Book Gossip (#14)

Book Gossip #14 Cover and Summary this time

Here you have the lovely cover for The Reckoning Book 3 in the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong, set for release May 1, 2010.

And the summary, courtesy of Amazon UK, cover found at Goodreads.com

The nail-biting climax to Kelley Armstrong's bestselling YA series. Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. First of all, she happens to be a genetically engineered necromancer who can raise the dead without even trying. She and her equally gifted (or should that be 'cursed'?) friends are on the run from the evil corporation who created them. To top it all, Chloe is struggling with her feelings for Simon, a sweet-tempered sorcerer, and his brother Derek, a not so sweet-tempered werewolf. And she has a horrible feeling she's leaning towards the werewolf. Definitely not normal...

Sea Witch by Virginia Kantra

Margred is a Selkie, an immortal creature who can shift between human form and that of a seal. Usually, Selkies and humans don't mix much, but they do occasionally tangle together when selkies come to land to, basically, have sex and be on their way.

Margred latest 'hunt' brings her to the island of World's End, Maine, where she meets chief of police Caleb Hunter, a war veteran who's struggling with a bit of left over trauma and stress from his days in the dessert.

Margred and Cal are instantly attracted to each other but things are never that easy. Especially after Margred is attacked on the beach and her seal skin destroyed, which leaves her stranded on land and unsure of how much she can tell Cal, about who she is and who HIS mother was; and there is also the question of who attacked her and why.

I'm not usually a paranormal lover, though I seem to be reading a few of them lately , but I did come to enjoy Sea Witch; it combines timeless paranormal beings with small town charm. I particularly liked Regina Barone - how's set to be the heroine in the follow up Sea Fever - and her little son, as well as the rest of the Hunger siblings.

Grade:
3/4

Book Gossip (#13)

Book Gossip #13

Cover time once again! Here you have the cover of Heartless, book 7 of the Pretty Little Liars Series, set for release in January 2010.

I was a bit surprised when I saw it because I was actually expecting a cover featuring Aria, since that's the order of the first four books, and I'm guessing this one is Emily. But still, I kind of love these covers anyway.

I'm going to be reading Wicked soon :)

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (Darkest Powers #1)

Chloe Saunders had a perfectly ordinary life, living in Buffalo and attending an artsy high school, with her father mostly absent on business - her mother died when she was little - all Chloe wanted was to, one day, fulfill her dreams of making the type of movies she loves.

But everything changes one random day when she starts seeing people who aren't there -later figuring out they are ghosts - and gets shipped off to Lyle House, a group home for 'troubled' teenagers.

At first, Lyle House seems okay enough, there is one resident diva called Victoria, but the other two girls there -Liz and Rae - seem nice enough. The other residents rounding the group are Simon and Derek, foster siblings who keep themselves to themselves for the most part.

However, things aren't what they seem at Lyle Hose, not by far. Something is, in fact, very wrong, which Chloe begins to suspect after Liz is mysteriously 'transferred' to another hospital.

I tried very hard not to spoil too much of the book, but I can say it's quite good. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it, in fact at the beginning I thought the story was dragging a little, but when it picked up I was enthralled reading page after page. I'm not a huge fan of paranormal books, but this one really caught my fancy, and I LOVE the fact that it talks about a wide variety of Supernatural beings - necromancers, werewolves, half demons, sorcerers and witches - rather than focusing on just one group, which I found rather refreshing.

I really liked the setting and the pace toward the end of the book, and I can't wait to read The Awakening.

Grade

Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Taylor Donovan is an up and coming lawyer from Chicago who has come to L.A. to work on a case. She likes the sun and the sea very much, though she doesn't quite understand the celebrity obsession that seems to be the norm in town. So she's a bit baffled when her L.A. boss orders her to help Hollywood's favorite leading man Jason Andrews to research his upcoming role as a lawyer.

After he stands her up -twice- Taylor isn't very inclined to help him when he actually does show up, but since her boss won't let her wiggle out of it, Taylor is stuck with Jason much to her annoyance and his delight. Taylor is the first woman who hasn't automatically fallen in love with him and he finds that intriguing.

Taylor is a very nice, well-rounded character, I quite liked her and understood why she was a bit reluctant about falling in love, let alone falling for Jason. She's smart and funny and you get the sense she's a heck of a good lawyer. Now, Jason, he's an acquired taste, he starts as a bit childish and immature (and he's in his late thirties, by the way) but he eventually finds it within himself to grow up and then he actually turns into a very likable character.

Add an evil-ish up and coming Australian actor who wants Jason's career, Jason's best friend Jeremy and Taylor's best friends and her secretary, and the story is quite funny.

Grade: