Emily Hendrickson

Miss Timothy Perseveres 

Spending most of her life in the home of her wealthy aunt, serving her cousin as companion and confidant, a lovely young woman is cast out once her cousin marries. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, fate smiles upon her in the form of a wealthy duke, who charges her to look after his injured mother. But little does she realize that her heart and soul can be entranced by her employer so easily.


The Gallant Lord Ives

Shy country girl Alissa Folkes prefers the company of her peregrine falcon and the comfort of sculpturing to handsome London lords. Alissa is content to remain at home, leaving her sister Henrietta to dazzle some of the local beaux and Elizabeth to charm the rest. Yet deep inside Alissa yearns for true love and a hero. She tends her herbs while longing to impress the chivalrous gentleman who is her father's guest, Christopher, Lord Ives. He came to Wiltshire to study Alissa's father's sheep, but he found far more. Rather than the outgoing sisters, he is drawn to Alissa's gentle beauty. Can his love work a miracle to make Alissa bloom?


The Colonial Upstart

When beautiful, talented American Louisa Randolph comes to the Earl of Westcott's estate, she has a good deal to say about English society and its manners. The high-handed lord finds her influence on his family disturbing--but her influence on the earl himself is what most surprises both Louisa and Drew. Regency Romance by Emily Hendrickson; originally published by Signet


Lord Dancy's Delight

When handsome Lord Dancy saves the life of Amelia Longworth three times on the trip to London, she is determined to repay him, and her spirited attempts to protect him soon melt the aristocrat's heart.

These have all been waiting to be posted on for...months. But there is not much to say. They are all fluffy, feel good romances. Where out heroine gets the hero and all who deserve it live happily ever after. 

There is nothing 'deep' about them. I do not mean this in any insulting way it is just that the stories are somewhat predictable. They have a plot but you know the only reason the plot is there is for a romance to come out of it...if that makes sense. 

In some the heroine are pretty drippy in the 'I need a hero to rescue me' kind of way *cough* The Gallant Lord Ives *cough* but then in others the heroine was refreshing but not irritatingly head strong and idiotic, she was clever and knew how to handle herself  - my favourite being Lord Dancy's Delight. 

Fluffy romances :)

Barefoot Heroine (Mayne Attraction) by Ann Mauren

Former CIA agent Ash Ryan has finally found a stress-free dream job. But his life turns bitterly painful when he falls desperately in love with Ellery Mayne, the entrancing but clueless subject of his company’s security contract. This excerpt from the Mayne Attraction series reveals the secret life of Ellery as seen through the eyes of a man who adores her but believes he will never get to meet her.

Yay, my Mayne Attraction fix - hopefully enough to keep me going.

So here we have excerpts from one of the future books that will be told from Ash's point of view and it is filled with some of the cutest, awe and smile worthy thoughts from Ash I have ever read - I am smiling like a loon as I type this that is how cute they are.

"...You’re welcome to whatever you need from me. Any time." A kiss, a hug, a husband … whatever you need.

See!

And one of the best things is that one of the chapters included is Ash and Ellery's first PROPER  meeting told from Ash's perspective - Chapter 17 from In the Spotlight. It was great to read what was going on in Ash's head.

*sigh* Don't you just love reading moments through the hero's eyes?

If you have read In the Spotlight and want a taste of what the next book will be like give this a read, I do not think you will find it a disappointment.

And if you have not read Mayne Attraction... *dangles carrot* It is free on Amazon...

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Smashword - for non-Kindle peeps

Or head on over to Ann Maurens website and read some extracts from In the Spotlight (book 1) if you do not want to be faced with a full novel straight away.

Double Dose - A Prince for Jenny by Peggy Webb & Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Woohoo, kind of getting back into the swing of things.

So here are a few books all in one post as I do not have all that much to say about them.

A Prince for Jenny by Peggy Webb

Born special, Jenny, an artist, has had to struggle for every achievement. The things ordinary women take for granted - love, marriage, children- are only a dream for her. When divorced businessman, Daniel Sullivan, brings his children to sit for a portrait, Jenny begins to believe that her prince has finally come. But can Daniel love a special woman without destroying her? Can she withstand the media attention that comes with his high-powered profile? Can she survive the nasty custody battle with his ex-wife? Can there be a fairy tale ending for Jenny and her prince? This unusual love story is one of the author's most heartwarming.


This is a light and fluffy read.
But it is a little too perfect. Things seemed to go just a little too easily.


Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Ashlyn: A lonely society princess living in New York City. 
Daddy hired you to be my bodyguard. 
Colin: Childhood enemy, now her protector. 
Daddy thought I’d be safe. He thought I’d never fall in love. He thought he could keep me forever. 
Charles: obsessed with keeping her safe, keeping her his, he hires the one person he knows she could never fall in love with: Colin. 
Daddy was wrong.

After being kidnapped as a child Ashlyn's father has become extremely overprotective of his daughter. She has hardly any friends and is guarded constantly. So of course we have some teenage rebellion thrown in ;).

And yes, this is another one of those books were I was ready to throttle the parents - justifiably I will add - but things (at least with one parent) did get better.

Fun YA read with romance and suspense (kind of).

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian

REVIEW!

Been a while since one of these hasn't it. :) xx

Megan is used to moving from place to place -- it's typical for an army brat. But she drew the line at South Korea. She insists on staying in the States to finish her last two years of high school. So her parents made arrangements for Megan to live with their friends, the McGowans...and the McGowans' 7 sons.

Turns out, living with 7 boys might as well be a foreign country! The boys are messy. They are cliquey (who knew?). And worst of all, two of the oldest boys are H-O-T. (A problem considering they are supposed to be Megan's "brothers.") Megan is definitely in enemy territory. She needs to win over the boys' hearts without totally crushing her own.

And when Megan starts falling for one of them, sibling rivalry takes on a whole new meaning....

What is a girl to do?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick and enjoyable read - although the ending left a little to be desired, I think.

When Megan's parents are assigned to Korea she puts her foot down, fed up of just going along with her parents wishes and never letting them know when something is bothering her and how much she hates the constant changing that their profession has her doing. So, her parents issue her with an ultimatum - which came up far to easily I think, if two people are about to leave their kid behind I would have thought there would be a bit more emotion attached.

The ultimatum being - Stay with the McGowans or pack for Korea.

You guys all know about my issues with parental figures and books. Thankfully Megan's parents are not around long enough for me to develops anything past a slight dislike for them - if they were around longer I think I would have a strong hate for them. They were far to happy to accepts Megan's word at face value and just for there own peace of mind they asked no more questions once she said 'yes, I am fine'

The McGowan parents were...OK. They were a bit slow on the uptake for setting rules for having this teenage girl around their seven sons. I don't care if there is an attraction between them or not you would think it would be common sense to set some kind of rules.

Some situations I did find a bit hard to get my head round and I found myself rolling my eyes at them - but then that could be just because my personal experiences are different from what is portrayed here.

The McGowan boys are very immature - even down to complaining about Megan's presence and trying to get rid of her (one of them hate her because it is his old room that she is in - very mature!)

But enjoyable and fun.

The one thing that let it down I think was the ending. It was very wishy washy. The kind of ending were things have just seemed to get going and suddenly. BAM. No more story.

I would say a solid 3 of 5. A good quick read but I wish there was an extra 100 or more pages on the page count. And not to sound snobby or anything, some character development and depth would have been nice.

The Guardian Duke by Jamie Carie

The Guardian Duke is award-winning novelist Jamie Carie’s most exciting story yet, a uniquely arranged Regency-era romantic adventure where hero and heroine know each other through written letters but have yet to meet.

Gabriel, the Duke of St. Easton, is ordered by the King to take guardianship over Lady Alexandria Featherstone whose parents are presumed dead after failing to return from a high profile treasure hunt. But Alexandria ignores this royal reassignment, believing her parents are still alive and duly following clues that may lead to their whereabouts. Gabriel, pressured by what are actually the King’s ulterior motives, pursues her across windswept England and the rolling green hills of Ireland but is always one step behind.

When they do meet, the search for earthly treasure will pale in comparison to what God has planned for both of them.

Oh dear, this book confused me and I am sorry but this post is going to come of as a bit of a rant.
 *cracks knuckles*

And we're off.

Quick summery for you all.

Gabriel is made Alexandria's (that's ME) guardian when her treasure hunting parents have been missing for a year - for her own protection. Alexandria - of course - thinks that Gabriel is some old, decrepit lord with gout. Alexandria, refusing to believe that he parents are dead heads off to find them wile Gabriel follows behind trying to catch up with her and take her home.

There is an aspect f the story that is VERY random and would have been good if it had been developed further. When Gabriel first hears Alex's name he is mysteriously struck deaf, no reason is given for this. And THEN just as mysteriously it returns and then it  goes on the blink again. Makes NO sense.

Alex is a fun, if sometimes annoying heroine. She knows what she wants to do and she is going to get it done - although he actions did strike me as being highly immature most of the time and selfish when she would lie to get where she needed to be. But on the other side of the coin she was a refreshingly independent (sometimes) character, even if fibbing comes a little too easy to her.

I found it very hard to believe that through  a few letters (where she was FIBBING to put him off her trail) Gabriel fell in love with Alex. This was a little too unbelievable for me.

The genre is Christian fiction but it didn't strike me as fitting into this genre as other books that I have read do. Other than a few mentions of praying there is nothing much on the 'Christian fiction' front. I am sorry if I am maybe pigeon holing the genre but something that defines Christian fiction for me is strong draws on faith and a relationship with God, this are the things that I expect to find. And there was next to none of those things in this. It is clean, sex and language wise, so if that is why it is fitting into the genre...I don't know.

And the thing is (and this as the icing on the WHAT-THE-HECK cake) that Alex's parents went missing during what is thought to have been dangerous/suspicious circumstances because of what they had been hired to find. Alex knows this. Knows that what she is doing could be dangerous. And she seems to still go around blabbing to all and sundry what she is doing and why. It drove me mad. I was like 'What...What...Sh, shhh, shhhhhhhhhhh. What are you doing? Don't tell THEM. You don't even know if you can trust them' Bugged me!

And then there is the whole 'we are in a rush' thing. But she still makes time to go to a fare and get dressed up and go to parties.

The supporting characters were fun, although there appearances seemed a little too...timely, you know what I mean. E.G. Oh no we have to go to Dublin, what will we do when we get there? Oh, don't worry about that, I have a nephew in Dublin and I have been thinking it is time to pay him  visit - says the dude who came to her rescue when she needed it and just happened to have nothing better to do than tag along. Seriously.

The ending was pretty wishy-washy too. But there is a sequel to closely follow it so hopefully this will set straight all of the issues I have with it. With the way that book 1 ended I am actually wondering if the sequel i going to read as though it was all one big book that was cut in half.

Sooo...I would say 3 stars...no 2.5 stars, no 3! We will stick with 3. It was a quick read that did not drag so although I had all these problems with it I did not feel as though I had wasted eons of my life reading it.

**I received this book in e-book form from NetGalley**

The Battle Sylph by L.J. McDonald

He is one of many: a creature of magic, unrelentingly male. He is lured through the portal by pure female beauty, a virgin sacrifice. She is killed, and he is silenced and enslaved.

Such a dark ritual is necessary. Unlike their elemental cousins—those gentler sylphs of wind and fire—battlers find no joy in everyday labor. Their magic can destroy an army or demolish a castle, and each has but one goal: find his queen, then protect and pleasure her at any cost. What would a maiden do if she were given such a servant? What would befall that kingdom foolish enough to allow a battler to escape? Young Solie and the people of Eferem are about to find out.

I really enjoyed this book. Romance, action, fight, lots and lots of stuff :).

I am afraid I am a bit of a sucker for the kind of stories that centre on soul mates and books where the guy spends most of the story trying to convince the girl that they belong together. Love it!

So here we have two worlds…dimensions…(?). Let’s call them our world and fairyland.

Solie has been kidnapped to be offered as a sacrifice so that the king’s son can be bonded to a battle sylph (from fairyland). Needless to say this does not work as planned. Solie survives and finds herself bonded to the battle sylph as his queen.

And soeth begins the story.

Now the blurb – ‘protect and pleasure here at any cost’, does make it seem like there will be nothing but ummmm frolicking in the hedgerows from page one. I am pleased to say that this is not the case. There is frolicking (I love that word) but not as much as the blurb would perhaps suggest. Well that’s my opinion anyway.

Solie is a young girl – I think she is about 17 – but her immaturity at some points did grate on me. But not to the same degree as some heroines have. Thank fully she does mature as a character and begins to step up to the challenges she is made to face.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read with great characters that made the story that much more alive and readable.

I think those of you who like Gena Showalter will like this book.

*I received this book in e-book form from NetGalley*

Dreaming of Larry by Jean Ure

A tongue-in-cheek article in a school paper about "unfeminine" girls, and 15-year-old Judith's witty response, accusing the boys of being weedy and weak, leads to her meeting Larry, a much-travelled and sophisticated older boy. She is instantly attracted and the two develop a relationship.

I have read Jean Ure books before or *cough* tried to anyway – and in all honesty I really didn’t like them. Shallow heroines and paper thin character don’t really do it for me. And I don’t know why I magically expected this to be any different – it could have something to do with the utterly misleading book cover – just maybe.

Sex seemed to be a common topic in this book. Personally I don’t remember thinking or talking about sex half as much when I was 15 as these kids do. And when it does come up it is almost crude at some points but then since they are kids I suppose that could be expected.

So, an irritating heroine, shallow chauvinistic ‘hero’ who makes a last ditched attempt in the last 50 pages to have some kind of depth - this may be ok for young readers but it left me wanting to chuck the book across the room.

Love Inc by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Zahra, Kali, and Syd would never have met if their parents' marriages hadn't fallen apart. But when the three girls collide in group counseling, they discover they have something else in common: they've each been triple-timed by the same nefarious charmer, Eric, aka Rico, aka Rick. Talk about eye-opening therapy.

Cheerful, diplomatic Zahra is devastated. Rico had been her rock and sole confidant. How could she have missed the signs? Folksy, flirtatious Kali feels almost as bad. She and Rick had only been on a few dates, but they'd felt so promising. Hardened vintage-vixen Syd is beyond tears. She and Eric had real history... Or so she'd thought. Now all three girls have one mission: to show that cheater the folly of his ways.

Project Payback is such a success, the girls soon have clients lining up for their consulting services. Is your boyfriend acting shady? Dying to know if your crush is into you? Need match-making expertise? Look no further than Love, Inc.

Your parents have broken up, you’ve started at a new school and you’re being forced into going to therapy. And to top it all off your boyfriend turn out to be a triple timing sneak.

Welcome to Zahra’s world.

I usually avoid anything that even has a whiff of high school chic lit to it as it brings back way to many memories of the Olsen twins and Sweet Valley High *shiver*

But this, I am glad to say was thoroughly enjoyable. I more often than not find teen girl in fiction to be moaning, picky, petulant, ridiculously 2D characters that I want to slap and shake some sense into. Woe strong words there huh.

In Love Inc however each of the main girls are so real and full of life that I did not find it a choir reading their story at all and I could have quite happily read another 400 odd pages filled with them.

They were all a pure joy to read about. Flirty Kali is the kind of girl you would hate if she wasn’t so nice, Syd is just misunderstood and Zahra (our narrator) keeps them all glued together. It was great to see these three girls who under normal circumstances probably wouldn’t be anywhere near each other becoming closer.

And let’s talk about the parents for a second shall we. They are all morons, in the fine tradition of YA novels. They have sent their children to therapy when honest to goodness these are the people that need to have their heads examined - definitely a case of some projection on a psychological level going on there.

A fun read that does deal with the more serious topic of living in a split family. And, through Zahra we also get a story of a young girl trying to live in a multicultural family.

My only complaint is the ending. I like my endings to be a little more concrete and this was just a bit too wishy washy, but hey, maybe that is  sign. Could there be a sequel in the near future?

I’m putting up the drawbridge and filling the moat. This guy isn’t getting near my brain.

I’ve decided that my parents are a bad influence and I don’t need them.

I get away with so much more since taking over my own upbringing. I should have climbed into the driver’s seat a long time ago. 

Bewitched and Betrayed by Lisa Shearin

Raine Benares is a seeker. She finds lost things and missing people- usually alive. But now she's been bonde with the Saghred, a soul- stealing stone of unlimited power, and must hunt down its escapees. Especially since one of them is also hunting her...

And so just like book three, in book four so much goes on I don’t know where to start…

We kick of the story and are thrown straight into the action as Raine is hunting down one of the souls that escaped from the Saghred at the end of book three.

(Taps keyboard – I don’t know what to say without totally blowing everything)

The love triangle is sorted – but I won’t say how or who – I read that in a review before I started reading this and I have never wanted to throw something at my computer so much in my life.

Sorry guys I will leave it here before I talk myself into a hole.

Oh, and remember how I was saying the maturity thing goes up with each book…well the DEED IS DONE in this book.

Leaving it here before I blow something. 

The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin

For seeker Raine Benares, a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid couldn't come at a worse time. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides.
Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen.

I am a little stuck about what to say about this book, even though it is a great read everything happens so quickly it is hard to focus on anything particular. 

This is the 3^rd book in the Raine Benares series. Nothing much has changed character wise in this book. Mycheal is still the good guy, Tam is still the bad boy (and so sexy with it) and Raine is still the smart mouthed kick butt heroine.

I loved this book just as much as book one and two – though I will say that the content is getting more adult with each book. But one thing that definitely like about the books is that there is no huge time jumps between then. You know how you read some book and you finish book one and then you pick up book two and suddenly you are months ahead of where you finished in book one and it takes you half of the book to find out what has happened in the gap…? Yeah? Well, that happily doesn’t happen here. There is only a few weeks (or at the most a month) in-between any of the books - so far anyway. And this makes it so easy to pick up where you left of. 

So here we have Raine still trying to fix the trouble that started in book one when she found herself linked to a soul slurping, army flattening rock. And, just to add more trouble to the mix the demon queen wants the rock so she can release her husband from inside it. And then there is the whole collection of characters that either want to use Raine – so they can use the rock – or want her head served up on a silver platter. Oh, and don’t forget the reapers who are after her too.

  

Busy, busy, busy.

I don’t want to give too much away but so much goes on in this book that I think it would be impossible for me to give it all away.

A fun, magical, fast paced read filled with goodies, baddies and some that I am just not too sure about.

Why is it the spooky shit is always in the basement

Time honoured Benares solution – of I drink enough my problems would go away. 

The Summons - A Goblin King Prequel by Shona Husk

Peel your eyes away from the pretty front cover. I know it's hard but you can do it. 

.

.

.

.

.

See, I told you, you could ;)

Every fairy tale has to have some basis in fact, right? That's what Eliza thought as she made a desperate plea to the legendary Goblin King. If he could grant her wish, she'd finally be safe. He would protect her. But what would he ask in return...?

This is a brilliant teaser for the book that will be coming out at the beginning of October. And I can’t wait.

I love the film Labyrinth – you know with David Bowie? – and it seems like this book will be the nearest I will get to a novel based on the idea.

We have a disillusioned, bitter Goblin King and a girl who wishes from the Goblin King to take her away when she finds herself hiding in the bathroom from a drunken guy at the party that he brother has thrown when their dad is away.

Like I said though this is only a teaser/introduction to the story and won’t even take an hour to read so I won’t say anything else about it.

Right now this is free on Amazon at the kindle store so I would definitely say go and check it out :). 

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

Terry  Pratchett isone of my all-time favourite authors. It is true that some of his books miss the mark for me where laughs are concerned but I am glad to say that this is not one of those books. This hit all the right places and had me sniggering from beginning to end.  

There are strange goings-on at the Opera House in Ankh-Morpork. A ghost in a white mask is murdering, well, quite a lot of people, and two witches (it really isn't wise to call them "meddling, interfering old baggages"), or perhaps three, take a hand in unraveling the mystery.

I loved this book, but for some reason I can’t think of a lot to say about it…Weird.

It is such a fun read with some of the best rounds ups of opera that I have ever read and some of the most brilliant twists.

We have Christine who, although being gorgeous, just can’t sing and is as dim as a broken torch.

Agnes – who has a lovely personality, nice hair and CAN sing, but unfortunately just doesn’t look the part (I love Agnes).

The rat catcher who is reincarnated as a rat – karma really sucks!

Two witches - hoping to soon be a trio once again – ready to solve the mystery at The Opera House.

A ghost who can be in two places at a time – or can he.

And lots more. 

As I said this is such a fun read and kept me turning the pages. Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax jumped out the page at me with their larger than life approach at things. And their side story had me giggling like crazy – Nanny Ogg’s “The Joye of Snacks” isn’t an ordinary cook book.

Agnes’s practical attitude to life was great to read along with her attempts at being more…flighty with her alter ego Perdita. I would rather have a heroine like Agnes over a Perdita any day.  

Agnes on Christine - Not liking Christine would be like not liking small fluffy animal. And Christine was just like a small fluffy animal. A rabbit, perhaps. It was certainly impossible for her to get a whole idea into her head in one go. She had to nibble it into manageable bits.

Nanny Ogg on Opera - Well, basically there are two sorts of opera,' said Nanny, who also had the true witch's ability to be confidently expert on the basis of no experience whatsoever. 'There's your heavy opera, where basically people sing foreign and it goes like "Oh oh oh, I am dyin', oh, I am dyin', oh, oh, oh, that's what I'm doin'", and there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes "Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!", although sometimes they drink champagne instead. That's basically all of opera, reely

The wooden stairs gave way to stone.
Perdita said: he’ll have a vast cave somewhere under the Opera House. There will be hundreds of candles, casting an exciting yet romantic light over the, yes, the lake, and there will be a dinner-table shining with crystal glass and silverware, and of course he will have, yes, a huge organ-
Agnes blushed hotly in the darkness.
-on which, that is to say, he will play in a virtuoso style many operatic classics.
Agnes said: it’ll be damp. There will be rats.  

Surviving the Fall by William R. Potter

James Goodal has spent his entire life avoiding uncomfortable situations. This safe and easy existence has left James lonely and facing divorce. Everything changes when he takes in a young street girl named Ashley. The pair finds comfort in their unorthodox friendship until her violent world returns forcing James to fight for Ashley and for his very survival.
I am not sure what my feelings are on this book. Which is why I have continually put off writing a post on it.

First things first. This is NOT a YA novel. It deal with drug use, teenage prostitution – and by extensions sex – and there is a bit of language in it too.

But the characters are real and flawed and have issues up to their eyeballs which I kind of liked, because the issues weren’t tiny things that the characters had blown out of proportion to make them seem - big they were serious.

I would have liked to have seen the relationship between James and Ashley developed and fleshed out a little bit more than it was. It just seemed to jump forward way too quickly.

I would also have liked it if the book was a bit longer. I felt a little cheated because the book stopped at 70% and the rest for extracts from other books – I was a little bit annoyed there.

It was a quick and differently weird read, definitely with ADULT themes. 

Fade by Lisa McMann

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.
Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.
Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd feared....

This is the second book in the Wake series.

I enjoyed the take on the subject. Most people would probably think that being able to ‘fall’ into other people’s dreams is brilliant. But they would be wrong. What do you do when you fall into a nightmare? Or when you are driving and a bus with a sleeping passenger goes past you…?

I was totally stuck for inspiration the other day and picked this off my shelf pretty much at random. I finished it in one night! And, I am really surprised at this, but I loved it.

Teenage angsty-ness isn’t really my thing (I want to strangle them half of the time) but I like them! I know right! (pick yourself off the floor and dust yourself off).

Don’t get me wrong Janie and Cabe still have all the stuff going on that goes on in other YA books but they had a maturity that didn’t have my teeth on edge.

It was also written in the present tense. That is another pet hate of mine as I usually find that it takes to much brain power for me to focus but I didn’t mind it at all here. I think actually that it made this book all the more enjoyable. It was like I was there as I was reading.

There is some language, some sex mentioned (NO details) and it also deals with the topic of sexual predators in schools…covers pretty much everything really.

This was a really good and quick read. 

Jinx by Meg Cabot

It's not easy being Jinx.

Jean Honeychurch hates her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just . . . Jean). What's worse? Her all-too-appropriate nickname, Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes even to New York City, where Jinx has moved to get away from the huge mess she caused in her small hometown. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to their Manhattan town house, but her beautiful cousin Tory isn't so thrilled. . . .

In fact, Tory is hiding a dangerous secret one that could put them all in danger. Soon Jinx realizes it isn't just bad luck she's been running from . . . and that the curse she has lived under since the day she was born may be the only thing that can save her life.

I just realised that I read this a wee while ago and never reviewed *tut tut, bad me* so here is a quick post now. Or at least I don’t think I did…anyway I’ll get on with it.

This was an enjoyable enough read but sits at a solid 3 stars for me.

Jean – Jinx – was an OK character but I found her to be a bit of a drip at some points and the whole story happened a little too quickly for me – clocking in at about a month. I know that is how it is in YA but I don’t see what is wrong with a little bit of relationship building before the couple in question are there sucking each other’s face off and pledging there undying love to each other.

And then we have the totally crazy, out of her mind 'come-here-while-I-sacrifice-you' cousin who was a right witch and for some reason Jinx didn't see right through her - the book almost went flying across the room at that point. 

There were the laugh out loud moments in the good old Meg Cabot fashion but it just missed the mark for me. There were bits that just seemed so vague, nothing was concrete…

I don’t know I can’t really nail what I didn’t like. It was good but not brilliant. 

Armed and Magical (Raine Baneres #2) by Lisa Shearin

My name is Raine Benares. Until last week I was a seeker—a finder of things lost and people missing. Now I'm psychic roommates with the Saghred, an ancient stone with cataclysmic powers. Just me, the stone, and all the souls it's ingested over the centuries. Crowded doesn't even begin to describe it. All I want is my life back—which means getting rid of the stone and the power it possesses. To sort things out, I head for the Isle of Mid, home to the most prestigious sorcery school, as well as the Conclave, the governing body for all magic users. It's also home to power- grubbing mages who want me dead and goblins who see me as a thief. As if that's not enough, Mid's best student spellsingers are disappearing left and right, and I'm expected to find them. Lives are at stake, goblins are threatening to sue, mages are getting greedier, and the stone's power is getting stronger by the hour. This could get ugly.


This is book two is the Raine Benares novels and it was just as much fun to read (well…listen too) as the first book.

(It is like someone has gone ‘Oh no, this is meant to be an adult novel’ so we have sex being mentioned (not done though) and more language than in the first book)

Mycheal, the paladin of the Elven Guardian has taken Raine to the isle of Mid in search of the one person he believes is strong enough to sever her bond with the saghred AKA a soul munching rock. But then since when have things ever gone as they are meant too.

Raine’s bond with the saghred is getting stronger as the people out to get her is getting longer.

Her relationship with Tam and Mycheal are getting more complicated and more trouble is added to the mix when a 1000 year old goblin is out to get the saghred and the limitless power it comes with.

As I said it was a fun read and Raine’s witty narration had me smirking all the way through.

The supporting characters are fun and colourful, great to read about and make the book all the more enjoyable.
Piaras (Raine’s 'adopted' brother) is growing into his powers and becoming a more active character rather than just being along for the ride. Which I have loved.



Mycheal shows what he will do to protect Raine, and Tam…well, you will have to read and see.

My one issue is that there is a constant repetition of facts. Once again we have the ‘I’m a seeker’ thing all the time – DUDE we get it! And facts are being repeated over that we have already been told in the first book. I understand that for those that haven’t read the first novel it is handy but it is annoying.

Good, fun read!

“Whoever said ignorance is bliss must have dies a horrible death with a really surprised look on his face”

“I couldn’t be bonded to just any old stone of cataclysmic power. Mine had lawyers.”

Review - Brother/Sister by Sean Olin

Will and Asheley have a troubled past. Their father left them when they were little, and their mother has just been carted off to an alcohol treatment center. Now, they have the house to themselves, and an endless California summer stretching out before them. Through alternating perspectives, they tell the story of how and why their lives spun violently out of control - right up to the impossibly shocking conclusion you'll have to read for yourself to believe.

So, I got this to read for FREE from my local bookstore. It was a PROOF copy! Yay! Happy times.

So moving on from where this came from as it is the first time I am reviewing something that isn't mine :).

I will say that although the title more than hints a little at the idea of incest...there isnt actually much on that front. Will and Asheley ARE close, maybe closer than is healthy and there is bits that hint at some DEEP feelings from Will but there is nothing R/18 or whatever rated. (But maybe some stuff that will make you uncomfortable reading).

OK warnings over, on with the post.

This book totally screwed with my mind. Really. I am not into this kind of book, usually I avoid them like the plague but it was for free (who am I to kick lady luck in the teeth – exactly :)).

Like I said this book totally messes with you, it sets you up to believe one thing and then at the end goes and throws a wrench into the work that makes you questions if everything that you read beforehand was real or at least true.

Asheley and Will are a brother and sister who have been left to raise themselves after their father disappeared and their mother is drunk or in rehab half the time. Will is very protective of Asheley, seeing her as perfect and as someone who I unable to look after herself. And his protective instincts take a deadly turn as their life spirals out of control.

This book deals with some very touchy issues such as drug use, drinking (underage and otherwise), and just how much can you love a person before it brinks on obsession.

The book is told in first person from the altering views of Asheley and Will (1 chapter Will, 1 chapter Asheley etc). Their accounts stay consistent with each other until their stories start to fray at the edge and slight differences begin to show.

Is one of them lying, or is their elaborate plan falling apart?

You tell me.

An Idiot Abroad by Karl Pilkington

Honestly this guy looks like such a whinger! I don't think there is one photo where he is actually smiling.
 A cult celebrity due to his role in The Ricky Gervais Show, the most-downloaded podcast ever, Karl Pilkington has been accused of being a comic creation, so unburdened is he by complex thought—but that is truly just him. The trio's newest project mines Karl massive provinciality: put simply, Karl is not big on traveling. Given the choice, he'll go on vacation to Devon or Wales or, if pushed, eat English food on a package tour of the Mediterranean. So what happened when he was convinced by Gervais and Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Does travel truly broaden the mind? Find out in Karl Pilkington's hilarious travel diaries.

This book was funny! I have not laughed so much in I don’t know how long – and believe me, I needed a laugh over the past week or so.

Karl Pilkington is a pretty big whiner, he had something to complain about at every point of his journey – not even so much as a ‘I am so fortunate, I am doing something so other normal person would be able to afford’. He just complained. CONSTANTLY! Which, did get up my nose quite a bit but his funny observations about things made up for his lack of…happiness.

And on a side note, have any of you seen the Disney cartoon The Emperor’s New Groove? Yeah? Well remember the emperor? Emperor Cusco? Cusco is a place in Peru! Did you know that? ‘Cos I didn’t - totally random side not for you there :).

My one problem with the book is the ending. It kind of just STOPPED! Suddenly! Dead end! I was there, reading along, happily smiling like an idiot, turned the page and WHAM, no more book. So yeah…

Fun read though with more than a few laugh in it.

Stephen – Karl, what would Michael Palin do in this situation?

Karl – He’d probably do a voice-over. He probably wouldn’t be here now at this stage

Review - Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin

I LOVE this front cover. It is just so fantasy looking :)

My name is Raine Benares. I'm a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound. I'm a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, I can usually take care of myself. But when my friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, I find myself wrapped up in more trouble than I care for. I like attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting me down is not my idea of a good time. The amulet they're after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when I take possession of the item, it takes possession of me. Now my moderate powers are increasing beyond anything I can imagine-but is the résumé enhancement worth my soul?

This was a fun read. It did take me a little while to warm up to Raine though. She struck me as trying to be too smart and ‘clever’ but I liked her once I got used to her.

Raine belongs to a family who is more often than not on the wrong side of the law but earns a living by being a 'seeker' finding things that have been lost or stolen or even people that have been kidnapped. And because of this she knows quite a few people both on the right and wring side of the law, so you can imagine that this book is filled with a wide variety of characters.

In this novel we have what I can assume is the beginning of a love triangle between Raine, the Elven Guardian Mycheal and Tam the goblin nightclub owner. *interesting* And while we are on the subject I think I may be in love with Tam…I mean dang, this guy is the bad boy of the book (I am pretty sure of this). But also there is the fact that he seems to genuinely care for Raine – maybe even love her *sigh*. And the whole bad boy thing is definitely an attraction.

Tam and I tried to have a non-emotional parting; I said we tried; we didn’t succeed. I knew I had to leave; Tam knew I had to leave, but knowing it didn’t make it any easier. Tam had a business to run. I had a stones of power to rid myself of. 

In the end, words just weren’t getting the job done for Tam, so he went for action instead. I’ve been on the receiving end of some heated kisses in my time, but none of the top contenders had ever involved me being slammed against a mainmast. I have to admit I liked it. A lot.

Mmmmhmmm I BET you did!
Dang *fans self*

And then there is Mycheal…yeah, I really REALLY don’t know what to think of him (if anything). There is the attraction there but I am afraid that Tam had already stolen my heart before I could form any kind of opinion on Mycheal.

And then we have the truly evil, people-sacrificing, innocent-killing, skin crawling bad guy and a battle for the goblin throne between two royal brothers. Brilliant! And throw is a magic enhancing, souls stealing rock and you have the story.

I loved the world building that went on and the different ‘districts’ of the city where Raine lives. (goblin district, sorcerers district etc) It may seem like a bit of a cheat to do it this way but I love it. It gives the impression of China Towns in big cities. Of having separate countries within a big whole (does that make sense?).

Another fantastic aspect of this book is that it only covers a couple of days but at no point does it get boring. There is nothing but action from page one!

Raine is surrounded my colourful characters that were fun to read about and added lots of life to the story.

My one problem is that things were constantly being repeated. Raine was ALWAYS telling us that she could move things with her mind. ‘Yes, I got that the first 5 times you told me, thank you’.

Brilliant fun novel! I will absolutely be checking out the second book.

Emily Goes to Exeter by M.C.Beaton

A dead employer's legacy of five thousand pounds allows spinster Hannah Pym to resign from housekeeping and find adventure travelling the English countryside by stagecoach. 

But adventure soon finds Miss Pym in the form of Miss Emily Freemantle, a spoilt violet-eyed beauty fleeing an arranged marriage to a rake she has never met.

This is the first novel in the Travelling Matchmaker series by M.C.Beaton and I really enjoyed it.

It is not an overly complicated romance with nothing serious and deep happening and it probably sits at a level between a Mills and Boon romance and a Barbara Cartland book.

Hannah Pym has always wanted to travel and when her employer dies and leaves her with £5,000 (which according to one site I looked at would be about £5 million in today’s money). And so, the first thing she does is buy herself a ticket on the coach to Exeter. And so her adventure begins.

Hannah does strike me as being a little too pushy, so sure that she know what is best. This is fun to read and I do like her but I think that if I were in the receiving end of her matchmaking I wouldn’t be too blunt about telling her to mind her own business.

Emily (our secondary heroine) is a bit of a drip/ In good old shallow romances tradition she has fallen in ‘love’ with a man because of his looks and has ran away from home to escape the marriage that her parents had arranged for her.

That being said Emily does lose her shallowness and becomes a better person by the end of the book.

Lord Harley is once again your typical 30 odd regency bachelor who has suddenly realised that a few heirs wouldn’t go amiss and of course starts viewing Emily as a spoiled child (*cough* which she is).

The surrounding characters and background romance added a great level to the story as did that not so mysterious mystery.

Brilliant fun read!