Raven // Suzy Turner

Raven (★☆☆☆☆)
By: Suzy Turner
Series: The Raven Saga (1)
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 258
Format: eBook
Features: Shapeshiftrers

Lilly Taylor isn't really Lilly Taylor. In fact, after her parents mysteriously disappear from their London flat one day, she ends up living in Canada with family she didn't even know she had, learning secrets that would likely send even the most well-adjusted, real-life teenager off to wallow in, well, the stuff of parent's nightmares.

Not Lilly, though.  Nope, Lilly spends a night sleeping and all is good in the world. Of course she has questions - who wouldn't? But, this is a young adult novel and thus everything must come easy, right?

I confess, I'm not the target audience for this kind of book. Yet, I have read many young adult novels that have had a compelling story with characters I grow to care for. Characters who respond in a way a normal human being might, who suffer, live and breathe as we do. This is not something you find in Raven.

I gave the book one star, purely because despite all temptation to remove the book both off of my Kindle and delete it entirely from my Amazon order history, something kept me going.  Then again, there were plenty of things that kept me going only to have them succinctly and completely removed with no conflict or resolution. The only conflict we see in Raven is the hope that Lilly's father is still alive, and the confrontation with her father's wife.

Now, I won't spoil it for you, but expect that encounter to end well, very anticlimactically. In fact, if I were to compare this book to sex... lots of talk, very little follow-through. Though, I'll give the author another chance on account of it being her first time and all.

Innocence // Dean Koontz

Innocence (★★★★★)
By: Dean Koontz
Genres: Mystery, Suspense
Pages: 353
Format: eBook

I'm almost ashamed to admit I've never read Dean Koontz before. Almost. After reading Innocence, I've come to believe that was subconsciously intentional.

It sucked me in. Completely. From page one, it gripped me around the heart and hooked my brain. From the second I pick it up until the moment I put it down, there is nothing but the world Koontz has created, the characters and their story woven so expertly I come away from it each time wondering if there are here, too, people hiding in hidden tunnels for legitimate fear of their lives.

It's ethereal, mystical. It's a combination of the real and the fantastical, blended so smoothly one has a hard time figuring if this is meant to be fantasy or something else entirely. Until the end, that is. At the end, the striking potential of reality ripped my heart out of my chest and left my jaw scraping the floor, somehow elated.

Now, to explain all of that? I have a very, VERY difficult time really enjoying books that have no way to hook me emotionally, engage my imagination, or of making me THINK. Sometimes I'll get one, maybe two, but it is the rare gem that manages to capture all 3. Innocence is definitely one of those books that has managed to capture all 3, and it will be read often if only due to that fact alone. The powerful imagery and richly woven story line are the icing on the cake.

Letting Go // Maya Banks

Letting Go (★★★☆☆)
By: Maya Banks
Series: The Surrender Trilogy (1)
Genres: Erotica ~ Romance
Pages: 258
Format: eBook
Features: BDSM

I've been a fan of Maya Banks for a long time. The "Sweet series" knocked my socks off and left me nearly drooling with every installment. The "Breathless" trilogy was as emotionally gripping as it was physical.

In this first taste of the "Surrender" trilogy, however, she falls far short of the impeccable standard she set with her previous books.

I can't really nitpick about the book, because the things that made me grind my teeth about the book unfortunately took up a good chunk of it. So many different decisions, and thoughts, and statements, were repeated. Again and again. And then, yet again.

It slowed down the story and distracted me from what should have been a delicious undercurrent to the relationship building between Joss and Dash. I actually got more out of the budding relationship between Kylie and Jensen than I did out of the two primary characters, and Jensen only made barely more than a cameo appearance.

This was my eventual reaction to a lot of the prevalent "themes" in the story.

Joss' hesitation due to being dead husbands best friend: GET OVER IT!
Kylie's reaction to what Joss wants to do in her life to make her happy: GET OVER IT!
Chessy's reaction to, well, everything: Yeah, you get it. You understand, got it. No, really, I got it.

As always once the relationship between the two main characters actually gets established (this time with WAY more "filler" in the pages than I'm used to from Maya), I can't complain. The sex is hot, the necessary conflict is interesting, and the reconciliation is a struggle between pride and love.

I see a lot of "tricks" that have been used before in the other books she's written, however, which makes me think perhaps Banks should take a break, spend a few weeks in the sack with the lover of her choice, and then come back with some new, fresh and sexy ideas.

I'll probably pass on the remaining books in this series, but pick up the next one.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone // Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (★★★★☆)
By: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (1)
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy ~ Urban
Pages: 420
Format: eBook
Features: Where to begin???

Well, now.

I like to read. A lot. Typically when I read a book by a new author, if I find I enjoy it, I'll set it aside and come back to it later, read it again, and think about whether or not I'll pursue additional works by the same author.

That is NOT the case here. Laini Taylor has captured my imagination with Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The end is merely alluded to in the title, not to be understood until you manage to make it all the way through to the end. And what an amazing end it was.

I had my doubts early on. Karou talking about her drawings of Brimstone and the others made me think of something more along the lines of comic book characters. When the narrative went into conversations she had with these creatures, I raised my eyebrow and wondered what I had gotten myself into. And, wishes? Simple, silly wishes based off of a bead?

Then we actually get to MEET Brimstone, and the entire dynamic changes. We hear more about the other kinds of wishes, and his job of collecting teeth, we see the relationship that Karou has with the chimaera inhabiting the shop. We start getting glimpses hear and there into Karou, her life, and her "job". The split life of someone who works for creatures who don't dare show their faces outside the shop on one side, and who attends an arts school who has friends and relationships on the other side.

Of the chimaera who are merely shopkeepers and caregivers in need of teeth to carry out some unknown purpose on one side, and highly valuable members of an entire race of beings on the other side.

The intricacies of these relationships are handled very well. I was pleased with the continuity, the flow of the story and of the writing. It moved at a very good pace to keep me engaged without being overwhelmed or bored.

Then the angel appeared. It was as if from that point on, the entire story became one gigantic whirlwind of "WTF?!" - which was appropriate considering, had this all been real, Karou's life probably would be about there as well.

The ending revelation wasn't as big of a surprise as I'd hoped, and it was there that I started feeling things got a little too drawn out - a little too... cookie-cutter. From that point on until the end, everything pretty much went as expected, which was a sad turn from earlier.

No matter how you look at it, though, Taylor spins a good story. My imagination was thoroughly engaged, visualizing these characters with all these different features, the remarkable dress of Karou's, the whole idea of... well, I won't spoil that for you. It's one of the biggest curiosities of Karou's throughout the book, and now I can certainly understand why. I thought it was pretty brilliant, myself.

If you're looking for the next great thing in fantasy set in modern times, this is a book you definitely need to add to your collection.

Mint Juleps and Justice // Nancy Naigle

Mint Juleps and Justice (★★★★☆)
By: Nancy Naigle
Series: Adams Grove (5)
Genres: Romance ~ Contemporary
Pages: 335
Format: eBook
Features: Suspense

Mike and Brooke have enough baggage between them to fill a fleet of jetliners. Between Brooke's nasty divorce and the murder of Mike's wife eight years ago, the odds are seemingly stacked against them from the start.

One thing I love about Mint Juleps and Justice is this - the characters are REAL. Brooke Justice has a real job where she interacts with real people, and has a real fun quirk of believing in good luck signs almost religiously. Mike is a former Marine who is trying to balance himself back into civilian life by running a small-town investigative firm, and giving a military pup its first year of training.

Brooke's job throws them together from day one, and in a small town, chance encounters are bound to happen on a frequent basis once you've met someone face to face. The "chance" encounters turn purposeful when Brooke's baggage forces her to seek the aid of Mike's investigative services.

However, just when things were finally getting settled for Brooke and she begins to gain confidence in her ability to have a relationship with Mike, Mike's world gets turned up-side-down when he finds out, two months after the fact, that the baggage he thought himself finally ready to let go of and move forward from has once again reared its ugly head.

Without going into too many details, the progression of the story - both the main story between Brooke and Mike, and the plots surrounding each of their individual baggage - is fluid and keeps the reader engaged. The only thing keeping me from giving this book a full 5-star review is this - I simply do not like being clued into certain things before the characters are, which is the case with Mike's baggage.

Overall, it's a nice, easy read. It's real people engaging in a real relationship with real problems that can only be overcome together. It's a story I can relate to, and that just makes it all the more engaging.

Her Highness, My Wife // Victoria Alexander

Her Highness, My Wife (☆☆☆☆☆)
By: Victoria Alexander
Series: Effingtons (5)
Genres: Romance ~ Historical
Pages: 384
Format: eBook

Um... okay. So far, everything of Victoria Alexander's that I've read, I've been able to finish. However, as I read more and more, they all start to read the same.

Her Highness, My Wife - it doesn't just read "the same"... it reads as dull. I'm a quarter of the way through the book, and nothing of substance has happened, except the revelation of some family heirloom she's searching for. No suspense, no realistic tension between the couple, no... nothing to keep me interested.

I imagine the story about the family jewels (literally) could be enticing to some. However, when you've read a quarter of the book and there's really been nothing except banter between Sir Matthew and Princess Tatiana. The banter even is half-hearted at best, on both sides. In truth, if two people went back and forth like these two did, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for them to not notice how the other person truly feels. Yet, Matthew still has himself completely convinced Tatiana means nothing (and she believes him) and Tatiana still believes... well, I haven't figured that out yet. Regardless, she obviously wants Matthew, and yet he's completely and delusionally ignorant of this fact.

There's been very little of the subplot to move the story along, and the main plot between Tatiana and Matthew simply isn't enough. At this point, I'd rather turn my attention to a book I may actually finish, than try to dredge my way through the rest of this one.

Yes, I emphasize the fact that I'm a quarter of the way through the book a lot - but that's because in a book that's less than 400 pages, SOMETHING significant needs to have happened by this point. Or at least hinted at being significant. If the rest of the book is like the first part, I'd die of boredom.