Review: Anomaly

Anomaly by Tonya Kuper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This is the absolute perfect blend of YA drama and paranormal romance all wrapped up in an adorably dorky package. If nerdy references and witty sarcasm are things you enjoy, you should definitely check out this wonderful read.

The story begins in your typical YA way, with a high school girl (Josie) on the verge of a big change. Having just broken up with her boyfriend, her birthday is decidedly not going as planned. Enter super hot guy on a motorcycle, bringing with him all the change and paranormal goodness that you can handle. Turns out that this brainy teen has the ability to "push" things into existence with a mere thought. There was a really great explanation that made my science loving brain very very happy. I can honestly say that I haven't encountered any paranormal story that really explained phenomena in such a believable way (and, by the way, I'm a scientist in real life, so that is saying something).

The world that we are introduced to in this book sucked me in and had me completely engaged from the first chapter. From the characters, to the powers, to the mysterious big bad, I just wanted the book to go on forever. Josie and Reid (her trainer, and hottie crush) were captivating and I was on the edge of my seat playing the "will they or won't they" game. The chemistry is sizzling, the paranormal abilities are unique and completely awesome, and the story was surprising and new. Josie is a great teen to watch grow into the tough "anomaly" that everyone believes she can become. There was none of the dreaded misunderstanding segments or pointless fights. This book was jam packed with meaningful scenes that didn't waste a moment.

All in all, this was exactly what I look for in an excellent 5 star read. Oh, and to top all that good stuff off the right way, there's no big cliffhanger moment that made me want to chuck my kindle across the room. You get some good with some bad, but in a surprisingly "real" story. I will be counting the days until the next book in this series comes out.



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Review: Lives of Kings

Lives of Kings by Lucy Leiderman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After being pleasantly surprised by the first book in this series, I was very eager to see where book 2 would take us. This set of books is a really enjoyable mix of epic storytelling, paranormal romance, YA drama, and urban fantasy. Oh, and you get some bonus reincarnation/historical elements thrown in to round out the series.

Gwen and her past-life/current-life group of magic infused teenagers are still poised to do battle against the “Magicians.” While they begin this book on the run, they soon realize that there will be no progress with either their magic or their memories if they stay in hiding. It actually takes some scary witch doctor magic to convince them of what they probably already suspected. While we spend about half the book with Gwen and her friends, the rest of the time is spent learning Kian’s backstory, motivation, and generally getting over the fact that he appeared to betray them all. Me, being a hopeless romantic, was hoping for Gwen and Kian all the way. I was eager to forgive him all his past sins and was quick to accept whatever motivation led him to end up with the magicians.

This book also gave us a deeper look into the powers and responsibility that each of these teenagers has accepted. Tensions rise and some people are not able to handle either the pressure or the responsibility. While this is a bit of romance, it is mostly made up of the friendship or kinship that these gifted individuals share. The massive events of this book left us with a little bit of a cliffhanger in the form of “how will they deal with this new set of challenges?!?” but otherwise it was a very satisfying action/adventure tale. The good guys are making progress, the bad guys are taking hits, and I’m still rooting for lots of love and relationships to spring out of these extraordinary circumstances.




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Review: A Cursed Bloodline

A Cursed Bloodline by Cecy Robson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I admit, I’ve only read a short prequel to this series and haven’t read any of the other books. That being said, I don’t think it was really too difficult to catch up. The author does a good job getting the reader up to speed.

Poor Celia should be having the best day of her life when she is suddenly thrown into some insane supernatural drama. Anara, evil bad guy extraordinaire, rains on her parade by making her break up with Aric, her werewolf mate. If that wasn’t bad enough, he also beat her up (a lot). Celia is mostly left to her own devices (even when surrounded by family and friends) because Anara also threatens her for even thinking of telling anyone about his evil deeds. There was a lot of crying in this book. A lot. Everyone cried. The emotional turmoil dial was set at 11. When they weren’t running from bad guys or fighting for their lives, the sisters were as weird as they are made out to be. That’s not to short any of the other characters in this book. Be warned, I’m going to ramble!

I am in love with these wacky characters. They do the silliest, sweetest things at the strangest times, but that only adds to their charm. I was especially smitten with the vampires and “schoolgirls” that filled the middle of this book. I could read an entire spinoff that shows a day in the life of Misha. Misha was also my favorite of the adorable men in this book. Watching him interact with Celia and his harem had me smiling all the way through.

This book was certainly a rollercoaster ride of emotion. People go from happy to heartbroken in less than a page, with some truly heinous acts in between. If gore or touchy subjects bother you, this book will probably offend you in one way or another. For me, though, this was a really strong read in the arena of paranormal romance (with a gritty urban fantasy edge).




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Review: Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between

Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for a book that’s a mix of strip club, vampires, and necromancers? Look no further than this one! This gritty urban fantasy is an eclectic mix of characters and stories that blend together to create something truly unique. Beware, though, because this one has a hard to swallow cliffhanger at the end.

Rhiannon is a tough as nails ex-foster kid who now works bartending at an even tougher strip club. She’s grown up knowing that she sees dead people, but doesn’t quite know what to do with this talent. Mostly, she ignores it, until a vampire won’t let her. Disco (ugh, that name kills me) is the vampire in question, who forces Rhiannon to face her powerful talent and her undeniable attraction to him. The chemistry sizzles and the magic is pretty snazzy too.

Ultimately, Rhiannon finds herself caught in between some really bad black magic and the vampires she’s grown to respect (and love?). There are some truly gritty and tough scenes, but I found that it only made me appreciate the sappiness more. This book had me hooked right up until the end, when it slapped me across the face with some cliffhanger pain.




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Review: Penumbra

Penumbra by Keri Arthur

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the last in the trilogy for the Spook Squad. I would've liked to have had more time to wrap my head around this very fast-paced, action-packed series, but this book makes it very clear that there will be no more.

Sam and Gabriel are still butting heads at the start of this book. She's fighting against his constant avoidance by forcing his brother to re-assign her where she can better do her job. It's sad, because I feel like Sam would be great at her job, if she could actually do it without all the secrets, lies, and misdirection. Gabriel takes Sam's reassignment just about as well as you can expect, which is to say, like a child. He loves her, he hates her, etc etc. After 2 previous books of being wishy-washy, I had high hopes for this book being a nice wrap up to all the oodles of questions. I really have to remember that Keri Arthur is not big on tying up all the loose ends.

Yes, we get to find out who Josh, Joe, and Sethanon are (you've probably guessed the answer to this already, maybe around book 2). Yes, there is resolution between Sam and Gabriel. No, things are not wrapped up in a tidy bow. If this will bother you, I'd recommend not even starting the series. This will hurt, badly, and you might end up a little less likely to start something else by the author, and that would be a shame. The other series I have read have slightly more reassuring endings, if not tidy. Overall, this series has *a lot* of questions, story, action, and a smidge of romance. If you can endure having a not so solid ending, it's worth a read.



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Review: Haunted

Haunted by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I will admit to being very reluctant to read a book that revolved around Eve. I've already complained about how the previous books are starting to convince me that this evil witch wasn't so very evil. It's amazing what this author can do, though, because by the time I was a quarter of the way through the book, I was rooting for Eve all the way.

This book is from Eve's perspective. Sure, we get visits from Jamie, Lucas, Paige, Savannah, and even a cameo from Jeremy, but it is mostly starring Eve and her ex/not-so-ex Kris. Oh, and there's angels now. Huh. The fates we met in the last book, so I guess angels shouldn't be so far fetched. While some of the other books might have been filled with some sunshine and rainbows, this book was certainly a bit darker and more gritty. Eve is in the afterlife, breaking all the rules but managing to keep her own set of rules unbroken. She barters instead of owing, always paying all her debts. One such debt was earned in the last book for Paige and Lucas. When the fates call her in, she accepts without question, tasked with hunting down a demi-demon (a "Nix") who is responsible for a whole string of serial killers.

One downside to this book is it was filled to the brim with history and backstory. It's kid of essential for the true story of this Nix to be told, but did fill up a lot of pages along the way, slowing the action down a bit. Aside from that, it had all the goodness you've come to expect: lots of paranormals, a snarky necromancer, an unlikely love story, and sacrifice a'plenty. Oh, and angels. They seem like the oddest thing to throw into this story about a "black witch," but I guess the fates are crazy.

At the end of the story I took a peek to see what the next book was about and was a little startled to see it didn't have anybody's name in it from this one. What about Tsriel (did I spell that right?)? We spent a whole bunch of time learning about angels to just drop them now... Maybe we need all this information at some point in the future...



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Review: Shadow Burns

Shadow Burns by S.M. Reine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book picks up where the others left off - going around solving paranormal crimes with Cesar and Suzy (and Isobel). Things are really beginning to fall into place with this one.

Cesar is still... Cesar. I'm not really his biggest fan and that may have led to my slow read of this installment. The overall story begins as a simple haunting report but grows into so much more. Really, the big payoff is in details about Isobel. We learn *a lot* about her in this story and will probably get all the answers in the next one. It's a little hard to summarize the story, because of the twisty-turny way it gets from start to finish, but that's about what I expect from the Preternatural Affairs books. Cesar stumbles his way through all of the paranormal elements, usually getting bailed out by Suzy (or Isobel, or Fritz, or all three...).

Fritz is another character that we got to see even more of in this book. It is exciting to have all these clues dangled in front of you and get some solid payoff at the very end. Well done! You've sucked me in for even more mystery and mayhem from the world of Cesar Hawke.



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