Review: The Hunt by Chloe Neill

Author: Chloe Neill
Series. Devil's Isle, #3
Released: September 26th 2017
Publisher: Berkley
Length: 336 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires Novels--the hunter becomes the hunted in a New Orleans devastated by a Paranormal war....

When bounty hunter Liam Quinn discovered that Claire Connolly was a Sensitive and infected with magic, he should have turned her in to be locked up in the prison district known as Devil's Isle. Instead, he helped her learn to control her power and introduced her to an underground group of Paranormals and humans who know the truth about the war and those who fought it. 

Now the weight of Liam's own secrets has forced him into hiding. When a government agent is killed and Claire discovers that Liam is the prime suspect, she races to find him before the government can. But she'll discover proving his innocence is no simple matter. Their enemies are drawing closer, and time is running out....

Did you know that visiting New Orleans has always been a dream of mine? One day I’ll go there, stay for a month, eat fabulous food, listen to their gorgeous dialects and enjoy the music and the flavorful air. In the meantime, though, my very favorite thing are books set in New Orleans that give me a sense of its gorgeous atmosphere, no matter how brief. Chloe Neill’s Devil’s Isle books show us a different New Orleans, a city forever changed by magic and fear. Still, the author succeeded in keeping the best of the city’s spirit and in turning her chosen setting into yet another character, very much alive in every scene.

Mind Games of a Sociopath in: Black Flowers, White Lies by Y. Ventresca

Author: Yvonne Ventresca
Series: Unknown
Released: October 4th 2016
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Length: 272 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

Her father died before she was born, but Ella Benton knows they have a supernatural connection. Since her mother discourages these beliefs, Ella keeps her cemetery visits secret. But she may not be the only one with secrets. Ella’s mother might be lying about how Dad died sixteen years ago. Newfound evidence points to his death in a psychiatric hospital, not as a result of a tragic car accident as her mother always claimed. After a lifetime of just the two of them, Mom suddenly feels like a stranger.

When a handprint much like the one Ella left on her father’s tombstone mysteriously appears on the bathroom mirror, at first she wonders if Dad is warning her of danger as he did once before. If it’s not a warning, could her new too-good-to-be-true boyfriend be responsible for the strange occurrences? Or maybe it’s the grieving building superintendent whose dead daughter strongly resembles Ella? As the unexplained events become more frequent and more sinister, Ella becomes terrified about who—or what—might harm her.

Soon the evidence points to someone else entirely: Ella herself. What if, like her father, she’s suffering from a breakdown? In this second novel from award-winning author Yvonne Ventresca, Ella desperately needs to find answers, no matter how disturbing the truth might be.

With its intriguing title and gorgeous cover, Black Flowers, White Lies immediately draws our attention and promises to be a great paranormal story, a frightening psychological thriller and a thorough exploration of loss and grief, all rolled into one. It is a pretty tall order for a relatively small book, so feeling mildly disappointed in the end doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Black Flowers, White Lies could have been a much better work, but it fell a bit short in execution and characterization.

LGBT Monday (YA): As I Descended

Author: Robin Talley

Series: Standalone

Released: September 6th 2016

Publisher: Mira INK

Length: 384 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: The Book Depository

Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—even if no one knows it but them.

Only one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey.

Golden child Delilah is a legend at the exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. She runs the school, and if she chose, she could blow up Maria and Lily’s whole world with a pointed look, or a carefully placed word.

But what Delilah doesn’t know is that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to make their dreams come true. And the first step is unseating Delilah for the Kingsley Prize. The full scholarship, awarded to Maria, will lock in her attendance at Stanford―and four more years in a shared dorm room with Lily.

Maria and Lily will stop at nothing to ensure their victory—including harnessing the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school.

But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what is imagined, the girls must decide where they draw the line.

From acclaimed author Robin Talley comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair.

For someone who doesn’t enjoy retellings at all, it’s odd that I keep finding Shakespeare-inspired books that thrill me and make me rethink my position. After Cat Winters’ The Steep and Thorny Way, As I Descended shows us that classics are classics for a reason and that things like ambition and jealousy are inherently human, and therefore always interesting and relevant.

California Gold Rush in: Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson

Author: Rae Carson

Series: The Gold Seer, #2

Released: September 27th 2016

Publisher: Greenwillow

Length: 432 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

After a harrowing journey across the country, Leah Westfall and her friends have finally arrived in California and are ready to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush. Lee has a special advantage over the other new arrivals in California—she has the ability to sense gold, a secret known only by her handsome best friend Jefferson and her murdering uncle Hiram.

Lee and her friends have the chance to be the most prosperous settlers in California, but Hiram hasn’t given up trying to control Lee and her power. Sabotage and kidnapping are the least of what he’ll do to make sure Lee is his own. His mine is the deepest and darkest in the territory, and there Lee learns the full extent of her magical gift, the worst of her uncle, and the true strength of her friendships. To save everyone, she vows to destroy her uncle and the empire he is building—even at the cost of her own freedom.

The second epic historical fantasy in the Gold Seer trilogy by Rae Carson, the acclaimed author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

Like a River Glorious, Rae Carson’s fifth novel and the second book in her Gold Seer trilogy, cements her status as one of the best, most reliable authors of YA fiction. Her long string of literary successes without a single glitch shows us that we can indeed trust an author to always deliver and constantly stay at the top of her game.

Dangerous Bloodlines in: Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Author: Ilona Andrews

Series: Kate Daniels, #9

Released: September 20 2016

Publisher: Ace

Length: 384 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

Mercenary Kate Daniels knows all too well that magic in post-Shift Atlanta is a dangerous business. But nothing she’s faced could have prepared her for this…

Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar…

Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in his never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead.

The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules…

Magic Binds, the ninth (and apparently second-to-last) installment of Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series is quite possibly this author’s best work to date. At this point, it’s very difficult to separate, compare or evaluate each individual book, but Magic Binds challenges our beloved characters in all new ways and adds a lot to the already spectacular characterization. The sheer quality of these books sets them apart from anything even remotely similar.

Vampires, Cannibals and Steampunk in Revenge and the Wild by M. Modesto

Author: Michelle Modesto

Series: Standalone

Released: February 2nd 2016

Publisher: Balzer & Bray

Length: 384 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

The two-bit town of Rogue City is a lawless place, full of dark magic and saloon brawls, monsters and six-shooters. But it’s perfect for seventeen-year-old Westie, the notorious adopted daughter of local inventor Nigel Butler.

Westie was only a child when she lost her arm and her family to cannibals on the wagon trail. Nine years later, Westie may seem fearsome with her foul-mouthed tough exterior and the powerful mechanical arm built for her by Nigel, but the memory of her past still haunts her. She’s determined to make the killers pay for their crimes—and there’s nothing to stop her except her own reckless ways.

But Westie’s search ceases when a wealthy family comes to town looking to invest in Nigel’s latest invention, a machine that can harvest magic from gold—which Rogue City desperately needs as the magic wards that surround the city start to fail. There’s only one problem: the investors look exactly like the family who murdered Westie’s kin. With the help of Nigel’s handsome but scarred young assistant, Alistair, Westie sets out to prove their guilt. But if she’s not careful, her desire for revenge could cost her the family she has now.

This thrilling novel is a remarkable tale of danger and discovery, from debut author Michelle Modesto. 

The first thing you need to know if and when you decide to read Revenge and the Wild is that it will be the most fun you’ll have in ages. Entertainment is pretty much guaranteed, regardless of your usual reading preferences. For a book that refuses to be labeled or in any way categorized, Revenge and the Wild is pretty universally lovable. I challenge you to be grumpy while reading it.

Review: The Steep and Thorny Way

Author: Cat Winters

Series: Standalone

Released: March 8th 2016

Publisher: Amulet Books

Length: 335 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

Scene: Oregon, 1923.

Dramatis personae:

Hanalee Denney, daughter of a white woman and an African American man

Hank Denney, her father—a ghost

Greta Koning, Hanalee’s mother

Clyde Koning, doctor who treated Hank Denney the night he died, now Hanalee’s stepfather

Joe Adder, teenage boy convicted of accidentally killing Hank Denney

Members of the Ku Klux Klan

Townspeople of Elston, Oregon

Question: Was Hank Denney’s death an accident…or was it murder most foul?

Cat Winters’ books are always such things of beauty, and The Steep and Thorny Way is no exception. The quality of her prose and the depth of her research can only be compared to Ruta Sepetys, at least as far as historical YA goes.

Inspired heavily by Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way is a strong enough book to stand entirely on its own and avoid any predictability. While she does use Hamlet’s themes in what could be considered a retelling (the death of protagonist’s father, potential murderer married to mother, plans of revenge), Winters doesn’t rely too heavily on them and constantly adds her own little twists.

Review: The Visitor

Author: Amanda Stevens

Series: Graveyard Queen, #4

Released: March 29th 2016

Publisher: MIRA

Length: 384 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm the Graveyard Queen.

Restoring lost and abandoned cemeteries is my profession, but I'm starting to believe that my true calling is deciphering the riddles of the dead. Legend has it that Kroll Cemetery is a puzzle no one has ever been able to solve. For over half a century, the answer has remained hidden within the strange headstone inscriptions and intricate engravings. Because uncovering the mystery of that tiny, remote graveyard may come at a terrible price.

Years after their mass death, Ezra Kroll's disciples lie unquiet, their tormented souls trapped within the walls of Kroll Cemetery, waiting to be released by someone strong and clever enough to solve the puzzle. For whatever reason, I'm being summoned to that graveyard by both the living and the dead. Every lead I follow, every clue I unravel brings me closer to an unlikely killer and to a destiny that will threaten my sanity and a future with my love, John Devlin. 

With close to four years between The Prophet and The Visitor, books 3 and 4 in Amanda Stevens’ Graveyard Queen series, the fans welcomed the new installment with joy and a tiny bit of trepidation. Can it possibly be as good as the previous books? And will we remember the pertinent details after all this time? As it turns out, we needn’t have feared. Stevens leads us back into Amelia’s world almost effortlessly, making it seem like the long break wasn’t even real.

Mini Review: What the Dead Want

Author: Norah Olson

Series: Standalone

Released: July 26th 2016

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Length: 320 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

16-year-old Gretchen takes photographs to understand the world around her, a passion her mother Mona fostered and encouraged when she was still around. Since her mom disappeared years ago, Gretchen and her dad have lived on their own in New York City, haunted by Mona’s absence.

When Gretchen’s great aunt Esther calls unexpectedly to tell her that she has inherited the pre-Civil War mansion on her mother’s side of the family in upstate New York, Gretchen understands nothing except that her aunt needs her help. But what she finds there is beyond her imagination. The house is crumbling apart, filled with stacks of papers and journals from decades, even centuries past, and it’s crawling with rodents. It’s also full of secrets and a legacy of racism and violence so reprehensible that the ghosts of the past are exacting revenge on the living.

Somehow the mystery of Mona’s disappearance and the atrocities that happened on the land during the Civil War are inextricably intertwined, and it’s up to Gretchen to figure out how…before even more lives are lost.

There’s an interesting story somewhere in What the Dead Want, although it’s so well hidden that you’ll have trouble finding it. Norah Olson’s sophomore novel requires a lot of patience and faith. The first part appears to be a confusing, unconnected series of chapters from several points of view, and this goes on long enough that even the most patient reader starts thinking about giving up. When things finally start to connect, they still feel distant and unemotional, and by the time things start to unravel, it’s very difficult to care at all.

Review: Illusion Town

Author: Jayne Castle

Series: Ghost Hunters, #13

Released: July 26th

Publisher: Piatkus

Length: 352 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: The Book Depository 

With its opulent casinos and hotels, the desert city of Illusion Town is totally unique—and will take you on a thrill ride you’ll never forget.

Hannah West isn’t the first woman to wake up in Illusion Town married to a man she barely knows, but she has no memory of the ceremony at all. For that matter, neither does Elias Coppersmith, her new husband. All either can remember is that they were on the run…

With Hannah’s dubious background and shaky para-psych profile, she could have done much worse. The cooly competent mining heir arouses her curiosity—as well as other parts of her mind and body. And even her dust bunny likes him.

But a honeymoon spent retracing their footsteps leads Hannah and Elias into the twisting underground catacombs, where secrets from both their pasts will come to light—and where the energy of their clashing auras will grow hot enough to burn…

Jayne Castle (also writing as Jayne Ann Krentz) is the queen of paranormal romance lite. Her Harmony books are wonderfully addictive, and the first one I read (not the first in this series since they can function as standalones) turned me into an instant fan. I always struggle a bit to find my footing in her books since I have to catch up on the worldbuilding I’ve missed along the way, but Castle makes it easy and her books just pull me in with no effort at all.

Review: The Killing Jar

Author: Jennifer Bosworth

Series: Standalone

Released: January 12th 2016

Publisher: Macmillan

Length: 352 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret. 

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance. 

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her…

The Killing Jar, Jennifer Bosworth’s sophomore novel, is a big step up from her debut, Struck. I vaguely remember Struck as a bland, uneventful, unmemorable book, but The Killing Jar has a bit more flavor to it. It’s not the novel it could have been with some careful planning, but it’s still a good choice for those who prefer their paranormal YA to be a bit on the creepy side.

Review: Garden of Dreams and Desires

Author: Kristen Painter

Series: Crescent City, #3

Released: April 5th 2015

Publisher: Orbit

Length: 368 pages

Source: Bought

Buy: Amazon

Tourists are disappearing at an alarming rate. While Augustine and his lieutenants attempt to find them, Harlow and the evil spirit possessing her remain Augustine's true focus. Freeing her from the spirit's grasp is all he can think about, especially with no real solution on the horizon.

Then he discovers the tourists are disappearing because the witches are stealing souls to cast a dangerous chaos spell. Before he can stop them, Harlow becomes their victim. Now he must race the clock to set her free and end the witches' machinations before the chaos spell strips every fae in New Orleans of their power and bring fae rule to an end.

It is so hard to say goodbye to favorites, worlds and characters we’ve grown to love and admire. Garden of Dreams and Desires is a worthy conclusion to a beloved trilogy, despite being far from perfect. Painter continues in her usual style, with multiple perspectives and several plotlines, but she pushes it a bit farther in this book, unintentionally alienating us from our two heroes.

Review: The Shadow Hour

Author: Melissa Grey

Series: Girl at Midnight, #2

Released: July 12th 2016

Publisher: Atom

Length: 368 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: The Book Depository

Everything in Echo's life changed in a blinding flash when she learned the startling truth: she is the firebird, the creature of light that is said to bring peace.

The firebird has come into the world, but it has not come alone. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and Echo can feel a great and terrible darkness rising in the distance. Cosmic forces threaten to tear the world apart.

Echo has already lost her home, her family, and her boyfriend. Now, as the firebird, her path is filled with even greater dangers than the ones she's already overcome.

She knows the Dragon Prince will not fall without a fight.

Echo must decide: can she wield the power of her true nature--or will it prove too strong for her, and burn what's left of her world to the ground?

Welcome to the shadow hour.

After about 15 months and two publishing delays, the second book in Melissa Gray’s The Girl at Midnight trilogy is finally here. The expectations were high for those of us who liked the first book, but Gray justifies the long wait and the hype that follows the series. When the first book came out, many reviewers complained about the similarities between The Girl at Midnight and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. They continue in those elements that Gray borrowed, but otherwise the story takes a different direction entirely.

LGBT Monday: Smoke & Mirrors

Author: Charlie Cochet

Series: THIRDS, #7

Released: July 8th 2016

Publisher: Dreamspinner

Length: 230 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Dreamspinner Press

        Amazon

Life for Dexter J. Daley has never been easy, but he’s always found a way to pick himself back up with a smile on his face. Taken from his home, and the arms of his boyfriend and THIRDS partner, Sloane Brodie, Dex finds himself in a situation as mysterious and lethal as the Therian interrogating him. Dex learns what he’s secretly believed all along: his parents’ death wasn’t an accident.

Discovering the whole truth about John and Gina Daley’s homicide sets off a series of events that will change Dex and Sloane’s lives forever. As buried secrets rise to the surface and new truths are revealed, Dex and Sloane’s love for each other is put to the test, with more than their relationship on the line. If traversing the waters of murder and secret government agencies wasn’t enough, something inexplicable has been happening to Dex—and nothing will ever be the same.

After two books focused on other members of Destructive Delta (Ash and Cael followed by Calvin and Hobbs), we’re finally back with Dex and Sloane. As much as I enjoyed seeing the other couples finally get together, I was desperate to rejoin my favorite blond, blue-eyed, gummy bear devourer. Unfortunately, Smoke & Mirrors starts out with both of our heroes in deep trouble so it takes a while for us to reach a part where we can laugh alongside them.

Review: This Savage Song

Author: Victoria Schwab

Series: Monsters of Verity, #1

Released: July 5th 2016

Publisher: Greenwillow

Length: 464 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

Victoria Schwab is an experienced and wonderful storyteller. Her prose is elegant and gorgeous, and she has such a flair for originality. The world she built for Monsters of Verity may be anchored in familiar mythology, but it’s so full of twists and turns that it takes a while for us to find our footing. Corsai, Malachai, Sunai, all of them different monsters roaming the city of Verity, with only two families at war standing between them and humanity.

Review: The Curse of Tenth Grave

Author: Darynda Jones

Series: Charley Davidson, #10

Released: June 28th 2016

Publisher: St.Martin's 

Length: 352 pages

Source: Publisher for review

Buy: Amazon

As a Part-time PI and fulltime grim reaper, Charley Davidson has asked a lot of questions throughout her life: Why can I see dead people? Who is the hot supernatural entity following me? How do I get gum out of my sister’s hair before she wakes up? But, “How do I trap not one malevolent god, but three?” was never among them. Until now. And since those gods are on earth to kill her daughter, she has little choice but to track them down, trap them, and cast them from this dimension.

There’s just one problem. One of the three stole her heart a very long time ago. Can the Razer, a god of absolute death and destruction, change his omniscient spots, or will his allegiances lie with his brothers?

Those are just a few of the questions Charley must answer, and quick. Add to that a homeless girl running for her life, an innocent man who’s been charged with murder, and a pendant made from god glass that has the entire supernatural world in an uproar, and Charley has her hands full. If she can manage to take care of the whole world-destroying-gods thing, we’re saved. If not, well… 

It’s always so good to be back with our Charley. Even after ten books, she’s still such a breath of fresh air and she always makes us laugh. There’s been a lot of heartbreak in her life lately, but she always manages to stay upbeat and spread sarcasm wherever she turns. It could be the ADD, or maybe she’s just certifiably insane. Either way, it works for her, and it definitely works for us.

Review: Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies

Author: Lindsay Ribar

Series: standalone

Released: June 7th 2016

Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books

Length: 336 pages

Source: bought

Buy: Amazon

Twin Peaks meets Stars Hollow in this paranormal suspense novel about a boy who can reach inside people and steal their innermost things—fears, memories, scars, even love—and his family’s secret ritual that for centuries has kept the cliff above their small town from collapsing.

Aspen Quick has never really worried about how he’s affecting people when he steals from them. But this summer he’ll discover just how strong the Quick family magic is—and how far they’ll go to keep their secrets safe.

With a smart, arrogant protagonist, a sinister family tradition, and an ending you won’t see coming, this is a fast-paced, twisty story about power, addiction, and deciding what kind of person you want to be, in a family that has the ability to control everything you are.

I strongly suspect that a title like Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies will make just about everyone grab this book from the shelf. It’s a title that demands attention, but luckily for us (and for debut author Lindsey Ribar) the rest of the book absolutely deserves it. Closer to magical realism than just about anything else, this debut title is funny, quirky and unique.

The story is told by a 17-year-old boy from a family with magical abilities. Member’s of Aspen’s family can reach into people and take things – feelings, affinities, personality traits and even physical characteristic. They do it mostly to keep the Cliff from falling and destroying the inhabitants of Three Peaks. They can also use it for personal gain, the only rule being that they can’t turn on each other.

Review: Down with the Shine

Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Series: standalone
Released: April 26th 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 355 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

Lennie always thought her uncles’ “important family legacy” was good old-fashioned bootlegging. Then she takes some of her uncles’ moonshine to Michaela Gordon’s annual house party, and finds out just how wrong she was.

At the party, Lennie has everyone make a wish before drinking the shine—it’s tradition. She toasts to wishes for bat wings, for balls of steel, for the party to go on forever. Lennie even makes a wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was murdered six months ago.

The next morning gives Lennie a whole new understanding of the phrase be careful what you wish for—or in her case, be careful what wishes you grant. Because all those wishes Lennie raised a jar of shine to last night? They came true. Most of them came out bad. And once granted, a wish can’t be unmade…

Down with the Shine, Kate Karyus Quinn’s third novel, starts with a prologue that promises a dark, twisted and very unusual book. The promise is strengthened by our knowledge about Quinn’s previous works, which were always gritty and weird enough to stand out. In Down with the Shine, Quinn takes her unusual approach even further by mixing ideas and genres, albeit with questionable results. It is, it would appear, entirely possible to try a bit too hard to be innovative and fresh. In many ways, this book reminded me of Bad Taste in Boys, but while Bad Taste was purposely silly and hilarious, Down with the Shine failed to be even that.

Review: Behold the Bones

Author: Natalie C. Parker
Series: Beware the Wild, #2
Released: February 23rd 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 358 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

Candace “Candy” Pickens has been obsessed with the swamp lore of her tiny Louisiana town for…forever.

That doesn’t mean Candy’s a believer, however. She and her friends entered the swamp at the start of summer and left it changed, but Candy’s the only one who can’t see or feel the magical Shine. She’s also the only one who can’t see the ghosts that have been appearing in town ever since. So Candy concentrates on other things—real things. Like fighting with her mother and plotting her escape from her crazy town.

But ghosts aren’t the only newcomers in Sticks, Louisiana. The King family arrives like a hurricane: in a blur and unwanted—at least by Candy. Mr. King is intent on filming the rumored ghostly activity for his hit TV show, Local Haunts. And while Candy can’t ignore how attracted she is to eighteen-year-old Gage King and how much his sister, Nova, wants to be friends, she’s still suspicious of the family.

As Candy tries to figure out why the Kings are really in town and why the swamp now seems to be invading every crack in her logical, cynical mind, she stumbles across the one piece of swamp lore she didn’t know. It’s a tale that’s more truth than myth, and may have all the answers…and its roots are in Candy’s own family tree.

Natalie C. Parker’s Behold the Bones came as an unexpected sequel/companion novel to her fabulous debute, Beware the Wild. Just like her first book, Behold the Bones takes place in Sticks, Lousiana, a town as slow and provincial as its symbolic name suggests. When you’re born so deep in the South, you accept heath and gossip as a way of life. Aside from the small town mentality, Sticks is burdened with the surrounding forest and its swamp with magical properties. In the previous book, we followed Sterling on her quest to find and save her brother from the magical swamp. This time we join her best friend Candace as she discovers her family’s connection with the town’s history and magic.

Review: Bright Blaze of Magic

Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Black Blade, #3
Released: April 26th 2016
Publisher: Kensington
Length: 368 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

As a thief, I'm good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls. 

Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families--and kill every last Sinclair. What they don't know is that I'm on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I've got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side… 

Bright Blaze of Magic is the final book in Jennifer Estep’s Black Blade trilogy. It continues in the same tone as its two predecessors, which means that it’s exciting, entertaining, and very easy to read. I have always admired Estep’s style precisely because it’s so easy to absorb. Her writing is as far from frilly as you can get – it is, I dare say, functional – but it serves her well and it doesn’t draw attention away from her stories, which is the most important thing.