Review: 'Anew: The Archers of Avalon' by Chelsea Fine

Reviewer: Jesi                                                               

Two years ago, Scarlet awoke in the forest alone, afraid, and unable to remember anything. Lost and confused, her life was a mystery...until she met a boy with a familiar voice.

Gabriel Archer has a voice from her past, and Scarlet is determined to remember why. She immerses herself in his life only to discover he has a brother he's kept hidden from her: Tristan Archer.

Upon meeting Tristan, Scarlet's world becomes even more muddled. While she's instinctively drawn to Gabriel, she's impossibly drawn to Tristan--and confused out of her mind. But as she tries to piece together her history, Scarlet realizes her past...might just be the death of her.

Wow, it is so hard to talk about this book without giving anything away.  Anew starts as a blank slate for Scarlet.  She wakes to find herself alone in a forest with almost total amnesia.  All she knows about herself is her name and that she is fifteen years old.  From there, it is almost best to let the reader discover the mysteries of her past as she learns them, so I won’t say much more about other than it has something to do with an American legend.  Can you guess what it is?  No?  Then read this book! 

Last month, I read and reviewed Chelsea Fine’s book Sophie and Carter on my personal blog.  Fine’s ability to create strong, interesting characters truly impressed me.  Anew proves that the success of Sophie and Carter was not a fluke.  This author knows how to craft characters to a T.  Scarlet is a girl who could have gone all emo about her situation, but instead, has chosen to make the most out of her strange circumstance.  Her best friend Heather is hilarious, and provides an excellent contrast to Scarlet’s character.  It is easy to see why they are so close. 

And as for the boys....?  I think I may be in literary love again.  Unfortunately, I don’t know who I love more, Tristan or Gabriel.  Both brothers are smoking hot, but so is every guy in a YA novel.  I think what I liked best is the contrast between these brothers.  Gabriel is fun and loving and laid back.  Tristan is the brooder, but not without some serious reasons behind his angst.  There is a love triangle in the book, but it’s not your typical situation.  I think reader will find it a refreshing twist. 

Anew is a fabulous start to a fun new paranormal series.  Cliffhanger endings drive me insane, and this book is no different.  I’ll be hopping up and down with anticipation until the next book in the series, Awry, comes out. 

Overall, I give Anew...

Plot - 5 bookmarks

Character development - 5 bookmarks

Setting - 5 bookmarks (the Kissing Festival was a fun way to introduce the town of Avalon)

Dream Cast (otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) - Skyler Samuels (Scarlet), Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Gabriel/Tristin), Alexandria Deberry (Heather), Olivia Wilde (Lauren)

Two reviews to celebrate Get Loaded!

Reviewer: Lindsey

I'm celebrating the Get Loaded Tour by giving you all a double review! 

H.T. Night's Vampire Love Stories

 

$2.99 on Amazon, folks...come on!!!!!!

I just read a wonderful series by H.T. Night called, Vampire Love Story Books.  H.T. Night is the brother of J.R. Rain.  Hold on!  I knew you saw the word Vampire...GET BACK HERE!!  I know...I KNOW.   However, these were different......

Josiah is a kid who gets attacked- becomes a vampire. He has lost his family and is living with his buddy who is a fellow MMA fighter.  There are werewolves and all kinds of violence and mayhem. For you smoochy lovers, there is romance for you, too. These books are classified as "paranormal romance.”  Aaack!  The romance is not overkill. I did not throw down the kindle screeching, "OH COME ON!!!" There is actual strategy to their battles.  You learn what makes the characters tick...good and bad.  I read these in 2 days.  They are that addictive.  I especially enjoyed the fact that there were folks that were of the supernatural nature and were not happy about it.  Gave the characters a little humanity.  (Did that even make sense?)  I wish these were classified as straight paranormal. When books are listed as romance, I know I tend to think for the ladies only. Both men and women would like these books.

Is it wrong that I like romance written by men more than women lately??  Hmmmm....$2.99 for all five--you have no excuse.  Buy it NOW (before price gets raised later in the week, and you send me a seething email).

Next on the list...

Flirting With Death (Assassins Anonymous-Step 1) 

by Heidi Hall

 $3.99 at Amazon....hurry up and grab it!!!!!!!!!

Now this was a fun book!  Kayla McKenna is an assassin for the CIA. Operation goes wrong.  She is asked to take early retirement. Kayla can't remember what happened as she was shot and found with nothing but a bullet hole and expensive necklace (there's worse ways to go right?).

Her Dad was murdered by terrorists, Mom is an online shopping junkie and brothers are all cops. She also has them all convinced she is an IT specialist and that's it.  She grew up with a sense of right and wrong--no in between.  Considering I was voted most likely to pull the trigger without remorse by a group of friends, I understand how she thinks. She gets a lovely severance check that she doesn't cash as she knows something is just not right.

She goes on to meet a nice stable man and remembers one who wasn't so stable.  He had a lot to do with her career failure.  I realize this may sound like a Lifetime movie special but it's not. This was fun. Well written and fun.

So give these books a whirl. For crying out loud...7 bucks and you get 6 books???!!!

Don't be a loser, get the books.

Happy Thursday - Eve folks!

Review: 'Hush Money' by Susan Bischoff

Reviewer: Izzy

They call their abilities Talents, and that’s what they call themselves as well. Talents are people born with supernatural powers, feared by the population at large. Possession of an “unregistered ability” has become illegal, and those who are discovered are forcibly removed to government-run research facilities. They do not return.

And so the Talents try, as best they can, to keep their abilities secret–some more successfully than others. For some, keeping that secret begins to define who they are. That’s where Hush Money begins…

Be normal, invisible. Don’t get close to anyone. Those are the rules to live by for seventeen-year-old Joss. She spent years as an outsider, hoping to hide what she is, until the new girl, Kat, decides she’s friend material. Kat doesn’t realize her mistake when she stands up for Joss against Marco, a guy who’s been giving Joss a hard time since freshman year. Joss is horrified when these heroics lead to the reveal of Kat’s Talent. Now she has an unasked-for best friend, who is the victim of an extortion plot by the school bully, who used to like Joss. And if all that weren’t complicated enough, Dylan, Joss’s long-time crush, is finally starting to talk to her. But as Marco’s best friend, can Dylan be trusted at all? Can Joss keep her secret and still save her friend? And what’s more important, staying safe or doing what’s right?

(Amazon product description)

When I bought Hush Money by Susan Bischoff, I was not expecting anything, honestly—book snob that I am—but the first page really caught me. The beginning explains what's going on without giving everything away in one quick info-overload.

Joss Marshall is one of the main characters, is one of my favorite heroines from any and all books I've read. She's tough without it being a big deal, but she also has very teenage emotions and thoughts, which to me gives Susan Bischoff very major points. Too many YA characters “think” and “speak” either too maturely, or too much like an adult trying too hard to be YA and that's not what's happening here.

The book is in first person, and half of the book is in Joss's point of view, therefore, because Joss already knows what's going on, she doesn't get into overlong explanations of that don't really need to be there about things like NIAC (National Institutes for Ability Control) and Talents. She just gives enough information for readers (assuming we are smarter than the average bird and able to click into such things) to get the gist of what's going on.

From the very beginning, you can tell Joss has a repressed sense of justice that scares her—and her father. Just the way everything unfolds in chapter one—fast, but not too fast; a nice, steady pace—made me grin; this is gonna be good.

The other half of the book is in Dylan's point of view which just made me so incredibly happy; plus, as the book's hero, he gets top marks. He's easier with people than Joss, and less abrasive—which makes me happy, because usually it's the other way around in books: the heroine must be softer/sweeter/shyer than the hero, even if she's “tough”.

Right away Dylan is seen as the “bad boy”, except that he makes it clear he doesn't want to go that route anymore—he just doesn't know how to get out of the wrong crowd and that's so human to me that I loved him from his second page. Teenagers get into the wrong crowd and when they want to get out—maybe they mature a bit, or wake up—maybe they don't know how. (Though, while Dylan's methods make for a great story, it's so much better to get adult help).

Hero, heroine, and that leaves our villain, who happens to be our hero's best friend. Can things get any juicier, Bob? Yes! Our villain is a smart, sleezy, super-strong bully! Not your average bully that just makes it harder on our heroes. And that makes for a better story.

Everything ties together with an adorable dash of romance thrown in and a good plot. The adorable romance—Dylan crushes on Joss. Joss has been crushing on Dylan. (I wouldn't say it if it wasn't so obviously obvious from the beginning). I definitely recommend this book.