Review: Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennett ★★★★★

Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennett
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Roaring Twenties #2
Publication Date: June 3rd 2014
ISBN: 9780425269589
Page Count: 325
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey



Synopsis: It’s the Roaring Twenties in foggy San Francisco. Prohibition is on, inhibitions are low, and dark magic is rolling into town…

Archaeologist Lowe Magnusson is packing something everyone wants. The djed amulet, a priceless Egyptian artifact, will fetch Lowe a hefty paycheck from one of San Francisco’s wealthiest. But when the handsome Swede runs into his patron’s uptight daughter, what he once considered easy money becomes maddeningly complicated…

Cursed with deadly spirits as her constant companions, curator Hadley Bacall must keep calm to hold her dangerous specters at bay and prevent them from lashing out at anything—or anyone. Trouble is, Lowe is driving her crazy, but her father needs the artifact he’s transporting. While Hadley can feel the amulet’s power, she can’t fathom the destruction—or the desire—it’s about to stir up.

I can't quite decide if I love this series so much because I've discovered a passion for the 20s era it's set in, or if I only love it so well because of Bennett's exquisitely sensual and clever writing, but either way, I'm definitely loving it! Grim Shadows is an excellent follow up to Bitter Spirits in every conceivable way.

We return to the delectable Magnusson brothers, this time with Lowe, younger brother of Winter from book one, who's just back from his grand adventures in Egypt, and is the bearer of a recently discovered and highly sought-after ancient artifact. It should be a triumphant return, but Lowe is feeling anything but proud of himself. He's in financial trouble, but would rather chew off his own arm than ask Winter for a hand out. He's also being pursued by those who seek to get their hands on the artifact via any means necessary.

Fortunately he meets Hadley, the rather dowdily-dressed owner of a seemingly captivating round, high bottom, and the unfortunate sufferer of ghostly sightings, who also happens to be the daughter of a wealthy collector desperate to get his hands of Lowe's recent find, but who is actually willing to pay for it, which is a novelty. Does this mean all his troubles are over? Not quite. Not only is the deal not so simple as cash on collection, it also means spending more time with Hadley who seems to be getting under his skin alarmingly quickly!

Hadley and Lowe together were exceptionally cute. I particularly loved the idea of Hadley being this uptight, studious woman, hiding her beauty under drab grey clothes, when really, she's passionate and fiery, with a penchant for extravagant lingerie - much to Lowe's delight! The way their relationship evolved was delightful and perfectly paced. I really was invested in them and their success as a couple.

Hadley's paranormal Sight and the side effects connected to the artifact brought some excellent heart-pounding scenes filled with high stakes action. That, combined with the sweet and sexy love story, was about all I could ask for from this book. It was a great read!

5 Stars ★★★★★
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by:

{Tour Stop} Double Review: Queen & Commander and Hive & Heist by Janine A. Southard

Welcome to the Hive & Heist Blog Tour, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours! 

BOOK ONE:
Queen & Commander by Janine A. Southard
(Hive Queen Saga #1)
Publication date: May 2014
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Book Links: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Synopsis:

**WINNER 2013 IPPY AWARD -- Silver Medal for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror E-Book**

On a world where high school test scores determine your future, six students rebel. They’ll outrun society as fast as their questionably obtained spaceship will take them.

Rhiannon doesn’t technically cheat the Test. She’s smarter than the computers that administer it, and she uses that to her advantage. She emerges from Test Day with the most prestigious future career possible: Hive Queen.

Gwyn & Victor are madly in love, but their Test results will tear them apart. Good thing Rhiannon is Gwyn’s best friend. Rhiannon can fix this. Queens can do anything.

Gavin is the wild card. Raised off-planet, he can’t wait to leave again... and he’s heard of an empty ship in orbit. The Ceridwen’s Cauldron.

Both Luciano and Alan fit in the system. They don’t need to leave. Only their devotion to Rhiannon spurs them to join the Cauldron’s crew.


Spaceships. Blackmail. Anywhere but here.


BOOK TWO:
Hive & Heist by Janine A. Southard
(Hive Queen Saga #2)
Publication date: May 2014
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult 
Book Links: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Synopsis: Queen Rhiannon and her Hive have found safety on John Wayne Station, but with no way to pay their docking fees or Victor’s medical bills, their debts are racking up quickly. Thankfully, Gavin gets a job with American Space Ranger M3L-15-A, who’s hot on the trail of dangerous criminals.

The teens move in with their Ranger benefactor, but when they revisit their ship to pick up personal belongings, they realize their Alcubierre tensor jet has been stolen!

If Rhiannon and her Hivemates ever hope to leave, they must find and steal back what’s theirs. But far from home and among strangers, who can they trust? Will they be stuck on John Wayne for the rest of their lives?

Janine Southard's Hive Queen books were a very interesting read for me. They were totally different than anything I've read in a while, and I have to admit, the scifi-ness was a nice change of pace, offering a pleasant break from my usual genres.

In a nutshell, in the Hive Queen books, we've got a futuristic society with space-traveling capabilities, and in that society, Queens rule supreme. It is the highest and most revered job any young woman could hope to achieve, and sixteen-year-old Rhiannon is so dead set on achieving it, she's done the impossible: she's beaten the testing system. She's naturally a Perceiver, but instead, she tests out as a Queen-Commander. It's everything she's ever wanted, but a decision to help a friend disrupts her carefully laid plans and sends both she and her fledgling Hive into the great unknown ahead of schedule. Given that Rhiannon and her crew are all young, and in many ways untried and untested, things don't go as smoothly as any of them hoped...and that applies to both books. The challenge is to overcome the obstacles that come their way and somehow come out at the end as a better, stronger Hive unit.

Book 1, Queen & Commander, focuses mainly on establishing the world and the characters. While the world-building was sometimes a bit gray for me, it didn't interfere too much with my ability to grasp what was going on in the pages. It was the Hive itself that was the primary force behind the novel. Hives, you see, are made up of a Queen and her male Devoted, and each Devoted is different, with his own unique personality, talents and weaknesses. Given that Rhiannon's Hive was formed somewhat in haste, those differences don't always mesh well. There are a lot of growing pains in the first book as everyone is feeling each other out and trying to find their place, not only in the Hive itself, but with their Queen.

In Book 2, Hive & Heist, the Hive is in an entirely different part of space, recovering from the events of the last book. They're still trying to find their footing together, and the fragile ties they built in book 1 are put to the test even more by their new surroundings. When things get hairy and their only means of leaving the space station is stolen, they have a choice to make - band together yet again, or see their Hive splinter and fall apart. Throw in a subplot with the other Queens and the danger they are facing, and it's a pretty busy read.

For me, the best thing about these books was the Hive dynamic itself. The entire premise of Hives ruled by a Queen - and in this case, such a young Queen - was fascinating, and I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of characters I had a chance to get to know. Did I like all of them equally? No, but again, VARIETY! As a character-driven reader, how could I not love that? ;). Obviously I was invested in Rhiannon's journey - she was the Queen, after all, and the entire Hive's fate and fortune depended on her ability to lead, and while she didn't have all the answers and was sometimes just as lost as everyone else, she never gave up and continued to grow into her role in both books. She was clever, loyal, smart, and positively oozed potential. What's not to love about that, right? As for the Hive boys, Gavin was hands-down my favorite. He won me over in the first scene he appeared in and if I could have, I would have totally pulled him from the pages so I could hug and squish him. The other Hive members were a bit more hit-and-miss for me. It took me a little longer to warm up to them, but I loved that each of them brought something unique to the table. The more I read, the more faith I had in the group as the whole and their ability to not only balance each other out, but become a force to be reckoned with in the future.

I wouldn't have minded more action to go with all the character development, and I was disappointed by the lack of a true romance I could get behind. Granted, Queens are pretty limited when it comes to dating and marrying, and the Hive was still new and getting things sorted out, but still, I hoped. I think for some readers, as well, it may require a bit of a paradigm shift to get used to the male Devoted and how they interact with their Queen - or at least that was my experience. It wasn't a bad shift, but it was definitely a shift.

Overall, despite a few bumps in the road, both Hive Queen books turned out to be good reads for me. I really liked the concept, the variety of characters, and the different POV's, and I enjoyed the chance to see the story (and the characters) grow from one book to the next. If you're a fan of YA sci-fi, you should check them out.

3.5 Stars ★★★1/2
A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by:

Janine A. Southard writes and edits speculative fiction in between working on videogame projects. She’s attended more than the average number of universities, which she claims is a FEATURE. (“Oxford educated, but Californian at heart.”) She’s also lived and traveled in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Currently, she lives in Seattle with a husband (and a cat) and sings with a Celtic band.

Author Links:
http://www.janinesouthard.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6935843.Janine_A_Southard
https://twitter.com/jani_s

Tour wide giveaway

Open internationally

--3 x Signed copies of both books in the Hive Queen Saga

--1x ebook copies of both books in the Hive Queen Saga + an unrelated novella

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{Cover Reveal} Dust to Dust by Karina Halle!

Dust To Dust (Experiment In Terror #9 ) 

Author: Karina Halle

Genre: New Adult Urban Fantasy

Release Date: July 29th, 2014

Blurb: 

The dramatic conclusion to the Experiment in Terror Series. Perry Palomino and Dex Foray. On their own, they’re uniquely brilliant. Together, they’re an unstoppable team. Until now. Because after everything the duo has encountered, they haven’t come across an evil quite like this. An evil that has been years in the making, an evil that will stop at nothing until they, and everyone they care for, are destroyed. Dex and Perry’s love has survived a multitude of sins. But can it survive the end?

The Experiment In Terror series

Book #1 — Dark­house - FREE Book #2 — Red Fox Book #2.5 - The Ben­son (An Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror Novella) Book #3 — Dead Sky Morn­ing Book #4 — Lying Sea­son Book #5 — On Demon Wings Book #5.5 — Old Blood (An Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror Novella) Book #5.7 — The Dex Files (An Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror Novella) Book #6 — Into the Hol­low Book #6.5 — And With Mad­ness Comes the Light (An Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror Novella) Book #7 — Come Alive Book #8 — Ashes to Ashes

 

About the Author

With her USA Today Bestselling The Artists Trilogy published by Grand Central Publishing, numerous foreign publication deals, and self-publishing success with her Experiment in Terror series, Vancouver-born Karina Halle is a true example of the term "Hybrid Author." Though her books showcase her love of all things dark, sexy and edgy, she's a closet romantic at heart and strives to give her characters a HEA...whenever possible. Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiance and rescue pup.

Facebook | Goodreads | Karina's Website | Twitter | Amazon Author Page

 

Quickie Review: I Want to Hold Your Hand by Marie Force ★★★★

I Want to Hold Your Hand by Marie Force
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Green Mountain #2
Publication Date: June 3rd 2014
ISBN: 9780425266779
Page Count: 384
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey



Synopsis: For the Abbott siblings, the Green Mountain state has always been an idyllic place to call home. But it isn’t until they open themselves up to love that they’ll truly discover how fulfilling life can be…

Almost seven years after losing her husband in Iraq, Hannah Abbott Guthrie isn’t sure she’s ready—or able—to move on, but the attentions of a lifelong friend are making her think about it for the first time. The memory of the sweet kiss she shared with Nolan Roberts hasn’t strayed far from her thoughts, but she also fears that pursuing something with him would mean betraying her husband’s memory.

Nolan has loved Hannah for years, but he’d been giving her the space she needed to heal from her devastating loss. Now, when an opportunity arises to show her how he feels, Nolan can’t resist, but he knows earning her love will take more than a kiss. Somehow he has to prove to Hannah that finding love twice in a lifetime is possible—and well worth risking her heart.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

This series is so cute and sexy, and the characters so unbelievably sweet. If you're in the mood for some warmth, heart, and feel-good romance, you can't go wrong here.

This time it's Hannah's turn. You'll remember Hannah from the last book as the war widow whose life has been on hold for the last seven years as she coped with her grief. And Nolan as the man who's been not-so-secretly in love with her for the last few. To complicate it, Nolan was also a good friend to her dead husband. Through worries over what local people will think of their budding romance, and Hannah's own almost debilitating grief that still simmers so close to the surface, these two will win your heart as they traverse the rocky road to happiness together.

4 Stars ★★★★

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by:

Cinderella Screwed Me Over Promotional Event & Giveaway!

 Welcome to the promotional event for Cinderella Screwed Me Over by Cindi Madsen! In addition to a great excerpt and giveaway, we're thrilled to announce that there is a promotional price of $1.99! Grab it while it lasts! 

Title: Cinderella Screwed Me Over

Author: Cindi Madsen 

Age: Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Entangled

ASIN: B00BMKFPL6

ISBN: 1622660315

Goodreads

Blurb:

Darby Quinn has a bone to pick with Cinderella. Burned one too many times by ex-boyfriends, Darby has lost all belief in the happily-ever-after that the fairy-tale princess promised her. She's sworn off love, Prince Charmings, and happy endings and she's happy about it. Really. Or at least she was…until she met Jake, her gorgeous neighbor and the manager of her favorite restaurant. But Darby has rules about dating, ones she's culled from her years spent with so-called “princes,” and starting something with Jake would break all of them.

Charming, fun, and unwilling to give up on her, Jake doesn’t fit any of the profiles Darby has created from her case studies of ex-princes-gone-bad. Finally presented with her own Prince Charming, can Darby take a chance on a happily-ever-after?

Full of wit and sarcastic humor, Cinderella Screwed Me Over proves that sometimes the perfect love, like a perfect pair of shoes, is just within your grasp.

EXCERPT

Jake looked down at me and I noticed again how blue his eyes were. My gaze moved to his lips.

Mayday, mayday, mayday.
I dropped my hand from his arm and swallowed.

“And what did I do to deserve the brush-off?” he asked.

The elevator doors opened and I let out a sigh of relief. Saved by the bing! I moved for the doors, but Jake beat me to them. Only he put a hand out to hold them open and turned to face me, eyebrows raised. So much for escaping the question.

I could feel every beat of my heart, and the walls of the elevator seemed to be closing in on me. “It’s nothing against you personally. You seem nice—you’re very charming, actually, which I’m sure you know. But you live in my building, and I’ve got certain rules about that kind of thing. Before I stuck to the rules, my life was much messier.” I ducked under his arm—damn he smelled good—and started for my car.

Jake stayed by my side, our footsteps echoing through the garage. “I live in the wrong place and just like that, I’ve got no chance with you?”

I kept my eyes on my car, afraid that if I looked at him, I might give in. And yes, last night I’d considered trying one little date. But he noticed too much, and he pushed against boundaries I wasn’t ready to let go of. It was time I pushed back. “Why have you chosen to pursue me? I’m not playing hard to get. It’s not some game you’ve got to win.” I pointed my remote at my silver Dodge Durango and pushed the unlock button.

Jake stepped ahead of me and opened the car door for me. “I’m sure plenty of guys hit on you. Obviously you’re beautiful. But there’s something different about you that makes me not want to give up.”

“You don’t even know me,” I said.

“And whose fault is that?”

“Cinderella’s.”

Two creases formed between Jake’s eyebrows. “Cinderella’s?”

“Yeah, Cinderella screwed me over.” Without any more explanation, I got into my car, pulled the door closed, and fired up the engine.

 Amazon | BN | Kobo | iTunes

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About the Author:

Cindi Madsen sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children. She is the YA author of DEMONS OF THE SUN & ALL THE BROKEN PIECES, and the adult author of FALLING FOR HER FIANCE, ACT LIKE YOU LOVE ME and CINDERELLA SCREWED ME OVER.

Twitter: @CindiMadsen | Facebook | Website

Review: Sidekick by Auralee Wallace ★★★★

Sidekick by Auralee Wallace
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: ?
Publication Date: June 1st 2014
ISBN: 9780857991591
Page Count: 173
Rating: ★★★★
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey



Synopsis: 

Heroes meets Bridget Jones in this brilliant, hilarious debut novel about a girl who just wants to save the world...
Bremy St James, daughter of billionaire Atticus St James, has been cut off from the family fortune and is struggling to survive in a world that no longer holds its breath every time she buys a new outfit. To make matters worse, her twin sister is keeping secrets, loan sharks are circling, and the man of her dreams — a newspaper reporter — is on assignment to bring down everyone with the last name St James.

Things are certainly looking bleak for the down-and-out socialite until a good deed throws her into the path of the city’s top crime-fighter, Dark Ryder. Suddenly, Bremy has a new goal: apprentice to a superhero, and start her own crime-fighting career.

Ryder has no need for a sidekick, but it turns out the city needs Bremy’s help. Atticus St James is planning the crime of the century, and Bremy may be the only one able to get close enough to her father to stop him.

Now all she needs to do is figure out this superhero thing in less than a month, keep her identity secret from the man who could very well be The One, and save the city from total annihilation.

Well, no one ever said being a superhero would be easy...

I got nothin'

Oh, what madcap fun this was! I'm trying to think of a comparison for you to convey the tone used. It's certainly not serious urban fantasy. The heroine was mad as a box of cheese. The love interest was nerdalicious. The hero mentor was disdainfully brilliant. The bizarre, circus freak bad guys seemed very Gotham City to me. So I'm going to have to go with Batman as the tone.

In particular, because the "superheroes" are only heroes in the sense they have trained their bodies to be the best at what they do, and their minds to be fearless. There's no scientific experiment gone wrong, or super-humanness. And that's closest to Batman too, right? I'm not too up on my comic book heroes, you'll have to forgive me. And from what I do know, they've never before been led by a former Paris Hilton-esque heiress who has seen the error of her ways, and the evil of her father's, and has decided to TAKE ON THE WORLD ONE BAD DUDE AT A TIME!

*thunderclap*

It was just... I don't even know what word I want. Awesome is so overused. Crazy is certainly accurate, but not descriptive enough. It was a crazy, hilarious, nerdy wondersauce of fantasmical amazement.

Do you need anything more?

Good. Now go buy it and enjoy!

4 Stars ★★★★

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by:

Review: Ghouls Rush In by H. P. Mallory ★★★★1/2

Ghouls Rush In by H. P. Mallory
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Peyton Clark #1
Publication Date: May 20th 2014
ISBN: 9781477818558
Page Count: 269
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey



Synopsis: Do you believe in love after life?

Looking for a fresh start, Peyton Clark becomes the proud owner of a piece of New Orleans history: an Antebellum-era two-story house in the Garden District. It’s going to take time and a fat wallet to restore the fixer-upper to its former glory, but after her recent divorce, Peyton could use the distraction.

It’s not long before Peyton discovers she’s moved into the haunted home of a flirtatious paranormal prankster. She’s receiving kisses from unseen lips and caresses from a ghostly hand, and soon she begins to have vivid dreams, bringing her face-to-face with the incomparably handsome ghost of Drake Montague.

When Peyton grows closer to her general contractor, Ryan Kelly—who is as charming as he is alive—the chill in the air could only suggest Drake’s jealousy from beyond the grave. But even though she’s definitely attracted to and interested in Ryan, Peyton also can’t get Drake out of her dreams, or her heart, as she begins to uncover the frightening truth behind his death a century ago…

Ghouls Rush In

I think I've read the majority of H. P. Mallory's books at this point, but have yet to actually finish a series of hers. That may sound worrying, but it's not as bad as it sounds, honest. And she certainly isn't alone in her category of "unfinished". But I think the reason I've always left before the end in the past may be that the story arcs tend to start out really strongly, then get a bit messy later on. For example, I've always found the first book in each series to be the best. I've always, ALWAYS fallen in love with the leading man as she intended me to from page one. And I've always appreciated the heroines, even when they were driving me crazy. But Mallory tends to complicate the hell out of things in latter books. To keep readers interested, naturally, but I think it backfired a little bit where I'm concerned. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for mixing things up a bit - who wants to read about characters whose relationships are 100% smooth sailing? But the things she did to them... Eesh! It almost made you want to just say, "This is too messy and complicated now! Maybe you should move on with someone new and start afresh?" And that's not really the right mentality for a reader to have, is it? I'm meant to be rooting for them to work at it, surely?

Well! What has me very excited for Ghouls Rush In is that, again, it has started fantastically strongly and I'm more than in love with romantic interest Ryan. But things are moving slowly between them. And as far as I know, Ryan's a pretty simple, non-supernatural guy, which hopefully means he won't be doing anything other than supporting our heroine and being generally dreamy. In the past, some of the other love interests have had their own agendas, their own desires for power, revenge, whatever, that has detracted from their hunky BF status, and often even led to them betraying loyalties and other heinous acts. So simple, sweet, handyman Ryan is like a breath of fresh air. In fact, the whole worlbuilding is a lot, lot, LOT less complicated than Mallory usually goes for. Just ghosts and a touch of voodoo so far. I'm loving this paired down, back-to-basics approach. It's allowing me to truly appreciate the characters instead.

Let's talk a bit about said characters. Starting with leading lady Peyton. She's a recent divorcee, just escaping from a marriage that sounded more like a dictatorship. Her ex-husband tried to mould her into the perfect, plain Jane, Stepford wife. Which is a far cry from the fun-loving girl she used to be. She's in the process of shaking off those shackles when her aunt, whom she'd never met, dies and bequeaths her an enormous old house. And her new neighbour? Yup, you guessed it, the delicious and aforementioned Ryan. And he really is dreamy, guys! He's quiet, unassuming, thoughtful, sexy. Hmmmm...me like!

However! There is also the small matter of the ghost of Drake Montague who resides in her new house and also has his eyes on Peyton. This is another thing Mallory likes to do: love triangles. Love them or hate them, they're always entertaining. I just hope she doesn't take it too far. A bit of rivalry is good, but, seriously, the dude's dead! How far can it realistically go?

There's a really interesting plot to Ghouls Rush In based partly on true crime events involving the Axeman of New Orleans. And it's not wrapped up entirely in this book, so I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment to find out more. And of course, to see how things progress with Ryan.

So what should you take from this rambling review? Well, what I'm trying to impart is that I'm excited for this new series. I'm hoping it means Mallory has learned not to write herself into a bind, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next.

41/2 Stars ★★★★1/2
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by:

Review: The Dark World Cara Lynn Shultz ★★★★★

The Dark World Cara Lynn Shultz
Genre: YA Paranormal
Series: Dark World #1
Publication Date: May 27th 2014
ISBN: 9780373211203
Page Count: 384
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey



Synopsis: Paige Kelly is used to weird--in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer-and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons-and she might never make it home.4

Light in the Dark

I have three YA/NA first-in-series titles I've read this year that I am very excited about! They all had fantastic and mercifully different worldbuilding (not a vamp or werewolf in sight!), and they all had a sweet/sexy budding romance, which is a vital component of any good YA these days, right? Well these ones were particularly squeeful and made me do this face:

A lot.

So I suppose I ought to tell you which ones they were then, hmm? Well, you're looking at one of them. The other two were White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Darkside Sun by Jocelyn Adams. I gave all three five stars and am eagerly awaiting the second instalments since they all ended with me desperate to know what's going to happen next!

This one, in particular, had so much heart and soul in the writing. Characters you absolutely fall in love with within three pages, that positively jump out and grab you, and a fantastic plotline to boot. And, of course, the romance. *le sigh*

I realise I'm far too old to be sighing over seventeen-year-olds, but it's more in a, Oh-my-God-he's-more-adorable-than-a-kitten-in-a-bowtie way, than any kind of disturbing, cougar-like way. So it's fine, y'all.

For The Dark World, let's start out by telling you about amazing protagonist Paige. Ever since she died on an operating table and was subsequently resuscitated, she's been able to see and talk to the dead. Her best friend is a 1950's suicide victim called Dottie who resides mostly in the girls' bathroom of her high school. Where Paige also spends most of her time at school since everyone else thinks she's weird. A freak. That funny girl who talks to herself. She's got her own little squad of haters who would love nothing more than to make her life miserable with their bitchy taunts. But the thing is, Paige is just too freakin' cool to care! I LOVED that about her! I mean, obviously it's not fun having people act like you've got the plague when you walk by them in the hall, but her witty rejoinders make it clear to us as readers who are the real freaks, and who is the rock star. 

I. 

LOVED. 

HER.

The action kicks up pretty quickly when new guy, Logan, and a bunch of other weirdly intense new students start showing a remarked interest in Paige. When one of them turns out to be a fire demon intent on her no longer inhaling and exhaling on a regular basis, Logan steps in. 

Logan, Logan Logan... What an absolute doll! His back story was so tragic, and his vulnerability because of it so endearing! I'm thinking of having his name tattooed across my left breast. Too much? I disagree. And I double dare you to read this book and not fall in love with him too!

As Logan and Paige's relationship progresses, more and more about the secret supernatural world is revealed, and each piece is more interesting than the last. All leading to an amazing, emotional, climactic ending which, as I said, has me clamouring for book two!

I definitely intend to check out Shultz's other series, Spellbound, as well, since this book has made me an instant fan of her writing style. And I would urge you guys to try them too! That one already has two books out, so more for you to devour. Yay!

All together, an outstanding read. I'm giving it a very satisfied, cigarette-smoking, glazed-eyed, 5 Stars.★★★★★

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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