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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Believe by Erin McCarthy

Believe by Erin McCarthy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



So I didn't actually read Sweet, but I read True. Now I just finished reading Believe. I think I liked it better than True.

Robin used to be the party girl. The one who drank a ton and dressed like a slut and sometimes acted like one too. Until she woke up next to her best friends boyfriend. She doesn't remember any of it, but she so disgusted by herself being 'that girl' that she stops partying and drinking and dressing like hooker. Now she's boring and plan. She looks the pat too.

Phoenix spent the past five months in jail for beating up his mothers boyfriend. Said boyfriend happened to be raping his mother and carving into her stomach with a knife, but I guess the police just don't really care. Now he's out.

Eh, I didn't really feel like explaining the entire plot in that min-summary I just wrote. It wasn't the best summary I've written but whatever. Moving on. I loved this book. I loved Phoenix. He was just so... imperfectly perfect. I want a guy like that. And Robin. She made a mistake, but I think she did her best to fix it and that was that.

Definitely going to buy a copy for myself. They were just the perfect couple. I loved it. Such an achingly sweet book. Yes they had their issues. Nothing was perfect. But I thought it was amazing, and I loved it. Maybe I'll get to reading Sweet. Though I never did like Jessica, so maybe I won't. But I did like Riley, so maybe I will. I guess we shall see.

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Synopsis:

Robin used to be a party girl… until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend. Now she's faced with being THAT girl, and couldn't be more disgusted with herself. She can't even tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and she avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that's good and oh, so bad…

Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin at his cousin's house, and he knows that he has no business talking to her, but he's drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn't care that he's done time, or that he only has five bucks to his name, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.

But Phoenix knows Robin has a secret, and that it's a naïve dream to believe that his record won't catch up with them at some point. Though neither is prepared for the explosive result when the past collides with the present…

 

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Kacii

Shadow Allegiance by Lacy Yager

Shadow Allegiance by Lacy Yager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I liked this book so much better than the last one.

Rachel is a Chaser, someone born to hunt down and kill vampires. Until she's turned into one of the things he hates the most. Alex was a Chaser. Two hundred years ago. Now he's a vampire. Together they find themselves... and a love like no other.

Still not a fan of the insta-love. But I did like the story. I was reading it during my math class (okay, I hate math, and I suck at it. But since I'm doing well and would rather read than listen, I said why not). I got all chocked up at the part where Alex kills a guy and Rachel drinks his blood. Okay, so he's already dead, but still! I was not a fan. I think I was drawing weird looks from my classmates when I started whispering under my breath how horrible it was that she had done that.

But you know what? I liked this book. I thought that Rival was okay, but this one was so much better. I am so glad I got a chance to read and review it and I can't wait to see what happens next. And I just found out about the fist book, so I'll probably borrow/buy that as well.

Definitely worth the read! I'd advise reading this book before Rival though. I almost didn't read this one because that book was such a disappointment. And it was short. I don't like short books. This one was pretty good though. And I guess I'll see how the first one turns out to be.

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Synopsis:

A vampire hunter-turned-vampire seeks to destroy her enemies. Until she falls for one of them.

A Chaser born to kill vampires, sixteen-year-old Rachel Campton has grown up in her older brother's shadow. Until she wakes up a vampire, her own mortal foe. She's stronger, faster than her human self, but haunted by bloodlust and the loss of her beloved younger sister. Friendless and lost in enemy territory, Rachel must rely on Alex Wellington, a former nemesis and centuries old vampire who looks like a college football player.

As Rachel goes deep into vamp territory, she learns there is more to the vampire life than killing humans. She also discovers another side to Alex. He is more than a murderer, he is someone that she starts to fall for. Rachel faces the ultimate choice--her new life and unexpected love or the family she left behind, the family that may now want her dead.

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Kacii

Risk Taker by Lindsay McKenna

Risk Taker by Lindsay McKenna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Such a sweet romance.

Ethan woos Sarah in a way I have never seen in a book, or in real life. He gives her the respect she deserves, and gives her the space a strong woman needs. But he also protects her and keeps her close. Sara is a medevac pilot and Ethan a SEAL. It's so heartbreakingly sweet.

The only thing I think this book lacked was conflict. There's all kinds of conflict, and without going back to 9th grade English and pointing out the person versus person, person versus self, person versus nature and all of the rest of those, I think I can explain that this book lacked a little person to person conflict. There was some, but I think I would've liked to see more.

I think this book was great. The love was believable, the story was achingly adorable, and the characters were fabulous. Overall an awesome book.

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Synopsis:

A Navy SEAL fights the most important battle of his life; love; in New York Times bestselling author Lindsay McKenna's Shadow Warriors miniseries.

In the mountains of Afghanistan, her daring rescues have made Medevac pilot Sarah Benson a legend. She loves taking her helicopter where others fear to fly;the danger, the adrenaline…and the distraction from thinking about her own hurt heart.

U.S. Navy SEAL Ethan Quinn is man enough to prize Sarah's valor as well as her beauty. But his efforts to reach his beautiful colleague cannot pierce her armor. Can he prove that it's possible to find love in a war zone?

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Kacii
 

Freefall by Tess Oliver

Freefall by Tess Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Publisher: Tess Oliver
Date Published: August 8th 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance

A different take on a classic cliche of new adult.

Nix left high school and started his own tattoo business. Having his dad dead from a racing accident and his mom off in Paris somewhere- he has his issues. Not to mention his grandmother has alzheimers and his sister wants to put her in an old folks home. A year ago he found a picture of a model and kept it in his wallet. And now, a year later, he finds that same model walking in the front door of his tattoo parlor with her douche bag boyfriend. Scotlyn lost her entire family in a car accident. She lost her voice too. And now after being pulled off the streets by Lincoln he's forcing her to get a tattoo to cover up her scar, the gift from the car accident. When these two people meet sparks fly.

I really liked this book. It was a new take on new adult. I've read tons of new adult this year, probably 80% of what I've read this year has been new adult. And honestly? It's pretty much all the same. Messed up girl plus messed up guy equals uber hot messed up couple. This is following that pattern, but at least the background story is a little bit different. A race car driver dad. Different? Check. An entire family killed in a car crash. Different? Just a bit. It was different enough for me to like it.

I think if a new adult author were to break that pattern it would make a better story. But it may not be new adult anymore if they did break the pattern. Only one way to find out. So authors and aspiring writers out there, please oh please, I'm daring you to break the chain.

A fun read.

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Synopsis:

After leaving high school, with a hard won diploma and the title of most likely to break hearts, Alexander "Nix" Pierce has left his wild, out of control years mostly behind him. A small inheritance from his grandfather has given him the funds to open up his tattoo shop, Freefall, and he has started to pull his life together. Aside from trying to keep his best friend, Dray, from killing himself in the fight ring, and his slight obsession with a pin-up model he's never met, Nix's life is going smoothly . . . until Scotlyn James, the object of his obsession, walks into his shop.

Ever since a tragic accident killed her family and left her alone in the world, Scotlyn James hasn't spoken one word. Up until now she didn't care that she had no way of talking to people. Her awful aunt would never have listened, and Lincoln Hammond the arrogant, selfish man who pulled her from the streets of Los Angeles wouldn't hear her words if she could speak. But when Lincoln insists she get a tattoo to cover up a scar on her side, Scotlyn meets the artist, Nix Pierce. And now she longs for her voice. Now she has found someone who will hear her.


Kacii