Dusk by Melanie Smith

Amazon

RATING: 4 STARS

We start this story with a young woman named Alex, who rushes home from Italy with the news of her fathers passing just a year after losing her mother. Alex returns home to her step brother, and here she meets Dimitri the man who enthralls her and yet repels her at the same time. She learns some secrets that her parents had kept hidden from her but not her brother for the past 20 years. Alex is thrown into a world she never knew existed when she learns she's not only different, she's the Fae Queen. Her people are struggling on the verge of war against her half brother, the leader of the Vampires who feels wronged by Alex's ascent to the throne and her parents keeping her hidden may have done more harm than good by keeping her from her people. We follow along on her quest to learn more about who she is, while trying to save a people she doesn't even know will accept her.

Alex is a great strong female lead, I loved her witty personality. She was caring, loyal, and a warrior through and through. Dimitri starts off as your typical broody male lead, but as the story continues he opens up and you begin to just love his charm. The supporting characters were great, they brought it all together for a story you couldn't help but enjoy. I found myself constantly smiling throughout this book, and I am happy to have had the chance to read it. If you're a fan of paranormal romance with a little bit of kick butt action than you should grab a copy of Dusk and enjoy.

Caitlin

(ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.)

P.A.W.S by Debbie Manber Kupfer

Amazon       

Rating: 5 STARS

This was a wonderful YA Paranormal story that sucked me in from the very beginning. Normally, due to the age difference between myself and YA stories (its not that big of a difference I swear) I find a variety of little things that bug me. With this story that did not happen, I love that she explains the history surrounding the supernatural in her story. The characters and the story were very well developed. I would recommend this to any young adult or adult who can appreciate a good story.

The story is about Miri, a young girl who, after being dropped off to her grandmother when she was born realizes that there is more to her life and family than she ever thought possible. They are shapeshifters, one of the original families. When Miri loses her grandmother and is sent to boarding school by her absentee Uncle and Aunt, she discovers that she's not alone and embarks on a journey with her fellow Animagi and paranormal friends. Together, they set off to save each other from dark forces that are at work. Dark forces that are closer to Miri than she ever imagined.

Caitlin

(ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.)


*** Review for book 2 is also available.

The Body by D. Nichole King

Amazon CA     Amazon US     Kobo

Rating: 5 STARS

"The Body" picks up where "The Spirit" left off. I cannot say enough good things about this part of the series. We are introduced to a few new creatures, and the interwoven parts they play in Lucas and Carrie's lives. 

Carrie struggles through this book with her feelings still, wondering if she's being selfish about Lucas and the part she desperately needs him to fill in her life. They face a whole new battle of good and evil, while learning about Lucas' past, and why he is dead, and has not passed on. We learn so much more about the supernatural forces that are living among them, and part of their history, and the council that presides over them.

The growth in characters, and their maturity is seen throughout, and works well for the story. As a YA novel, I always have issues with parts feeling "too grown up" or "too young" for the life they're living, but D. Nichole King has written it so well. I absolutely love it and don't want to wait for the 3rd part! 

Keri

(ARC Provided in exchange for an honest review.)


*** You can find our review of "The Spirit," book one in this series here.

Soul Knowledge by Miranda Shanklin

Amazon       Kobo

Rating 3.5

This is the third book in the Soul Saver series by Miranda Shanklin. We once again join Annisa, Chase, Landon, Penelope, Rayne and Ethan on their quest to protect the Origin from anyone wanting to cause harm. We go up against new baddies in Kynzie and Dalton, a couple of new teenage WICCANS who have been led to believe our gang are the bad guys by the Counsel.

In this portion, we see the relationships in the group tested in ways they never have before, and it was nice to see more growth in the characters. We learn about golems and goblins, and of witches familiars. We make new friends along the way. I enjoy this story by Miranda, it took me a bit to get into at the beginning but now at the end of the third I am excited to see where the characters go in the two remaining books in the series. There are still a few things I struggle with but nothing that really takes away from the enjoyment of the story. I give this book a solid 3.5 star review and can't wait to see more from Miranda.

Caitlin

(ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.)


*** Reveiws for book 1, book 2 and book 4 are also available.

The Spirit by D. Nichole King

Amazon CA     Amazon US     Kobo

RATING: 5 STARS

Witches, demons and ghosts grace us with their presence in this small town in Iowa. Carrie is told she has to live with her Grandparents in Villisca, Iowa for the summer after her parents divorce and her Mom has a rough time with it. Carrie dreads it, but she quickly changes her mind after settling in, starting work, and meeting a few people, including Lucas. 

Lucas and Carrie fall for each other almost instantly, but the evil powers that be just don't want that to happen. Carrie is propelled into a world of uncertainty. Feelings she's not sure of and feelings she doesn't think she deserves after experiencing the heartbreak her mother went through. Lucas is not something of this world. Megan; who works with Carrie, is and warns Lucas to stay away from her. We watch these two dance between knowing what they feel is right, and what's meant to be. This is a story of heartache, a story of love. A story of good and evil, and the battle between them. 

D. Nichole King has done a great job of syncing good and evil with love and heartbreak in this book. This was her debut novel, released in April 2014, and the 2nd part of the series was released on Nov 18th. Stay tuned for the review of "The Body." 

Keri

This book is currently free- snatch it up now while you still can!


*** You can find our review of book two "The Body" here.

Moonlight Lost by Sabrina Archer

Amazon US

Rating: 4 STARS

Archer has written a sweet little paranormal YA romance packed full of adventure and magic. 

We start the story meeting Jayde and her mom, Constance. They've recently lost Jayde's father, and end up moving to another state. Accidents happen, and life changes course quite abruptly for Jayde while she meets Bently, the super hot love interest. She's thrown into a life of things she thought only existed in the movies, and Bently is there to save her, show her the way and root her on after discovering Jayde's best friend Scarlet needs to be saved. 

I adored this story, and the only thing that keeps me from rating it higher was the dialogue. It felt much younger than the 17 and 18 year old characters, and as a result, the story didn't play out to the best of it's ability for me. I hope to read more of this trilogy in the future and can't wait to see what happens next. 

-Keri

(ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.) 

Soul Journey by Miranda Shanklin.

Amazon CA     Amazon US     Kobo

Rating: 3 Stars

This is the story of Annisa Lawson, who generally lives a picture perfect life. She's the captain of the cheerleading squad, her long time boyfriend and best friend Landon's the quarterback, she's pretty and popular and yet she still can't fight the feeling that she's not like every one else around her. There's something different about her. Then her new neighbors move in next door, and her life gets turned upside down. It takes one look into the eyes of the cutie next door for her to begin to question everything about her life. Then on her 16th birthday, she learns that she was right all along. She's not normal she's a witch along with long time boyfriend and best friend Landon and her new neighbors Chase and Penelope. Confused by the attraction she feels for Chase, Annisa learns she has to make a decision for it was this same situation with Chase and Landon that got them into this mess in the first place. Torn between what she thought was love, and what she feels could be love Annisa makes her choice, which opens up a whole new world of problems. The four teens come together to form a very powerful bond which comes in handy as they face off against jealous girls, their worlds best assassin and the ones who govern them all in the Counsel. We join Annisa and the gang on their adventure to save the world.

There was a lot about this story that I really liked. The story line had pretty much everything I look for in stories like this. I loved the maturity in our younger characters, you don't always see that in a YA novel. I loved the bad girl that we got with Rayne. The relationship between our four main characters was great. There were a few things that bothered me though. The biggie for me honestly was the sex scenes. I thought they were a little intense for a YA novel, I had a hard time reading about freshly 16 year olds and their sex lives. I'm not naive, I know it happens, unfortunately it was just something that took away from the book for me. Parts also seemed to drag for me, and it took me a little bit longer to get through some of them. Honestly, I think if I had of read this story as an N/A novel I likely would have rated this story a 4.

Caitlin

(ARC provided in exchange for an honest review)

Reviews for book 2, book 3, and book 4 are available as well.

The Last Glass by T.M. Lazar

Amazon US   Kobo

3.5 STARS

This is a paranormal, young adult book. That for starters, is usually a little out of my depth, but I enjoyed the story line for the most part. The only thing that took away from the plot was how the characters come across. It all unfolds in multiple points of view, which allows you to get a feel for each of the characters and their mindset as a result, but also made it hard to keep track of who you were following. Introducing the characters, we have Tori (female lead), Crispin (male lead); their respectable best friends Sophie and Justin and the antagonist Natalia. 

Tori is moved to the town of Grimmsburg, NY from LA with her Mom, and quickly becomes best friends with Sophie, and falls for Crispin, while Sophie and Justin become enamored with each other. Tori is introduced into this whole other world of paranormality by her new friends and boyfriend, and overnight she became a know all of witchcraft, which frankly, annoyed me. It didn't feel real. There was many parts where it felt like I was being told what was happening, but I didn't get to FEEL what was happening with the characters, and then in other parts, the dialogue felt awkward and rushed, or overflowing with too much emotion. 

As I read this over, I feel like I didn't have much good to say about the book, but I truly did enjoy the plot line, the purpose of the book. I just feel like the telling of the story could have been written differently, to be more captivating. It is a good book. I would definitely recommend it to a YA reader in the future, and would likely read the rest of the books in this series to see how it all comes together.

Keri

(ARC provided for honest review)