Young Adult

Review: Forever and Forever by Josi S. Kilpack

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01 for Oh, how my heart is happy!! I must admit when I first picked this book up, I kept wracking my brain to who this Longfellow was. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. So I googled it and found my answer and was greatly distraught afterwards. I’m not one for book spoilers and that basically told me how his story ended, not how the book ended. I realize Forever and Forever is their love story, but to know the final part, was almost more than my heart was prepared for. So I sat down and read with a heavy heart and began their journey.

When we first meet Fanny, she’s an 18 yr old with not a care in the world. Very young and immature at times. Most women her age were looking for husbands, but not her. She was content with living under her father’s roof and off his money. She wasn’t cruel or evil, mind you, just very immature. I found as I was reading, I really wanted to shake some sense into her. She was making me so very angry with her attitude towards Henry Longfellow.

Henry was a widower and a professor, when he first laid eyes one Fanny. I loved him instantly. He loved and lost and you knew he wasn’t just going to give his heart away to anyone. He wasn’t even looking for anyone, until he stumbled upon Fanny. Slowly he started to fall for her and spent 7 years convincing her to give him a chance.

And forever and forever,
As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;

The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.

As I said before, I knew how their story ended, so I spent most of the book quite angry at Fanny for dismissing him so easily. He was so romantic with his poems and books. She didn’t deserve him, but he loved her and was patiently waiting for God to change one of their hearts. By the time I was done, I had tears flowing. She wasted so many years being stubborn. I’m just glad they had time at all.

Now this book isn’t classified as Christian romance, but it could be. God is mentioned a few times, but it’s a very good balance. Religion was a very important part of this history, so I find it refreshing.

Forever and Forever is my first book by Josi, but I know it won’t be my last.

~Melpomene

Buy FOREVER AND FOREVER.

Review: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

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I love it when authors put their own unique twist on classic stories and fairytales.  Bonus points if their version is even more dark and twisted than the original.  This is what you get with the latest from Lisa Maxwell.

We all know the story of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.  The story from my childhood places Peter in the role of hero, saving all who are lost.  And the Neverland I remember was a magical place full of swashbuckling fun with a dash of danger thrown in.

This is not the story we grew up with.  This Neverland is full of deadly secrets at every turn.  There are more beasts than you can keep track of.  And death is a regular occurrence.  Oh and Peter?  He may not be what you remember.  This Peter is more sinister and conniving. And then there’s Captain Hook.  Because what would a Peter Pan story be without a bad guy?  But maybe Hook isn’t really the bad guy.  Or maybe he is.

This is what Gwendolyn has to decide for herself.  Her entire life has been spent moving from place to place.  Just as soon as she gets settled, her mom uproots them yet again.  She has a good reason.  They are running from monsters, after all.  To Gwen, this is just more of her mom’s eccentric behavior.  So when they end up in London, she doesn’t take any of the warnings seriously.  Keep the windows closed, don’t turn off the lights…

And when she doesn’t heed these warnings, bad things happen.  In the form of dark shadowy creatures who swoop in and capture Gwen along with her friend Olivia.  When Gwen wakes up, she finds herself on the ship of the infamous Captain Hook.  She knows the story, so she knows he’s not the good guy.  So she escapes and is rescued by Peter Pan.

Here’s where the story takes even more twists and turns.  Gwen quickly realizes that Pan may not be what he seems.   And it would appear that she holds the key to saving herself and Olivia.  Maybe her mom wasn’t so crazy after all…

This was such a fun book to read.  The author has a way with words and is able to create magical worlds that transport the reader.  While staying close to the original storyline, she still gives us a fantastical alternate version.  Add this one to your list!

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Unhooked

Review: A Lady’s Favor by Josi S. Kilpack

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01 alady I just finished this sweet romance and my heart is so very content and happy. A Lady’s Favor is short novella that will have you swooning and smiling all over the place.

Bianca is under the constant attention of a very pompous, Lord Strapshire. No matter what she does, she can’t sway him away. Even though she hasn’t spoken to Mathew, since the embarrassing “incident” a few years ago, she has asked for his help, in trying to persuade Lord Strapshire to move along.

Mathew is still quite embarrassed from causing Bianca such comfortableness, years ago, but he is thrilled to be asked for his help, even if it’s only to repay his debt to her. But soon he quickly realizes that he isn’t playing a game and he doesn’t want her to think that anymore.

I loved Mathew. He was a great friend to her and I liked being in his head. Watching him go from acquaintance to friend to more, was so much fun. He may have done foolish things, but when it counted he stepped up and helped her out.

If you like sweet romances, I highly recommend A Proper Romance titles. They will make your romantic heart happy.

~Melpomene

Buy A Lady’s Favor.

Review: Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

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01 aa This is another book that I can’t wait til my daughter can read it. This story is filled with a very real problem, cyber bullying. It’s a real issue and it happens more than we know. I swear to you, I never read the blurb, so I had nothing to go on. So when I realized what was happening, I was just sick. In my head, I kept trying to figure out a way to help her. I realize this story is fiction, but to many, it isn’t.

SYNOPSIS
One moment of recklessness will change their worlds

Smart. Responsible. That’s seventeen-year-old Breanna’s role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully’s line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas “Razor” Turner into her life.

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don’t belong. But when he learns she’s being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it’s time to step outside the rules.

And so they make a pact: he’ll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she’ll help him seek answers to the mystery that’s haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they’re both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they’re going from here.

Razor!!! Oh, how I really like him. I had no idea this boy, we met in Nowhere But Here, had so much going on in his head. He’s been floundering for a few years. Struggling to come to terms with something that happened in his past. But it all changes when he meets Breanna. Something clicks. And now he knows what he wants, and he knows how he’s going to get it, even if it costs him his family.

I must admit, my stomach was twisting all over the place, with Breanna. My heart broke for her. She has been struggling with who she is as a person, a daughter, a sister and a friend. No one understands her. She is wired differently than most. Sad to say, but people don’t seem to accept differences, especially teens. The tipping point, for her, is now dealing with a bully. She wants help but she doesn’t know who to ask or how to ask.

It’s so hard being a teenager in this world. On a personal note, I’ve had to deal with this as a teenager and I will say, it SUCKED. You’re afraid to tell anyone, at the risk of making it worse. But cyber-bullying is a whole new thing. It’s 10 times worse.

This is another fabulous installment of Thunder Road series that dealt with real life problems. This book had me on the edge of my seat quite a few times. My heart was hammering in my chest and my nerves were wrecked. Razor and Breanna both had serious issues that required help from others, but neither wanted to go and ask. They thought they could do it alone but you need family to help sometimes. And this book is all about family.

~Melpomene

Buy Walk the Edge (Thunder Road)

Meet Razor and all the gang in Nowhere but Here (Thunder Road)

Review: Love, Lies & Spies by Cindy Anstey

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01 love A sweet romance filled with intrigue and early 19th century charm.

I was completely taken in by the cover. It looked like something I would enjoy and I was right. So cute!!

SYNOPSIS
Juliana Telford is not your average nineteenth-century young lady. She’s much more interested in researching ladybugs than marriage, fashionable dresses, or dances. So when her father sends her to London for a season, she’s determined not to form any attachments. Instead, she plans to secretly publish their research.

Spencer Northam is not the average young gentleman of leisure he appears. He is actually a spy for the War Office, and is more focused on acing his first mission than meeting eligible ladies. Fortunately, Juliana feels the same, and they agree to pretend to fall for each other. Spencer can finally focus, until he is tasked with observing Juliana’s traveling companions . . . and Juliana herself.

From the very first chapter title and sentence, I was hooked. In fact, I read the first page to my kids, while they were eating lunch, and my daughter said she wants to read it. THAT right there is a good sign.

I was totally taken in by Juliana’s quirks. She seemed to get into trouble, without even trying. All she wants to do is stay out of the limelight and avoid any suitors, but the more she tries to be invisible the more she’s noticed, and sometimes not by the best people.

Spencer has a mission to do, and it doesn’t include falling in love. Actually, that’s the farthest thing from his mind. That is until he sets his eyes on a bewitching young lady with a talent for trouble.

There’s something to be said for the friends to lovers stories. Those are the some of the best. The heart wants what the heart wants and even if you, or anyone else, try and stop it, it always wins in the end.

“There are not enough superlatives in the English language to capture even a tenth of my emotions.”

~Melpomene

Release date: April 19th
Preorder Love, Lies and Spies

Review: How Many Letters Are In Goodbye? by Yvonne Cassidy

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9780738747453I love stories told in alternate writing styles. When you read as much and for as many years as I have, you gotta mix things up from time to time! Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does. In this case, it’s a bit of the first but much of the latter.

Rhea’s had a rough life by anyone’s standards. Her mom dies before she can hardly remember her, a tragic accident causes the loss of her arm, her dad drinks too much, she’s struggling with her sexual identity…the list goes on and on. When her dad dies and she’s sent to live with an aunt she hardly knows, it’s just too much. So she runs away, fleeing to New York City? Why New York? Because that’s where she feels closest to her mother, where she can immerse herself in her mom’s past as she tries to come to grips with her loss.

She copes by writing letters to her mom. Letters that she’ll never send, of course. Letters that she’s been writing since she was a little girl, way before her life went so far off course. She writes about her grief over her dad’s death. She writes about her confusion and pain over being gay. She writes about living on the streets and all that encompasses. And as she digs deeper into her mom’s past, she writes about buried secrets from long ago.

This is how the story is told. Each chapter is a letter in itself. It works for the most part. The story is easy to follow, and the narrative of Rhea’s letters are plausible and heart-tugging at the same time. The only fault I can find is that, towards the end, they seem to be a bit long-winded and drawn out more than is necessary. But still, a great story!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: How Many Letters Are In Goodbye?

Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

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What can I say about Ruta Sepetys other than she’s amazing?  She has this amazing ability to take a piece of history and weave a complex, compelling piece of fiction around it.  Her latest masterpiece is no exception.

The year is 1945, the place is Prussia.  The war is winding down, but the horrors of it are not.  As thousands of refugees attempt to make their way to safety, we are introduced to several of them.  They each have a story to tell, and secrets to keep.  Their paths converge as one in an attempt to survive.

There’s Joana, a selfless nurse whose only goal is to save people.  There’s young Emilia, harboring a secret far beyond what we are led to believe. And Florian, the knight in shining armor who saves her.  And Alfred Frick…what can I say about him?  He’s shady and secretive and more than a bit unstable.  Is he really going to help save the others from sure death?

Time and again, tragedy strikes in one form or another.  Until finally, towards the very end, the biggest tragedy of all befalls Joana and Emilia and Florian and the others.  And yes, even Alfred Frick.  Some will survive, some will not.

Yet again, historical fiction written by a gifted author has given me new knowledge while telling an outstandingly brilliant story.  The tragedy of the Wilhelm Gustloff  was a real thing, while the tragedy of our characters was not.  But the author makes us feel as if the entire story truly happened.  And that’s exactly what exceptional books do…

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Salt to the Sea

 

Review: A Thousand Nights by E.K.Johnston

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01 thou A fantastical retelling, with a twist.

SYNOPSIS
Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

A Thousand Nights was a total shock to me. And by shock, I mean that I wasn’t even going to read it. Not that I didn’t want to, but that I was grabbing it for my daughter first. But since she was reading something already, I decided to read it before her. And let me tell you, this book was amazing. I was totally engrossed in this story. The scenery was so well developed, I felt like I could actually see everything. The stars, the colors, the clothes…It was so beautiful, even if it’s only in my imagination. E.K.Johnston has a way of telling this story and making you believe that you’re in the story.

Since I only have vague knowledge of the Thousand and One Nights tale, I was going into this sorta blind. But I think that made this story even more special to me. A clean slate, if you will. No preconceived ideas. And I think that actually helped me enjoy it more, honestly.

I think the best part of this story, for me, was that is wasn’t about love, in the sense of romantic love, but about familial love. My teens and their friends like stories about girls who can kick butt, but they’re not always fans of the romance aspect. They want adventure and intrigue. This book will make them SUPER happy. This girl loved her sister and wanted to save her from a certain death. And in volunteering, that way she did, she ended up changing the world around her and bringing an end to this horrible tradition, if you will.

I was lucky enough to take my daughter to meet the author last week. My girlie sat next to me and listened to her talk and make jokes the whole time. When we got into the car, she turned and told me that she needs to read this book ASAP. I call that success. Now, do I let her use my copy with all the post its, or buy her another one….

~Melpomene

Buy A Thousand Nights

At the signing we were told that, in December, she has another releasing another retelling called Spindle. Sleeping Beauty!! I can’t wait!!

Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

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This book is so very much.  It’s a love story, a tale of tragedy, a story of folktales, and a story of the Otherworlds in one ambitious undertaking.

Natalie has always felt different.  No surprise, considering that she’s adopted.  But there’s also the matter of seeing things that others can’t even imagine.  It’s just part of who she is.  And she’s especially comforted by late night visits from “Grandmother”, a kindly elderly apparition.  Grandmother has always been a soothing force in her life, a source of comfort and stability.  Until the night that Grandmother comes with an eerie warning:  “You have three months to save him.”  No other hints or clues as to who this “him” might be.

It’s around this time that she also begins seeing glimpses of another world, with other people.  Sometimes what she sees is familiar but not really.  Like peering through a looking glass into the past.  And she’s not the only one with this ability.  There’s Beau, who of course is handsome and kind and confident and all those wonderful things that teenagers love.  But can he help figure out just who it is that’s in need of saving?

This debut novel by Emily Henry is beautiful.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in, so it took me a bit longer to digest it all.  It’s a somewhat lengthy book at almost 400 pages, but it’s necessary to fully tell the story.  And don’t rush the ending like I did.  As such, I found myself going back to reread on more than one occasion.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  The Love That Split the World

Review: The Traitor in the Tunnel (The Agency #3) by YS Lee

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12143472Yea..Yea…Yea….I know I don’t often give 5 stars to a book…and certainly not one so light and fluffy such as this….but damnit to hell….I so enjoyed this one! I’ve fallen completely in love with Mary and James. In this installment of the series we find Mary working at the Royal Palace as a maid. She is attempting to uncover the mystery of some stolen items. However, nothing is ever so simple with Mary. She soon finds herself involved in murder…and that’s the simplest problem she is trying to work through….

Yes, James is, of course, present in this story, however, during much of this telling, we find Mary alone. She is showing some clearer picture of the strong independent woman she will become. She is even, for some unexpected reason, cut off from her beloved Agency. We eventually find out why….and that sets up the final book beautifully…as well as the final meeting with James at the end of this novel…

I am diving right into the fourth and final book…I can ever remember one time where I read a series back to back like this…and that was Potter…no this isn’t Harry Potter…however, it’s just what my book soul needs…I can’t express just how much I’m enjoying this series. The mystery parts are not the best….they are perhaps even a bit silly…but I don’t care I love them….and I love the time period. My mind is racing to find out more about London during this time period. To find a really fantastic historical read to satisfy my cravings….and I do, so truly adore the banter between Mary and James…

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now The Traitor in the Tunnel by YS Lee