Myra to become a doctor also, but she wants to be a photographer instead. Myra’s looking for the perfect photo to submit to a scholarship contest. With the help of the Haitian translator, Elias, Myra discovers the beauty of Haiti and learns more about herself and her mother than she could have ever realized on her own. The author’s personal connections with the Haiti setting and the Haitian culture and language make the story an interesting and unique realistic fiction – 4 stars!

Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano! Wow! The story jumps right into the action and mystery by opening with a girl waking up in a gully, with no memories of the past year or where she is or how she got there. Little by little, she learns what has taken place as her memories trickle back. The human trafficking in this book reminds me a bit of the Liam Neeson movie, Taken, with plenty of mystery and action all on its own. Rachel has a strength unmatched by others and she has to rely on that strength to get her through her current struggles. As her memories resurface, Rachel realizes that many teenagers- male and female – are in danger and she will do whatever it takes to help them. Banter between Rachel and her brother Kyle, alleviate some of the teen angst and dark struggles in this story. A bit of hopeful romance adds charm that lightens the mood also. This is unpredictable and a unique take on young adult mystery and I rate it 4 stars! I appreciate the author adding runaway, suicide, teen safety and teen health and wellness hotline information at the end of the book. As is often the case, when someone suffers it is difficult to ask people we know for help, so this hotline information is a wonderful resource.

In Truth & Ashes

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review In Truth and Ashes by Nicole Luiken, the third and last book in the Otherselves trilogy. This last book of the series focuses mainly on the true world and the characters that live there. Since Qetarah was taken care of, her mentor Malachi is the villain trying to get rid of the four worlds. Belinda fell into my heart because of her tyrant of a grandmother and her friend Demian is interestingly mysterious! Nicole Luiken brings all of the information from the last two books and its four worlds seamlessly into In Truth and Ashes to make a complicated world with dynamic and complex characters into a wonderful fantasy adventure series – 4 stars!

Amid Wind & Stone by Nicole Luiken

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received a reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Amid Wind & Stone by Nicole Luiken. This is book two of the Otherselves series, which brings two more worlds into the story along with all of the characters, relationships and politics of each world- air and stone, on top of the same information from the fire and water worlds. The author’s creative imagination is astounding because of the complexity of each world and how she brings everything together and makes it all work to become a full-on adventure, fantasy story. I give this book 4 stars for the devious antagonist, the complete world building and the interesting characters!

Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received a reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken! Leah is renamed Jehannah by her father, the duke, so he can send her with Queen Qeterah and spy for him. Leah is an illegitimate daughter of the duke’s and he’s sending Leah with the queen in place of his daughter Jehannah. The queen needs an heir from each duchy or region to be able to send and receive messages with the other regions. The queen shows Leah the mirror hall and explains how there is one true world and four others – air, stone, fire and water. Leah lives in the Fire World and they use fire to send and receive messages and rely on volcanoes for stability of their kingdoms. Leah falls into a mirror while cleaning it and inadvertently sees her Water World doppelganger or otherself, Holly. Nicole Luiken builds an amazing and complex world and pulls the story together seamlessly. This first book in this series concentrates on the characters from the two worlds, fire and water. The two worlds collide when the queen meets her doppelganger in the Water World. Exciting and interesting, Through Fire & Sea is the beginning of a series full of adventure and fantasy, 4.5 stars!

Playing the Player by Lisa Brown Roberts

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Playing the Player by Lisa Brown Roberts! This realistic fiction story introduces Trina and Slade. Two teenagers that seem to be polar opposites. Slade’s mother has set up a babysitting job for Slade in which he will be team-nannying with Trina. Slade’s mother feels that he needs help with his life-organization, goals and motivation, and she believes that Trina can accomplish these things. Trina seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, especially when her schedule doesn’t work out exactly as planned. Slade seems a bit arrogant when he’s talking to his best friend Alex, but mellow at other times. About one-third of the way through the book, Trina starts opening up about her past and her worries, which helps with understanding her reasoning and intentions. Slade warms up to her and tries to become her friend. The book becomes more complicated and interesting the more it’s read. Trina and Slade are both stubborn and get so angry that they almost lose their relationship. The supporting characters add a lot of realism to the story and help pull the story together. 4 stars for the romantic fun!

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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“Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris! I absolutely love this book and it was just what I needed to relax during a very busy schedule. Cat flies to Italy with her father and the woman he’s engaged to, Jenna. Jenna is planning an extravagant sweet sixteen celebration for Cat. Cat could care less about the party, but she’s thoroughly enjoying the trip to Italy. She has her fortune told, for fun, and walks out of the fortune teller’s tent into a different time. At first, Cat thinks the people around her are very good period actors. She soon realizes that she is someone else, Patience, in a different time, the Renaissance. I especially liked the part when she meets Michelangelo! This story is fun, suspenseful, interesting, contains dynamic characters and has just the right amount of romance to keep me interested and I am now looking forward to more works from Rachel Harris, 5 stars!

Cursing Fate

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Cursing Fate by Brenda Drake involves Iris, Aster’s younger sister. Iris and her relationships were thrown into chaos in Touching Fate when Aster learned that she is a fate changer. Now, in the sequel, Iris is being possessed by the young woman that caused the curse that ensured the death of any eighteen year old boy in Reese’s family line. I felt Iris’s struggle, through the author’s creative writing, and also her panic as Crina continually tried to take over Iris’ body! The people that care for Iris the most, knew something was wrong. Iris’s personality would instantly change, as well as how she spoke and in her lack of modern reference knowledge – such as soda. The story line in the Fate series is complex and contains plot twists and intrigue that pulled my interest to the point of not wanting to put the book down or the series to end! Some swearing and a young adult scene, just a heads up. 4 stars!

The Tru and Sloane Series by Tera Lynn Childs

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru by Tera Lynn Childs is contemporary realistic fiction with romance thrown in to make a well rounded story. Sloane is a new resident of Austin, Texas and she misses everything she left behind in New York. Tru is Sloane’s new neighbor who is dealing with troubles that he hides well. Sloane’s mom has told her to stay away from Tru; supposedly he is a troublemaker. On Sloane’s first day at her new school, the principal asks Tru to show Sloane around. All of the faculty seem to respect Tru. The story explains why Sloane and her mother left New York and the same thing happens in Austin, only this time it wasn’t Sloane. Dynamic characters and relationships make the story unpredictable in a good way – 4 stars!

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“Received an advance reader copy for a fair review”.

Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Falling for the Girl Next Door by Tera Lynn Childs! This story begins right where Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru leaves off. Tru admits he has a drinking problem and breaks off his relationship with Sloane until he can fix the problem. Sloane wants to convince her family that they should live together in Austin, but she finds out that her parents’ marriage might be in jeopardy. Sloane is also the victim of a blackmail attempt because she is receiving emails from someone claiming to know she’s the creator of Graphic Grrl and threatening to expose her unless she bargains with him. Tru and Sloane mature and learn to deal with the feelings they have for each other while trying to keep their relationship strong no matter how many “bumps and turns” get in the way. This story has depth and dynamic main and side characters and includes young adult romance – 4 stars!

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