Breaking Angelina by T.J. and Rita Webb

Publisher: Robot Playground Inc
Date Published: November 2013
Genre: YA / NA Paranormal Romance
Series: Paranormal Investigations #1.5
Source: Author
Rating: Crazy Good 4 out of 5 stars

She's the Beauty. Can the Beast break her curse before the monsters break her?

I never told anyone my darkest secret.

Something evil whispers in my mind. It threatens to destroy everything I care about, and now it wants me to kidnap and murder a mythical creature. Refusal means excruciating pain or sleepwalking into oncoming traffic ... again.

I don’t dare refuse, even if I have to steal from my friends, sell my body, or ruin my college career. Anything to stop the feeling of its claws scraping the insides of my skull.

That’s when I hired the Hunter, a wolf-man from a magical world, to help me. A tracker for hire, an honorable man who has misplaced his honor, a twisted soul with no heart left to care.

But he has secrets of his own, and I don’t think anyone can save me from the trouble I’m in.

Angelina has heard the voices in her head since she was twelve years old. She's now nineteen and attending college in Alaska when odd and mysterious things begin to happen. The voices are taking control of her life more than ever, making Angelina do things and hurting her when she resists. Angelina is now on a quest for a love potion to get her sisters' best friend to fall in love with Angelina so the voices will stop torturing her. Will she make it before they break her?

Hunter is a chimera, part wolf, hawk, and man. Hunting is what he does best. He tracks and finds people and objects. With his family slaughtered by the Usurper he is cold and empty inside. But when a client double-crosses him and nearly gets him killed, Hunter is out for revenge. Along the way he discovers a bracelet that everyone seems to want and happens across a human girl in need of his services. A girl who recently had been in contact with the bracelet. How is it all connected? And should he care?

I don't know how to feel about Angelina. She seems a little on the weak side, but honestly? She's up against these voices in her head. So maybe she isn't so weak. I go back and forth on liking her in this. I can safely say that in the first few pages I most definitely did not like her. Angelina was... I don't know, almost, childish, I guess. No. That's not exactly right. It's like she's so naive and young, disgustingly so, on a lot of her opinions in the beginning of the book.

By the end of the book my opinion changes. You learn more about the voices and their hold on her. I don't like a lot of what Angelina does in the book, but most of what she does is controlled by the voices. Especially that scene where she goes psycho. By the end of the book I realized I didn't really know Angelina. She may be one of the two main protagonists (dual POV), but she did what anyone would do in her situation; she tried to stop the pain.

The places where her personality shined through and pushed past the voices was when she stood up for Brianna. And that one scene with Hunter where the voices left them alone. For the rest of the book her personality was suppressed. So I'll be interested to see what she is like in the future.

Hunter I liked. Well, for the most part. I empathize with him and feel a bucketload of sympathy for his loss and the crap he went through. To have your entire family slaughtered? I'm amazed he's kept going. He has his own brand of courage and determination. The entire book you can tell he's fighting, and, other than his alcohol problem, he's kind of winning. Sort of.

The one time I don't like him is the 'romantic' scene between him and Angelina. Maybe for some people having sex for a one night to help with a payment is okay, but it rubs me the wrong way. It's too close to prostitution. Even if it's only once. I get that he actually cared about Angelina, and her about him, but I just don't like it. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else. It's the one time in the book that I just really don't like. Everything else is okay. And he redeems himself in the end, kind of.

There are a few other secondary and minor characters in the book. I suppose you can count the voices as a character, though you don't figure them out until the end. Of course you have Jason and Emma from Playing Hooky, the first book. I think you can read Breaking Angelina as a standalone without having read Playing Hooky. There are some nemesis' of Angelina's you see, like Cyndi and Tyler (who totally gets what's coming to him). Spyder is a bit of a ghost in the book, you don't see much of him. Mostly just minor characters in this one. Of course there's the blue lady who has yet to be named. She's part dragon, part fae, I think. Hunter has a few enemies you run into, but again, they seem kind of minor to me.

I mostly liked Hunter, and I went back and worth with liking and disliking Angelina. I think most of the characters were static, unchanging, with the exceptions of Hunter and Angelina who were very dynamic and changed a lot throughout the story. Especially Angelina.

I liked the fast-paced story. I am so easily bored with having to wait for the author to set the scene, it was such a delight to jump right into the story. For those that like their slow build-ups, sorry, but I like jumping in head first. And it didn't really get dull. There were some small lulls in the story, but for the most part the story was great.

I already mentioned the one instance where I didn't like Hunter. And I place the blame mainly on Hunter because he allowed it to happen even knowing that Angelina was young and couldn't be that experienced. I don't really blame Angelina because of the voices, but she didn't really seem to mind all that much, considering it was her first time. It really irked me.

The writing was pretty great. The flow of the story went well, I liked the pace that was set, it all came together nicely. It was fairly short in length, but I do believe this series is made up of novellas. So not that short. Just not too long either. It was a pleasantly light read (as far as the length goes, the material was medium-heavy as far as content).

The book was pretty upbeat even though at times it was depressing. That sounds like a contradiction, but it makes sense if you read it. It was like even though the characters were going through a hard time, the writing still had an upbeat spin to it.

I would also label this as a young adult / new adult crossover. I would say it's NA because of the ages of the characters, but content wise its really just upper YA. I think it's a good thing, because you get a bigger audience. There's no racy bedroom scenes if that's what you're looking for in NA. It's pretty tame there. All behind closed doors. And it only happens once, so I definitely would label this as a YA / NA crossover. Minor violence.

I thought it was a wonderful read. Relatively short, but long enough to curl up and chill on the couch. The story was fascinating. I missed the world of fantasy that I saw in the first book and I cannot wait to read the second book (this 1.5, if you didn't know). I would definitely recommend it, even if you just read it as a standalone.

   

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Taking Chances (Paranormal Investigations Book 3) is now out as well! It'll be the next book on my reading list. I can't wait to see how things go with all of the characters. I hope to see Angelina and Hunter again! What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Happy reading!

Sworn to Raise by Terah Edun

Publisher: Amazon Digital

Date Published: April 10th 2013

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Series: Courtlight #1

Source: Purchased

Rating: Crazy Good 4 out of 5 stars

Seventeen-year-old Ciardis has grown up in poverty, a cleaner in a small vale on the outskirts of the empire. But beneath her empire’s seemingly idyllic surface lies a hidden secret. Whispers of an inept crown Prince are growing ever louder—intensified by the five year anniversary of the soulbond initiations.

Amidst scandalous whispers, Ciardis finds herself chosen to train for the Companion’s Guild. She leaves her home and sets off on a personal journey to become a Court Companion. A position she’d never thought possible for a lowly servant to obtain, she must prove that she has the skills to attract a Patron.

But she must master those skills quickly. If the legends are true, only Ciardis can harness the power to raise a Prince in an Imperial Court sworn to bring him down.

This sensational series debut melds intricate storylines with remarkable characters and unforgettable magic. Sworn To Raise is ideal for fans of Kristin Cashore, Michelle Sagara, and Maria Snyder.

Ciardis Vane was orphaned at a young age. In her small town in the north, no one wanted to deal with an orphan. The only job allowed to her was that of a laundress. But a strange lady known as a Companion shows up in town to buy her famous red dye. She offers a proposal of a life elsewhere. 

Ciardis takes that chance and is whisked away to the Companions Guild where she trains to become a companion herself. Soon it is discovered that Ciardis was no ordinary girl, no, she was the last remaining Weathervane, someone who could enhance the powers of others. Now everyone is interested in Ciardis, and she’ll have to choose where her loyalties lie.

Ciardis is the main character in the story. She starts off as an outcast in her village and then finds herself becoming the person of interest at the Companions Guild. Her personality is a bit, arrogant? Hmm, not sure that is the word I’m looking for. I guess she doesn’t have a shining personality. She’s not some fierce tough girl or a shy good girl. She’s a bit rough. Sometimes it works in her favor and sometimes against it.

Sebastian. I hope he does not become a lover in future books. He’s just so… childlike, I think. He’s young, and has limited life experience. I just don’t want him to be paired with Ciardis. His personality needs a little work too. I really would have preferred if he were older.

There are a few other main characters, but they are pretty static and don’t change. I do wonder if Damais is gay, or if that’s just my impression of him. The other characters don’t really stick. I imagine we’ll see more of them and get to know them better in future books.

I really liked this book; I haven’t read one like it in a while. I suppose it’s similar to Graceling, though Graceling seems to have more depth in it to me.

Even though the characters weren’t very substantial in my mind, I loved what happened to Ciardis. Following her along and how the world changed for her was pretty interesting. She became a dynamic character and had a full personality. I liked her dry wit and humor. It was entertaining.

Things I didn’t like… well, I think the characters could have been more memorable, and the plot could have had more twists to it. I did not like how young Sebastian was. Other than that though there wasn’t much I didn’t like. It was a captivating story.

I think as far as the writing goes it was a fairly well written book. The beginning was a little jarring, being thrust into a laundress’s world in a fantasy realm, but I doubt that could have been helped. When entering a fantasy realm it is best to just jump right in, none of this wading in that some authors do.

Overall, a wonderful story that I plan to continue to read and enjoy, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

 

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Sworn to Raise is currently free, though I'm not sure how long that will last, so grab your copy while you can :)

Covert Cover Cracked by Missy Marciassa

Publisher: Marissa Marciassa
Date Published: April 28th 2014
Genre: New Adult Action Romance
Series: Covert #3
Source: Author / NetGalley
Rating: Crazy Good 4 out of 5 stars

When 23-year-old Elle can’t explain why her job as an Information Scientist at the Library of Congress keeps her so busy (because she’s actually a CIA operative who just became field rated), her boyfriend dumps her, so she decides to focus on her career and enjoy a fling.

Navy SEAL Reese Beckwith seems like the perfect fling material except the more he sees Elle, the more he wants to know about her, and she can’t resist him. Things get complicated when Reese spots her with her CIA partner, a known womanizer. His questions for Elle get more pointed: he sees the potential for more than a fling, and once he sets an objective, failure is not an option.

Yet Elle tries to keep Reese in the “fling” category as her first major assignment heats up, becoming more personal with each development. When her personal and professional lives collide, Elle is put to the test. Does she have what it takes to be a covert operative? Will she have to choose between love and her career?

Elle is an Information Scientist at the Library of Congress. At least, that's one of her jobs. The other one is a secret, one that very few people know about. She's really a CIA operative. And she just became field rated. Her first op is successful, and nothing will take her down from her high of doing well on her first op. Except her boyfriend of one year, Lyle, decides to dump her for not being around enough.

Elle has to decide if having a successful career is really worth having a crappy social life. Except she's come so far. From being a total geek to a geek that can kick ass. She doesn't want to let go of her new life. She's not allowed to tell family and friends what she does, and its wrecking her personal life. But Elle wants her job more than anything. But if she can never tell anyone what she does, what kind of personal relationships can she ever have?

Reese is shipping out soon. He's a Navy SEAL and he isn't looking for anything permanent. All he wants is a fling to tide him over. Being stuck on a sub for six months is going to suck. But when he meets Elle, he's blown away. What starts as a fling becomes someone more. Reese knows that there's something about Elle that's different. And how does a Liberian, excuse me, Information Scientist, know krav maga? Reese is falling for her hard, even though they were only supposed to be a fling. But what if he wants more?

Elle is my dream girl version of me. She loves books, she gets to work for the Library of Congress, and she gets a healthy dose of action on the side, working for the CIA. I gotta admit, if I could be any character in any book, she would be it. She does struggle a bit with the relationship side of things, at least in the beginning, but she has the coolest job(s) a girl could ever want. And she can kick ass.

"I wouldn't want to hurt your manly pride. Or get myself arrested for assault."

I love that she's a kick-ass heroine and that she does struggle. She doesn't have everything fall into her lap. And she struggles within herself, too. It's believable, and I connected the most her. She struggles with her want to keep going and the realities of the job she has. Her dreams versus reality, basically. And she pushes herself. It's great. And she grows. She's not a static character. At the end of the book she understands more about her choice to work for the CIA as a field rated agent compared to the beginning of the book when she thought she understood what she was getting into, but didn't really understand on a fundamental level.

Reese you don't meet right away. He comes in a bit later. He's a sweet guy, can kick ass just like Elle, and he gets the job thing. They work relationship wise together.

"I'm up for some sparring. I'll even lick your wounds afterwards."

He is rather sexy too.

I do think that Reese is a bit more of a bland character compared to Elle, and I wished we had more from his point of view so I could understand him better. Most everything we read was from Elle's point of view, so we understood her the best. Reese we only got glimpses of. It bothered me that for the first half-ish of the book he was pretty scarce. I would have liked to know more about him.

Preston. Wow, that name has really begun to mean womanizer in books. I don't know how many books I have read where Preston is the player. Preston is a bit annoying for me. He seems like a know it all, and he keeps asking if Elle really knows the score. She didn't at the beginning, but that's not the point. It bothered me that he kept bugging her about it, even if he had a point.

Mason. God, you are gonna hate this guy. He has no emotions, may as well be a robot. And he's a good guy. But he's patronizing, critical, and puts Elle down with every minor mistake she makes. He does have a point about her complaining sometimes and threatening to quit, but still. He could be a little more cordial.

The romance in this story is more of a subplot to the story than the main plot of the story, which is great, because I like the action first and the romance second. If it's all angst-y romance and just a side order of action, I get bored. The action is the story, for the most part. Romances tend to be the same throughout most books, so the action is what captures my interest. This story had a heap of interesting things going on. I think there were about three op's in this book, which counted most of the actual fighting. But there was plenty of other action too. Elle sparred with Reese several times and they did things that were exciting. We didn't have another 'They went to the movies...' kind of romance. Theirs was exciting and fun.

You are thrown into this world from the beginning. It takes the first few chapters to get acclimated to the story and get a feeling for the world your reading about. There weren't any questions though. You understood what was happening and you got right into it. I'd say it was plausible and detailed, and for the most part you were shown the world, rather than told.

I will say that I thought the romance between Elle and Reese was slow. I was at 42% on my Kindle when I realized that we had only met Reese twice so far. I guess it's good that the romance was secondary in the scheme of the plot. If this was simply a romance book it would have been disappointing. But since there was action to make up for the slow romance, I wasn't too bothered. I think the middle and end were the best bits though. Like I said, the beginning was a little slow.

I would recommend this book to all of the readers who like action and romance hand-in-hand, rather than one or the other, because action and romance are best served together. My honest assessment of this book was I really liked it. There may have been some minor things that could have been improved, but I will without a doubt read this book again. And since I have not read the other books in this series, I will read those too. And this book can be read as a standalone, for those that are interested.

  

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Publisher: Dutton Books
Date Published: January 10th 2014
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Source: Library
Rating: Quirky 3 out of 5 stars

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

I am unsure of my feeling for this book. It's not even a matter of whether it was good or bad, because it was a good book. But, *sigh* it's a little conflicting. Hard to organize my thoughts on this.
On one hand, it was not extraordinary. The style of writing was very normal young adult. So I am a little puzzled as to why everyone has made a fuss over it being the revolutionary book of YA. As far as I'm concerned, it is like so many others.

But then comes the argument that young adult is not actually a genre, so there's no possible way to revolutionize it. It's an age group. Like a number. It isn't defined as anything other than a group of books meant for 13-18 year-olds. Yet people have this idea that it's something better.

Anyway, back to my original train of thought. It was not an unextradordinary book, either. I wish that were a word. Unextradordinary. I didn't stop after fifty pages and say I'd had enough.

It was a middle-ground book. I probably never would have read it if not for the movie coming out and I have a rule about reading the books before watching the movie, otherwise the books are forever ruined for me. Like Jurassic Park and Harry Potter. I struggled through those, and hated every minute of it.

It was better than okay. But it wasn't... breathtaking. It wasn't heart-wrenching. I mean there was a point in the book that my eyes misted, but I didn't sob hysterically and smash my fists against the walls of my bedroom (that has happened before, in books like Mockingjay and Good Night Mister Tom). It was a fairly temperate book for me.

The only thing that makes this book stand out from others was the characters, especially Hazel and Gus. They were profound. In simple things, like their conversations and the way they spoke. The way Hazel thought. It meant very little in the grand scheme of things, but... I guess its the little things that make a story worth reading.

I can't say I know all that much about cancer. That is one thing I gained from this book. Not too much knowledge about cancer itself, but the impact cancer has on people, both the person who has the disease and the people around them.

It has also changed a perception of mine. I always thought a hard life was a life spent working and forever remaining poor, like the lower class citizens or the people begging in foreign countries on the streets, their mangles bodies evoking pity and sadness. The kind of poverty we don't often find in the States. But now I think there's something equally as bad; losing your child to cancer.

I cannot even begin to fathom what all of those parents out there go through. I think I may even suppress the idea of it. The idea of losing a child to their own bodily mutation is so horrifying I try not to think about it.

Because who can you blame? It's not like a child that has been kidnapped or murdered or sexually assaulted, though those are all equally horrific. I think the worst thing about cancer is that you have no real enemy. There is no villain to fight. Because really, you're only fighting your own body. And just how are you going to win? It must seem impossible.

I am still unsure of whether or not I like this book. It makes me think. I suppose that's a good thing, but I don't know what to think about the book. It's complex, like a puzzle, but I think it may just be really simple and I'm just looking at it all wrong.

 

Note that even though I list romance as being in the book, the romance is subtle and not the main focus of the book.

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Facade by Nyrae Dawn

Facade by Nyrae Dawn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Date Published: July 2nd 2013
Genre: New Adult

Okay, so I never did read the first book. But I've read this one.

Delaney packs up and goes in search of the people her father hurt after her father committed a crime. There she meets Adrian, sexy playboy and ladies man. But its just an act. Inside he's just a tortured soul looking for a way out. Delaney sees through his facade and decides to do something about it. Together they fall in love and open up to one another.

I love, love, love Adrian! He's one of the sensitive guys you can't help but fall in love with. Only, he hides it from the world so everyone thinks he's an arrogant womanizer.

Delaney is equally as loveable. She tries to right her fathers wrongs. And she ends up falling in love in the process. She's sweet and she can see past Adrian's crap.

It's such as sweet and heartbreaking story. You really feel for them.

Now to go back and read the firs book ;)

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Synopsis:

Can love save them?

After her father commits a crime that shatters her family, eighteen-year-old Delaney Cross is tired of pretending everything is all right. Packing up her car, she sets out to find the people her father hurt. Her search leads her to places she’s never been—and into the arms of Adrian Westfall.

To the outside world, Adrian is a sexy, charming ladies’ man. But his playboy persona is just an act. Secretly his soul is tortured by a memory too painful to share. Only Delaney seems to see through his façade to the real man underneath. And for the first time in his life, Adrian feels he can begin to open up about his past.

Together, Adrian and Delaney share a passionate love they never expected to find. Yet both still harbor their own secrets. When the dark truth is finally revealed, will it bring them closer together—or tear them apart forever?


Kacii