The China Garden by Liz Berry

The China Garden
by Liz Berry

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Fantasy / Young Adult

'Remember, I tried to stop you. Don't blame me. Remember I tried to warn you.'
Clare is chilled by her mother's warnings to stay away from Ravensmere, the large country house where her mother has taken a private nursing job. But Clare knows she has to go there - it is not a choice but a compulsion. And she only intends to stay a few weeks, anyway, just until she goes to university in the autumn. Ravensmere is a strange, enchanting place, but she grows increasingly disturbed. How come the local villagers appear to know her? Why is she having these odd visions? And who is the attractive, leather-clad stranger who is watching her? What is the power of the Benison and why must she visit the China Garden in the middle of the night? Ravensmere casts a magical spell over Clare, drawing her into a mystery that stretches back over thousands of years. She knows that Ravensmere and the valley are in danger and that time is running out - but will she risk her future to save it? The China Garden is a haunting novel of an ancient legend, family secrets and young love. A heady mixture of romance and mystery.

Basic Summary = Clare, moves out to the country to Ravensmere and leaves London and Adrian, her controlling boyfriend behind. There, she meets Mark, and falls in love with him and begins to discover the secrets behind the saying . . .

Guard Ravensmere well

Its stones and hollows,

Health and prosperity

Always doth follow.

Let Ravensmere die,

Let the land be torn open,

The end of the world

Is surely betokened.

It's a remarkably likable plot full of myth, history, mystery and a little romance. Wasn't too thrilled with the ending since it got a little too Sci-Fi'ish for my taste. The beginning was brilliant though. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of the hidden English estate, an ancient family secret, and the cryptic way the superstitious villagers just "knew" Clare was coming to Ravensmere. I found the whole unraveling of the mother's dark past fascinating as well. Yet, I sadly found myself skipping whole pages to jump ahead in the story. It didn't capture my attention and basically the book had too many sections that just . . . dragged along and then at the end, the story picks up WAY too quickly.

Likes: The mythical vibe the countryside created.

Dislikes: The love story seemed a bit too far fetched/shallow and the fact that Clare and Mark are really cousins . . . um, ew! Too taboo to overlook that one!

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

Ruined by Paula Morris

Ruined
by Paula Morris

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Fantasy / Young Adult

Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city. There's just one catch: Lisette is a ghost. A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle. As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend -- and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey -- she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

Rebecca is left with her 'Aunt' Claudia, a French Quarter Tarot card reader, and her daughter Aurelia while her father is out of the country. Adjusting to a new city, new school, and new friends is harder than she imagined, but after sneaking into a nearby cemetery late one night - her life becomes a lot stranger.

It's a good old New Orleans ghost story! I think I enjoyed this story more for the fact of picking out all the places Rebecca lived, visited, went to school, ate at, and what-not around the city. It's fun to actually have the detailed places set in my mind first and to then build the story around them. It's a good history lesson as well, for the cities past and people. Though it got a bit cheesy at the end, the book throughout was enjoyable and very true to the New Orleans culture.

Likes: Lisette's annual journey to here home through the city.

Dislikes: It became very predictable and the ending happened too quickly for my taste.

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

The Wolf Next Door by Lydia Dare

The Wolf Next Door
(The Westfield Wolves Book #3)
by Lydia Dare

Genre: Paranormal Romance

They can't even be in the same room together...Ever since their failed elopement years ago, Prisca Hawthorne has taunted, insulted, and in every way tried to push him away. If only her heart didn't break every time Lord William Westfield left her...But staying apart is even worse...Lord William throws himself into drinking, gambling, and debauchery and pretends not to care about Prisca at all. But when he returns to find a rival werewolf vying for her hand, he'll stop at nothing to claim the woman who should have been his all along. Can Prisca forgive the unforgivable, or are the moon-crossed lovers going to be forced into a battle of wills that could be fatal?

Will and Prissy have always been at each others throats. Neither are willing to admit that they have romantic feelings for the other; so instead they bicker, they quarrel, they infuriate their friends and family by keeping up a silly facade of hatred, and in like most Regency romances . . . they end up forced into marriage. Yet, the story has a twist with Will and his brothers actually being werewolves. Can the couple's loath for each other be turned into love when Will's wild side becomes known?

I haven't read a good historical romance for a while, so this was fun + it has werewolves (yummy!). I found I read half the book in one sitting and devoured the last half shortly after and considering this was book three in a series, it held strong as a stand alone read. Definitely a sizzling Regency England tale that has gone to the wolves! Of course, I'll be checking out the two previous books in the series since I'd love to see how the other brothers (Simon and Benjamin) fared.

Likes: Will & Prisca's bickering was enjoyable throughout and her brothers were great characters as well.

Dislikes: Not much to dislike: romance - check, humor - check, historical - check. Good!

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

Seven Tears into the Sea by Terri Farley

Seven Tears into the Sea
by Terri Farley

Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

Gwen Cooke was 10 years old when chronic sleepwalking led her onto a midnight beach and into a world of Celtic magic, mystery and danger. Was her encounter with a boy with dark, slightly tilted eyes a dream? Were the words he whispered before vanishing, a spell? In the wake of gossip over what really happened to Gwen, her family moved away from their seaside home and Gwen never saw the boy again. Now seventeen, Gwen is returning to her childhood home. She says it's because her grandmother asked for her help at the Sea Horse Inn. But Gwen knows it's time to go back for another reason: She yearns for the sea. Perhaps the sea itself is calling to her. Perhaps the memory of the boy and his haunting words are drawing her back to the place they met. Perhaps it's time for her to face her destiny.

It's been seven years since Gwen has visited the seaside community that once was her home. At 17, she's decided to help out at her Grandmother's coastal inn for the summer and try to figure out what exactly happened years earlier when her family fled the place. On her first day, she meets Jesse and he finally starts to shine some light on her past and what is to come.

This book was full of mystery, romance, and old-time community folk lore. I enjoyed it a lot since it brought to life a not-so-well-known myth (Scottish Selkie) that was a fun twist to the traditional mermaid stories. It's definitely a quick/lite read, easy to get caught up in and the ending will keep you wanting more and googling if there's a sequel (which sadly . . . there's isn't one) once you reach the last page! Good Summer Read!!!

Likes: It's a perfect balance of enchantment and suspense.

Dislikes: The story was too short (I wanted more!) and the reader understands things a lot quick than Gwen does.

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

A Kiss in Time
by Alex Flinn

Genre: Fairy Tale / Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

An agreeable, fluffy expansion of "Sleeping Beauty," this novel conflates the traditional story with that of an American teenage boy. Talia (the princess) has the world's most overprotective parents—not without reason, of course. Seventeen-year-old Jack's parents think about him only when they are criticizing him. When he awakens Talia with a kiss, she is thrust more than 300 years into a future in the 21st century. The learning curve is steep (and not entirely consistent) but readers will laugh at the pair's escapades as they depart Europe for Florida, try to pass Talia off as a modern Belgian girl, and come to new understandings with their respective parents.

Told from two different perspectives, you see Talia vainly wishing for more in life and Jack running away from the privlidges he's given. Totally normal teenagers caught in a not-so-normal situation.

Overall, it's a cute and fun read. Something easy to jump into for a quick escapism. I liked the modern day concept of "Sleeping Beauty" and how Talia grew throughout the story. Both are amazingly annoying at times, but what true teenager wouldn't be in their circumstance. If your into fairy tales and want a book to pass the time for the beach or bath - this is a nice one.

Likes: That party-boy-slacker Jack enjoys . . . of all things . . . landscaping. That's nice.

Dislikes: That modeling had to be thrown into the concept, why? B/c it's set in modern day Florida? What was the big deal about visiting the modeling agency for ONE day? Don't get it.

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

A Certain Slant of Light
by Laura Whitcomb

Genre: Dark Fantasy / Young Adult

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: For the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen--terrified, but intrigued--is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

Helen died 130 years ago and since then she has occupied various bodies. She's not exactly a ghost, but she depends on her hosts immensely since she's avoiding what happens after death. Her first host was a poet, heavily hinted to be Emily Dickenson, (thus the title of the book is pulled from her own poetry) and the latest an English teacher, Mr. Brown. It's a lonely existence for Helen - never to be seen, heard, or even feel for herself again, but one day, at school, someone mysteriously sees past her host and slowly awakens her to other possibilities.

There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the heft
Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings, are.

None may teach it anything,
'T is the seal, despair,
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The concept was so unique, so poetic, and so disturbing that I was hooked from the first page. It was enthralling to read the different types of existence Helen has with her hosts and the type of person James helps her become. It's the perfect mixture of grittiness and sensuality to stir the imagination - a must read!

Likes: That it's simply a beautiful and haunting love story.

Dislikes: The image of a purgatory parallel to our own life. Scary!

Rating:

SEE FULL POST

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study
(Study Series Book #1)
by Maria V. Snyder

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult

Shivers, obsession, sleepless nights—these are the results not of one of the milder poisons that novice food-taster Yelena must learn during her harrowing job training but of newcomer Snyder's riveting fantasy that unites the intelligent political focus of George R.R. Martin with a subtle yet potent romance. Through a stroke of luck, Yelena escapes execution in exchange for tasting the food of the Commander, ruler of Ixia. Though confined to a dank prison cell and doomed to a painful death, Yelena slowly blooms again, caught up in castle politics. But some people are too impatient to wait for poison to finish off Yelena. With the help of Valek, her steely-nerved, cool-eyed boss and the Commander's head of security, she soon discovers that she has a starring role to play in Ixia's future—a role that could lead to her being put to death as a budding magician even if she hits each cue perfectly.

At the beginning of the book, Yelena is on the cutting block - literally - she's next in line for the noose for committing the sin of murder. Yet, at the last moment, she is offered the position of the Commander's food taster and she jumps at it. What she doesn't learn is that this position is NOT held for long due to the many poisons often placed within the Commander's meal, thus, the cursed position is always forced upon a soon-to-be executed prisoner. While secretly plotting to escape her new occupation, she is trained by Valek (the Commander's master strategist) to smell, see, and experience the side effects of what poisons she is consuming - not enjoyable lessons for a girl with strong & stubborn survival instincts.

I found this book intriguing and somewhat refreshing to read. The time-setting, character backgrounds, and story plot was fascinating as well. Plus - the reader, throughout Poison Study, becomes aware that Yelena is hiding a secret that she herself can do magic, an even bigger sin during her time. There's also so many twists and hidden surprises throughout Poison Study, that I found it hard to stop reading at the end of a chapter - something I always love in a book. It's indeed different from most stories out there, but I'm excited to check out the next book - Magic Study - in the series.

Likes: How ruthless Valek can be . . . yummy!

Dislikes: How frustrated you get at Yelena's previous benefactor and those under his command.

Rating:

SEE FULL POST