"The Warrior Heir" Cinda Williams Chima

Fun light hearted reading for any age. This book is one I read over 3 years ago and I typically recommend it when I get asked by young teens what a good read would be. It is the first in a series of 3 books; The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, The Dragon Heir. I read the first two and just haven't gotten around to reading the third but I will when it comes available at my library.

Here is a link The Warrior Heir

"The Maze Runner" James Dashner

One of the most unique books I have ever read, it was so suspenseful I almost had a heart attack while reading it! So so good, my husband even enjoyed reading it and when he was done he wanted the second one, "The Scorch Trials" when I told him it wasn't out yet he was very frustrated! He finally read "The Scorch Trials" and now he asks me weekly when the third book is coming out! If you liked "The Hunger Games" or "Divergent" then you will like this book.

Here is the link The Maze Runner

"Impossible" Nancy Werlin

This was a good read, I love the way she took a folk song and turned it into a whole story. I will say that there are some mature situations in this book that a younger reader might struggle with (pregnancy after date rape). This book has a great story and the author keeps the feeling of the book surprisingly light considering the content. I loved the love story and I love the "bad guy".

Here is a link Impossible

"A Northern Light" Jennifer Donnelly

This book is a little different from what I usually read. This is more a life story of choice and consequence. A young girl's struggle to decide whether to choose herself or choose her family and loose herself. It was very well written and I felt like I was connected to the characters and their emotions throughout the entire book. I also found myself talking to sixteen year old Mattie telling her what I believed she should do and trying to encourage her at times. It was a new experience for me to want something that strongly for a book character.

Here is a link A Northern Light

"The Pale Assassin" Patricia Elliot

I enjoyed reading this book. I read it so long ago that I don't remember a lot of the details but I do remember I liked it and I have recommended it to several people. If you like Eva Ibbotson then you will love this book. It was a very exciting read and there is a second one as well.

Here is a link The Pale Assassin.

"What I Saw and How I Lied" Judy Blundell

I did not LOVE this book but I really liked it. It was full of the angst of growing up and the heartache of family betrayal. The Character's growth was well written it was both sad and exciting.

Here is a link to the What I Saw and How I Lied website. Check it out and read a chapter.

"Immortal Beloved" Cate Tiernan

This was seriously the best book ever!!! I love every minute of it, I couldn't put it down. This book has it all; personal growth of the character, suspense, real characters, love, betrayal. It just keeps getting better as you read, and when you get to the end you will be dying to get your hands on the next one!

Here is a link to the official Immortal Beloved sight they have a great intro to the book!

I can not wait until the next one (Darkness Falls) is out but it looks like it will be Sept. 5th!!

Please leave a comment if you loved this book!

Blood Red Road! Moira Young

I read Blood Red Road while Kevin was away at scout camp. It was a really great book I loved the whole story!

Saba is a real character with real emotions and real flaws. I love that she isn't perfect but I also love that she is so strong and so determined to succeed at her goals!

The basic story is this: Saba live with her father, twin brother, and sister at a dried up lake bed when some strangers ride in and kidnap her brother and kill her father she takes off after them to rescue her brother Lugh. She feels like her twin brother is all that is good and that she can't be good without him. She tries to leave her sister with a friend and the younger girls refusal to be left behind creates a powerful learning experience for both of them. Throughout the book I find myself forgetting how young her sister really is. Saba and her sister get thrown into one bad situation after another yet they triumph. Saba gets thrown into cage fighting but it is her sister who surprised me with her strength to do what needed to be done. I love the freehawks and the fun and wild aspect that they add to the book, as they plot to free Saba from the cage fighting and I loved how the author kept the relationship between Jack and Saba so low key. When Saba rescues Jack without understanding why she felt so strongly that she needed to it left you with that feeling of wanting more and Moira delivered. Jack doesn't see Saba with rose colored glasses how he calls her out when she is acting spoiled and selfish and tells her what she needs to hear not just what she wants to hear. In the end they save the day but are still left with almost what they started with which was nothing! I really like the ending and the idea that it's finished but not over. This is one of the best books I have read in a while and it is great for all ages.

Balefire, Cate Tiernan

Thais and Clio are twin sisters separated at birth and reunited as at 17. Thais has had a pretty average upbringing being raised by her single father she had a really stable life, until the day her dad dies and leaves her in the care of a very strange woman that she has never met before. She is relocated to New Orleans and she hates every thing about it, everything except Luc. On her first day of school she runs into Clio and exact mirror image of herself, and that's when things get really weird in her life.
Clio was raised by her grandmother and had always known her heritage as a witch, she is practicing her craft, getting ready for her right of accession, and having a good time with Andre. Thais enters the picture causing all kinds of questions and the answers only lead to more questions. The biggest one being who is trying to kill them?

Spoiler alert, I am not planning on giving away anything but each person is different when it come to what spoils a book for them so I will just say that from here on I am giving more details.

Thais meets a boy pretty quickly and falls in love with him, she is starting to really love her heritage as a witch but she believes that her father was murdered in order to bring her to New Orleans. After a lot of weird accidents that were nearly deadly she and Clio decide to ask some questions of Thais guardian, they find out that she is immortal as well as several other characters and that they need the girls to recreate a rite that was performed 252 year earlier. The girls would become immortal like them but no one is saying what else would happen and why they are so eager for this rite. The last time the rite was performed someone died. Clio has also met and fallen in love with a boy and things are moving at a pretty fast pace for her when she and Thais both find out that their boys are not who they thought. There is a lot of drama in this book of the boy variety, but it was done in a fun way. the mystery of who is trying to kill them and why the rite is so important is a little weak but it holds your interest until the end. The author really tries to redeem Thais love interest in the book but I was left feeling like he was just a self serving jerk that would never learn. Over all it was a fun read. I love this author and have read all of her other books. Which are Sweep 1, 2, &3. And Immortal Beloved. Immortal Beloved is my latest all time favorite book!!

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Beth Fantasky

This was a fun and light hearted read for me. I laughed through the whole thing, the characters wit and sarcasm were perfect for the situation he found himself in! I also feel as though the Jessica had a more realistic reaction to the situation. I know that if some weird guy approached me and told me I was his betrothed vampire princess and that we had to get married I would probably do the same thing she did and stay as far away as possible!! Over all it was a fun book to read, I would definitely classify this book as a romantic comedy.

Spoilers alert.

Jessica is a senior and her only goal this year is to fit in and be normal! Cue the weird but totally hot vampire. Lucius shows up claiming to be her fiance and a vampire and he also expected her to know all of this, come to find out her Vegan parents left our a few details of her adoption. The comedy that follows as a full fledged vampire who likes his stake rare, lives with a family of Vegans and tries to woo their daughter is fantastic. He gives Jessica a book that every young vampire must read (growing up undead: a teen vampire's guide to dating, health, and emotions) This book is ridiculous and Jessica soon realizes that Lucius has never read it himself. There are two families of royalty in the vampire world Jessica is the only heir of one and Lucius is from the other, the only problem is these families hate each other and Lucius' family has almost completely eliminated Jessica's. The marriage is supposed to be a peace treaty but there is an expiration date on it and it is Lucius' job to get Jess to the alter by then. This creates two aspects to this book on the one hand you have two teens who are starting to develop real feeling for one another and on the other hand you have a family feud and you don't know where loyalties lie.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, Stieg Larsson

So I just finished this book last night and I can not wait until I can get my hands on the next one!! It was very well written and the story was interesting and well put together. I will say that even though it was a fantastic book this will definitely not be a teen read and some adults may not enjoy it as much as I did. The story involves sexual assault and a serial killer, I thought the author did a great job of presenting the information and situations without getting graphic. Basically it was a well written missing person murder mystery with a sophisticated sub plot. If you enjoy books by Sue Grafton, John Grisham, or David Baldacci then you will probably love this book.

Spoiler alert, I am not planning on giving away anything but each person is different when it come to what spoils a book for them so I will just say that from here on I am giving more details.

The basic story line is this; Mikael is a journalist who is being sued for libel, he is hired by the uncle of Harriet Vanger to solve the mystery surrounding her disappearance. The Vanger family is as soap opera as they get, each one of them comes off as pretty crazy and therefore suspect. Mikeal goes to live on the island that Harriet disappeared from 40 years ago, the uncle has made a life's work of trying to solve the case and so has a ridiculous amount of information for Mikeal to sift through. Mean while in a totally separate side story you read about Lisbeth Salander, she is a great character. She has an abusive guardian and the way she deals with him is just genius. She is a PI working for a security company, she was the agent that did the report on Mikeal for Harriet's uncle. Anyway she has a complex life and story line going when Mikeal brings her in as a research assistant. He soon learns that she has amazing hacking ability and together they stumble onto a serial killer, solve the mystery of Harriet and prove that Mikeal was wronged in the libel suite. They also hook up and Lisbeth falls in love with Mikael but he has some issues and the book ends without that being resolved. There were so many different side stories going on that I have missed at least a few, one main one though is that Lisbeth despises men who are abusive to women and this is an important key to her character.

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So I love to read and I love to blog so I thought I would combine the two! I hope someone out there finds this useful.