The Heaven's Rise by Chistopher Rice

Hmmm.. I don't exactly know how I want to start this. I have this book sitting in my kindle right now at 92%. That's not far from being completely finished and yet.. yet I don't want to spend anymore of my precious time on it. I usually give a basic rundown of what a book is about when I do my reviews and then head it up by saying whether or not I liked the writing style, plot, characters, etc. I'm not going to summarize this time.. I like reading supernatural reads, that is why I was drawn to this book in the first place but I am truly disappointed by it. As far as writing style Christopher Rice done a decent job. I think it was just the story itself that I couldn't connect with. When I first started this book I thought it would be easy to get into but then I don't know, things just kept..falling short. I tried to give it a chance and kept picking the book up only to read a few more chapters and become tired of it. That is NEVER a good sign. If a book is good, really good you can stay awake much later than normal because you've become so engrossed in it. That is the way I like to read, when everything around you falls away and you are in so deep that time is no longer relevant. Even if a book is just ok I can still somewhat read through it pretty fast because there are usually certain parts you can get lost in. Yeah, that did not happen at all during this entire novel. My attention was easily distracted and I just became...bored. I thought about what I was going to write in this review, about if there was one character, one scene that I might spend time telling about and then I realized it's just pointless. I give this book two stars because the overall writing/editing is done well but other than that.. *yawn*

Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

Becoming Alpha is about a girl named Tessa that already has a pretty tough time fitting in because she is.. different.. but the kids at her school like to call her freaky Tessa because every time she touches someone she gets visions, in turn causing her to be isolated. Her parents decide to move from LA to a small town in Texas because they believe getting Tessa closer to the family she has never known will help her find her place in the world… that is before one night, one boy, and one bite. Now Tessa must find her place in whole new world she never even knew existed. Although I admit at first it started off a bit slow it did not take long for things to pick up. I found that Becoming Alpha was full of adventure, love, and friendship and from that moment when I finally got pulled in (and it didn’t take long) I was engrossed until the last page. I want to take a moment to talk characters. Tessa: the things I like about her. First, she’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind. She had an entire family, the Hoel family, against her and even in the midst of total choas she still managed to have a raw humor that I couldn’t help but love her for. Example: “One girl against three ass-Hoels.” or using words like “shitacular.” I really enjoyed the way the author would have her make little remarks like these. I felt it kept things fun. Dastien: I don’t have much to say on him besides I wish they made men like that in the real world. I liked his character and don’t get me wrong I rooted for him and Tessa the entire time but come on, can we say way to good to be true! Meredith: Tessa’s first true friend and that is exactly what she was.. a true friend, and funny in a sarcastic sort of way and to me that’s why they hit it off so well. Now last but not at all least Axel, Tessa’s older brother. Out of all the character relationships I favored this one the most. I absolutely loved how close he and Tessa were. Axel shows all throughout the book that he would do anything for his baby sister and it is so touching. Having an older brother that is not with me anymore I guess made me connect with the bond that Tessa and Axel shared just that much more. The author done a wonderful job on character/relationship development. My final thoughts: I will certainly be looking to read more of Alpha Girl. It was a most enjoyable story!

A Study In Silks by Emma Jane Holloway

I really wanted to like this book. I thought when I read the premise that it would be really good, the whole thing about the main character being Sherlock Holmes niece, a murder, and let's not forget magic. I mean the idea sounds like it had great potential but for me the writing fell flat. The author drew things out when it was unnecessary and made the story long and in turn boring. I was extremely disappointed with this one, total waste of time!

Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper

This is my first book that has to do with mermaids or any sea creatures for that matter but I have heard that books with this kind of theme tend to disappoint. Well I guess I got lucky then because I rather enjoyed this book. I will say that there were some instances in which I found myself a little confused because somehow the mers could be inside houses dry and with legs but be under water or so that's what I thought or it could be the fact that just wasn't paying close enough attention when the author explained that part. I really can't be certain. Besides that though I thought the story flowed rather nicely and even though I had read a few other reviews where some people were complaining about one of the main characters, Yara, I found no fault in her and really rather liked her style as well as the personalities of most of the other main characters. It was a rather nice surprise to see a story in which there is not a love triangle. Yes there is another guy (Rownan) but it's not what you may think at first. There is however SOMEWHAT of a Romeo and Juliet love story between Yara and Treygan but it works well to me. This book is one in which I find simple yet has an interesting enough story to keep you reading until the very end. It didn't take me long at all to finish this one because I kept wanting to come back to it but let me admit that was partially due to the fact that it was an easy read so I knew I didn't have to have complete quite time to be able to follow along and keep up. I could take it anywhere with me and read and no matter what was going on around me I could follow the plot. Some books are a little more complicated and require all of ones attention in order to understand what's going on. This is a good choice for an uncomplicated quick read. Also it was refreshing to read about mythical beings that were not in any way related to the vampire, werewolf, angel theme that so many writers go to these days. I devoured it and enjoyed myself the entire time. I will definitely be trying more from this author.

Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak

In the beginning I just knew I was hooked after reading the first few sentences. "He'd kill her. Just as soon as he could get his hands around her delicate neck, he'd stop the black heart that beat beneath all that misleading beauty and put an end to his own misery." Now if that's not one hell of a way to start a book then I don't know what is but then I became a little conflicted. As I read on I just wasn't sure if I was going to be able to really get into it. I was wrong. Let's start with Rachel's character, while I do admire a person trying to honor their deceased loved ones wishes and the place in which you come from, sometimes I felt as if Rachel had WAY TO MUCH pride and although I am aware the author wanted to portray her this way I still felt like it was a bit much and at times it got on my nerves. I wanted to scream at her and say go for it, give in to your desires and to hell with what everyone else thinks! Truman and Rachel seemed to be taking forever to actually let themselves be together so I was extremely proud when Rachel was the one who finally said screw it and made a move. I wanted to jump for joy. Truman (Lord Druridge) is actually a very caring and compassionate person which is exactly the opposite of everything your lead to believe in the beginning and I have to say for me personally I liked his character, he was a very presistant man and I enjoyed seeing that quality as he tried to find the person that was responsible for the fire and while he persued Rachel. Let me say that although this is a romance, there is another dynamic than just the relationship between the earl and the shopkeeper. There is a bit of mystery while Truman tries to save himself from the gallows by finding the true killer of lady Katherine (even though it is pretty obvious from early on who that is.) I was rather surprised when the truth about the accomplace was revealed. That was a pretty good twist in my opinion. So with that let me add that I am not that big of a fan when it comes to romance novels but this one I would recommend to anyone, rather your a romance fan or not. It definitely proved itself worthy of my time!

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

When I first heard about this novel I could not wait to get my hands on it. I must admit now that I don't think it possible to have been more disappointed. I usually finish every book I start because I believe that in order to judge something as such you must read it entirely. I could not do that with this one. The writing was boring and slow and the characters had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There was nothing about it that got me excited. As a matter of fact in as many as a hundred pages there wasn't anything that could even grab and hold my attention. When I would think about reading this book for the sake of being able to write my review I began to dread it, it felt as if it was work I had to get done but didn't want to. I absolutely LOVE to read, it is without question my favorite past time, and should never ever feel like work. With all of that being said I do not recommend wasting valuable reading time on this book.

Only You (A Mephisto Covenant Book) by Stephanie Feagan

Mariah is broken, Phoenix is riddled with guilt, they are complicated and complex but when they are together the world can be a little easier to live in. An epic yet not at all traditional love story. I have never been one to really enjoy a romance novel but this book was so much more than your typical romance and I am so glad I decided to read it. This is my first book by this author but this will by far be my last! Stephanie Faegen just got herself a brand new fan and I look forward to reading so much more from her! I have never really been into the romance/new adult genre because I have never liked reading through excessive sex scences just to get to the story but this book did not at all make me feel like I had to skip over anything, it had just the right amount to make things 'steamy' but not to excess and take over the rest of the book and I must give the author props for that because this was actually the first time in my very long reading career that I have been able to read this type of genre and NOT have to skip over unnecessarily long sex scenes. Great plot, twist, characters, this book is just GREAT! This story grabbed me from the first chapter, Stephanie made me feel for the characters and what they were going through the entire time. Sometimes I would shout out loud, others I would come to goodreads just to make comments about what I was feeling. I used words like raw, intense, and incredible to describe this book while I was reading and this book absolutely deserves that kind of praise. I cannot wait to get my hands on another Mephisto book or any book from Stephanie/Trinity Faegen for that matter!