Review: Significance by Shelly Crane
Significance
(Significance, #1)
Shelly Crane
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: June 12, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Rating:
Maggie is a seventeen year old girl who’s had a bad year. She was smart and on track, but then her mom left, her dad is depressed, she’s graduating – barely – and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has.
Then she saves the life of Caleb and instantly knows there’s something about him that’s intriguing. But things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally.
They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she’s ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive.
Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb’s enemies know he’s imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him.
Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?
This book reminded me a lot of Twilight. You had the boy sneaking in her bedroom window, the main character’s parents are divorced and she’s living with her father, the girl meeting the boys family and everyone instantly loving her, people of his kind attacking her to get to him, her friend becoming possessive and challenging her boyfriend at every turn, her needing to prepare herself to leave her father to make a life with the boy because humans can’t know about their kind, therefore she must disappear… oh and there is even a Bella and Alice in this one. All the Twilight flags were flying even before the author felt the need to add that one of the characters love Twilight. For me… this kind of took away from the book. There were so many similarities to the Twilight saga that I kind of didn’t feel like I was reading a new book but rather fan-fiction.
What I did like about this book was that the author thought outside the box about this imprinting thing. I mean, whatever Caleb is (I never did fully grasp it), they don’t imprint on humans. Actually they haven’t been imprinting in years and there is a huge rule about dating and procreating outside of imprinting. Imagine how messy things could get if after 20 years of marriage and two kids, your husband shakes the hand of your new neighbor who just moved in and #BAM# he’s all of a sudden obsessed with them. Yeah, that’s kind of how the imprinting work. So the whole no dating rule made sense. I even liked that when you imprint you come into a certain power. That power then helps keep your clan (family) safe from other clans.
Like I said there were things I liked about the book and disliked. I also felt that the book was quite winded in some parts and found myself skimming through certain areas. I think the book could use a good polishing but the base story was good. However, I don’t think I will be continuing on with this series.
“You don’t love people for what they can give you. You don’t love them because of what they do for you or how good you make them look.”
Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers
Alienated
By: Melissa Landers
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: Feb. 4, 2014
Genre: YA Sci-Fi Romance
Rating:
Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.
Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.
Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.
But when Cara’s classmates get swept up by anti-L’eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn’t safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara’s locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.
Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she’s fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.
Cara’s been selected to be one of the few chosen from the world to take part in the first ever L’eihr exchange program. A L’eihr (alien) will come down to earth and shadow a human, enroll in their school and learn their ways. When the time is up the roles will be reversed and the human will go to L’eihr and do the same. You can guess that the humans don’t take to kindly to the aliens coming to earth. It doesn’t take long until Cara’s receiving threats. Little does she know that the panic over the L’eihr’s being on earth may have some warrant.
This was a light sci-fi romance. The author does a great job creating a story and keeping the reader entranced from the start. I will admit that I had been in a book slump until I read Alienated. I was starting to think it was just me, but this book immediately lifted my mood. Sure the story was a teensy bit predictable. However, the author still managed to throw in some curve balls throughout the story that I didn’t see coming.
She also took the time to explain the difference between L’eihr’s and humans. For instance, L’eihr’s don’t really feel emotions. They don’t do physical contact and they don’t celebrate birthdays. There was a pretty big cultural difference for Aelyx when he arrived on earth. The author did a great job not over playing it but rather letting it just blend into the story.
I liked that Landers took the time to explain the L’eihr presence as well as why the L’eihr and humans have the same DNA and look the same. I’ll be honest, up until that point I was a little miffed that the L’eihr were pretty much human with nothing to really set them apart from humans. I’m not saying throw in a 3rd eye or anything but I wanted something. However, rest assured that the author thought about this and gave an explanation to the similarities.
I also like that she showed neither species being the enemy. Each side had their good points and bad points. You had Cara’s family who embraced Aelyx as if he were their own, while others were picketing outside their yard. Meanwhile, Aelyx’s friend/fellow exchange buddy was hell bent on causing damage to earth so that the peace treaty among the two planets would cease. So there were faults on both sides as well as those willing to make it work.
My only complaint was that there was no indication that the story was jumping forward in time. One minute Cara would be sitting in the kitchen eating cereal and the next thing you know she’s outside looking at a dragonfly. It also did this when changing POV’s between Aelyx and Cara. This really messed with me since I would have to get my bearings in the middle of reading. However, I did read an ARC copy and therefor this issue may have been resolved before being published.
This is an amazing debut novel and I cannot wait to see what happens next in the storyline. It’s a great story for YA, romance, sci-fi lovers alike.
“One by one, she greeted each leader, letting her fingers linger far, far too long, not understanding that she’d given them the human equivalent of an intimate embrace instead of a handshake. When she touched the young male, his lips twitched in an amused grin before he regained his mask of cool superiority.”
Review: Escape From Eden by Elisa Nader
Escape From Eden
By: Elisa Nader
Publisher: Merit Press
Published: Aug. 18, 2013
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Rating:
Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed “Garden of Eden” deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend’s strict but arbitrary rules—even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.
But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound’s façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of each other as they race to stop the Reverend’s paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who’s only concerned about his own secrets?
This was one of those books that you’re either going to really enjoy or your going to hate. One being your take on religion and how devoted you are. Some people may be offended by this book. I however, am going to hell, so I found the book to be entertaining.
Mia lives in Edenton. A place that’s barricaded off from the world and it’s technologies. Everyone blindly follows their beloved Reverend. This man can do no wrong, even when he outwardly poisons his own “flock”. I mean, God hates greedy people apparently and you greedy lil’ bastards must pay for your sins via death. *nods head* Sure. I mean the Reverend was only carrying out the Lord’s command. *shrugs shoulders* Are you believing the B.S that I’m giving you? No? Yeah, well it didn’t fly with Mia either. Unfortunately, everyone else was nodding along in understanding as their flock members were dying a horrible death. Thus, the reason why Mia wants to escape. The Reverend is a demented masochist and his flock is a bunch of blind sheep being lead to their own slaughter while singing the praises of their saviors, the Reverend and the Lord up above.
The people staying there weren’t necessarily stupid but they were brainwashed into believing there was nothing else for them and that this was their only salvation. *rolls eyes* Although it was comforting to know that not everyone was as brainwashed as they appeared. Mia and Gabriel being among them. Although Mia had her moments that if I were Gabriel I would have just left her behind because she could see what was going on, knew it was wrong but would still have her doubts.
My one complaint was Gabriel. Why does he have to be your typical bad boy? Why not a geeky guy with glasses who’s parents just decided to up and join the cult… er I mean Edenton? He was your generic hot/cold bad boy giving out mixed signals left and right.
I liked that the author took a risk with her debut novel. Not only is it a crazy subject but there are various layers of taboo mixed in with a few dashes of suspense that I was captivated from the get go.
“You know, Gabriel,” Juanita said, “the word bridge isn’t used in the Bible.”
“It’s not?” Gabriel asked and I couldn’t help feeling he was humoring us. “And why is that?”
Juanita’s face fell as she remembered one of the Reverend’s sermons.
“Because,” I said, reciting what I could recall, “God’s people must pass through the dangerous currents of suffering and death, not simply ride over them.”
“Suffering and death for God’s people, huh?” Gabriel peered down into the ditch. “I guess if I was going to fly my atheist flag, now would be the time.”
Hi. I’m Elisa. I like cheese and reading and TV show marathons. Writing is scary, but not as scary as, say, Civil War amputations. I’m an Aquarius. Uh… let’s see… I’m not very good at writing my own biography. Or autobiography. I guess this is reading more like a slightly incoherent personal ad.
Review: Where You’ll Find Me by Erin Fletcher
Where You’ll Find Me
By: Erin Fletcher
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Published: Jan. 7, 2014
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Rating:
When Hanley Helton discovers a boy living in her garage, she knows she should kick him out. But Nate is too charming to be dangerous. He just needs a place to get away, which Hanley understands. Her own escape methods (vodka, black hair dye, and pretending the past didn’t happen) are more traditional, but who is she to judge?
Nate doesn’t tell her why he’s in her garage, and she doesn’t tell him what she’s running from. Soon, Hanley’s trading her late-night escapades for all-night conversations and stolen kisses. But when Nate’s recognized as the missing teen from the news, Hanley isn’t sure which is worse: that she’s harboring a fugitive, or that she’s in love with one.
What would you do if you found a guy living in your garage? First thought is to call the cops and kick him out. Hanley does kick him out but decides to leave it at that. Then a cold front comes through with barely above 0* temperature and she finds herself inviting him back into the garage to stay warm. She doesn’t want another death on her conscious. From there the two talk and find a companionship that they can’t find with others. They may now know each others secrets but they know what it’s like to have them.
The author did a great job with keeping this story believable. It wasn’t so absurd that Hanley would feel the need to help another person by offering the same living quarters that they were using for who know how long before she found out. When I was younger I would sneak stray cats into the house in the middle of the night when my parents were asleep. Well first I’d sneak them into the front hallway to the apartments to get them out of the snow and when the coast was clear, I’d sneak them into the house. Granted, stray cats and stray humans are two different things, I could see the whole saving a stray human thing. HaHa
The romance built up slowly so there was no “love at first sight”. Hanley is weary of Nate (as she should be) but decides to help him out. Over time they find common ground and start to build a relationship. I liked that the two didn’t instantly fall in love. Yeah, there was interest between the two but that was it.
However, the ending I found to be a bit to over the top. I was on board up until that point. I won’t go into detail but the ending is the biggest HEA I’ve ever seen. I just felt like some of the parent’s responses were over the top.
In the end this was a great debut novel for Erin Fletcher. I will be keeping my eye out for more of her work.
“I think sometimes it’s easier to pretend to be okay than it is to admit weakness.”
Erin Fletcher is a morning person who does most of her writing before sunrise while drinking excessive quantities of coffee, believes flip-flops qualify as year-round footwear, and would spend every day at the beach if she could. She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics (which is almost never useful when writing books) and lives in North Carolina.
Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Stolen
A Letter to My Captor
By: Lucy Christopher
Publisher: Chicken House Ltd
Published: May 4, 2009
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:
It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.
This is my story.
A letter from nowhere.
Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?
The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don’t exist – almost.
This was such and interesting an compelling story. I wasn’t even 50 pages in and I was reading excerpts to my co-workers. Which in turn creeped them out, made them question what I was reading, and then they turned around and added it to their book list. This entire story is written as if she were writing a letter to Ty, her kidnapper. She recollects her time in the airport with her parents, meeting Ty at the coffee shop, being drugged and ultimately waking up in the middle of the desert with nothing in sight.
We relive everything that Gemma went through from start to finish. Everything she thinks, feels and experiences all sort of become a jumbled mess towards the end, which in turn confuses not only Gemma but the reader as well. We start to think, yes Ty’s a bad guy for kidnapping her, no one can detest that, but he’s not so bad. You know the author did an amazing job writing the story when the reader starts to develop Stockholm syndrome as well.
There wasn’t really a point where I thought the story to be unbelievable or that Gemma wasn’t trying hard enough to escape. At first she doesn’t eat or drink, then she tries to commit suicide. She even ventures off into the desert twice trying to find civilization only to have Ty come and save her when she would’ve ultimately died out there. Then there’s this sort of hopelessness that this is it. There’s no hope of escaping because they are literally in the middle of the desert with nothing and no one around.
“I’d always kept a small seed of hope alive, hope that I’d be able to escape. But suddenly I realized something. That view of sand and endlessness… that was it, that was my life. Unless you took me back to a town, that was all I’d ever see. No more parents or friends or school. No more London. Only you. Only the desert.”
This was a thriller and then it wasn’t. At first I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would become of Gemma, then I started to understand that Ty just wanted company in his lonely isolated life and wasn’t going to hurt Gemma but in the back of my mind I knew my softness towards Ty was completely wrong and there was nothing I could really do to think of him as the monster that he was when he showed the softer side of him. And that right there is why this story is amazing. This story was a complete mind game for me. Kudos to the author for writing an awesome story.
“People should love what needs loving.” -Ty
Review: Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin
Becoming Alpha
(Alpha Girl, #1)
By: Aileen Erin
Publisher: Ink Monster
Published: Dec. 17, 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Rating:
Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind.
But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves.
Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.
When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems.
Tessa’s life has not been easy. Ever since she was little she’d get visions/memories from a person when she made skin-skin contact with them. So suffice to say, she doesn’t have any friends. When her father gets a job in Texas, resulting in their move, she finds herself starting over. No one knows about her freakish ability or why she wears gloves. So she’s now making friends and hiding her abilities pretty well. But when a boy from the local St. Alibe’s school kisses her a little to roughly, she finds herself the outcast again. That’s not the worst part though. She’s sent away to St. Alibe’s which is a school for werewolves. Which is exactly what Tessa is now. Like she didn’t already have enough on her plate as it was.
Tessa’s had a very lonely life. So when everything goes down and she finds herself in St. Alibe’s, she starts to make friends. She isn’t the weird one anymore. However, it does take her sometime to get used to the school and there are a couple of times where she tries to run away. Which is where the cover comes in. There’s a scene where she’s running through the woods being chased by Dastien and other wolves to stop her from running away. (I just love when a cover connects with the story)
Dastien wasn’t my favorite as far as “heroes” go. He would be strong and stoic one minute and then turn tail abandon Tessa and run the next. Oh and the whole thing with him hanging out with his ex-girlfriend/best friend or whatever the heck they were was not okay. I liked Tessa’s character so much more for not only standing up to Dastien but to the girl as well. She showed a lot of backbone and she got a lot of respect from me for it.
Aileen’s debut novel is pretty awesome. The world building is stellar and the characters, whether likable or not, really shone through. I’m interested to see what comes next for Tessa, Dastien and the gang. This is a great addition to the young adult paranormal romance genre.
“My face was intently hot as he laughed. Holy Freudian slip, Batman. Leave it to me to tell the hottest guy ever that one of my favorite song’s chorus was a guy yelling about how he wants to fu– ‘do’ them like an animal.”
Review: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Crash Into You
(Pushing the Limits, #3)
By: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: Nov. 26, 2013
Genre: Contemporary YA
Rating:
The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that’s who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers…and she’s just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can’t get him out of her mind.
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they’ll go to save each other.
In the first book we read about Noah, Isaiah’s roommate/best friend. Then we got Beth’s story who was staying with her aunt and uncle who just so happened to be Isaiah’s foster parents and also where Noah lived. This time we finally got Isaiah’s story and it was well worth the wait.
In the previous two books it was no secret how Isaiah felt about Beth. However she broke his heart in the last book and he’s still pretty pissed over the whole thing. So he’s not looking to hand his heart over to some rich chick who doesn’t even know how deep she’s in when she shows up to do street racing. But when they find themselves in really hot waters over that night, that’s exactly what ends up happening.
I’m really excited that we finally got Isaiah’s story. I felt so bad for him in the last book. He still has it really rough in this book and you dive more into his time in child services but he finds someone to help him through the pain. I really liked getting an inside look at his character because he’s very loyal to those around him even though he’s been through some horrific situations.
“‘Did you really meet her inside a dumpster?’
When he doesn’t answer immediately, I sneak a peek out of the corner of my eye. His hands are on his hips as he stares at the floor. ‘Yeah. We were both looking for food.’
I close my eyes as my heart aches. I can’t imagine what his life has been like.”
I even enjoyed Rachel’s character. At first when the story starts off with a rich girl who wants to race her car, I thought to myself that she was going to be one of those high and mighty chicks. However, she likes to get down and dirty with cars. She hides this side of herself from her family since they want her to be someone who she isn’t but deep down she’s a really cool chick and was a pleasure to read.
I think the family drama that the author introduced to the readers on Rachel’s side was a bit bizarre. I mean, who has a replacement child for one that they’ve lost? And the fact that everyone plays along with it was weird. I suppose that in the end it added an extra layer to the story but it was just weird.
I will say that the drama aspect between Isaiah and Rachel trying to come up with $5,000 within a couple of weeks was a huge plus. There were times where my heart was racing wondering if they’d ever make the money in time before the head honcho street thug, Eric, came to collect. Whether is was money or bodies, he was going to collect in the end. Yup, that part definitely loomed over my head the entire book and the author made sure that you never forgot about the impending doom.
“On her own? She’ll get herself killed, and that’ll take my already-serious problems with Eric into the realm of lethal. If he hurts her, he’ll die. And then his boys will hunt me like a dog and take me down. My goal is to get us the fuck out of this situation without all that Romeo and Juliet bullshit.”
I wish there was more hashed out in the end since there’s still more left to their story in my opinion. Hopefully since the next book deals with Rachel’s brother, West, we will get more Isaiah and Rachel and I will get more closure with them. Or the author could write a follow-up story on them. I’d be totally cool with that too.
“Maybe this is what happens when you fall in love. On the outside a lighter is nothing amazing, but it holds all the ingredients that can create something wonderful. With a few pushes in the right direction, you can inspire something so brilliant that it pushes back the darkness.”
Review: Betwixt by Melissa Pearl
Betwixt
(Betwixt, #1)
By: Melissa Pearl
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Nov. 5, 2012
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:
Beautiful, wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.
Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.
Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?
When walking home from a party one night, Nicole is hit by a car and left for dead in the middle of nowhere. She finds herself having out of body experiences where no one can hear her except for Dale, the guy who she humiliated 4 months ago. He’s the last guy that would want to help her but he’s her only chance at getting help before it’s too late.
This was definitely an interesting story that balanced between paranormal, romance and thriller. You have Nicole who’s essentially a ghost, the awkward attraction between Dale and Nicole and the fact that when Nicole wakes up in her body, there are people looking to kill her so that she can’t tell the authorities what happened. It was a nice combination of the three.
However, I couldn’t really connect with Nicole. She was so ridiculously bitchy. She was mean to everyone, even Dale who was trying to help her. She was very insensitive and stuck her nose up at everything, even if it meant saving herself. I understand that something bad happened to her to make her lose control but her personality was not one that I enjoyed reading. I sort of felt bad for Dale who was being haunted by her. I’d have totally understood if this were a short story ending with him just ignoring her.
Dale however was the saving grace for me. Even though Nicole humiliated him and started his new nickname “Scarface”, he still decides to help her. Since call him Scarface, everyone in the school calls him that, which leaves him with very few friends in the school. So again, I wouldn’t have faulted him if he’d just pretended like he couldn’t hear Nicole when she came calling for help. But he was the bigger person and did everything he could to try to save her, even if she continued to insult him while he was doing so.
This was definitely a fun read. I liked that even though I didn’t like the main character at the beginning, or even through the majority of it, she starts to come down from her pedestal and starts to see what her actions have been causing. She realizes she has a lot going for her and that she was throwing it away. After a while she starts to come around full circle and isn’t such an annoyance to read.
I wouldn’t say that I was surprised by who the driver was but I was a little surprised by the ending. I felt like it was a tiny bit rushed. I mean we build up to this one moment and then when everything is all said and done, they are walking around acting like they’ve nothing to worry about because nothing happened. I don’t know, I just felt like it needed a little more oomph at the end.
“I hope no one can see him. What kind of moron randomly opens their front door, shirtless, and waves to the air?”
Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan… not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. “Best. Year. Ever!!” She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has produced four more books and has a YA fantasy trilogy coming out this year. Unknown and Unseen (The Elements Trilogy) out now!
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Betwixt
Beautiful, wild-child, Nicole Tepper, is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.
Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?
Before
In this prequel to Betwixt, find out who Dale Finnigan was before he became known as“scar-face”—the unassuming hero everyone underestimates.Beyond
In this sequel to Betwixt, find out how Nicole Tepper proves to Dale that she loves him beyond all common sense.
Review: Rewrite Redemption by J.H. Walker
Rewrite Redemption
By: J.H. Walker
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: January 25, 2013
Genre: Sci/Fi YA
Rating:
She’s sixteen. He’s seventeen. They don’t know each other…at least not yet.
She has a secret and her whole life revolves around keeping it. Every few months and with little warning, she simply disappears, pulled into the past for hours or even days. She’s terrified it will happen in front of someone, changing her life forever. So far, the only witnesses have been her parents, and that didn’t end well. She has no control over it and no idea why it happens to her.
She wants answers.
He has answers—at least he understands what’s going on. He has a secret, too. He’s part of an organization that goes back in time to rewrite reality. But he also has a problem. He broke the organization’s number-one rule by altering his own timeline. As punishment, he’s been blocked from time travel, which is most unfortunate. Because the changes he made to his timeline, accidentally resulted in disaster for his family. A disaster he’s now prevented from repairing. No one can travel beneath the organization’s radar except a Shadow. But they’re rare, so rare he’s never even met one.
Then he moves to her town.
A.J. travels back in time with little to no warning. She has no idea why/how she does it but it’s been happening since she was a baby. As a result of this phenomenon, her mother went crazy and killed herself and her father uses alcohol to get through the day. She goes through her days trying to remain invisible as much as possible. It isn’t until a new guy shows up at school that she begins to realize that she can go back in time and rewrite her future.
This was such an interesting concept. I’ve read time travel books before but nothing like this. There is a guild that’s sole purpose is to oversea the time travels and make sure that any threat to the world is taken out before an apocalypse can happen. Guys like Constantine go back in time and edit the past to make a better future. However, A.J. is a whole different thing. She time travels at will without the guilds approval or knowledge. She’s what they call a Shadow.
Due to one tiny alteration Constantine made in his past, his current life is hell and he no longer has his Editor abilities to fix it. His family is falling apart and it’s all his fault. When he comes across A.J. he comes up with a plan. Get to know the girl and have her help him go back in the past and fix his mistake. However, it becomes clear that she’s more than just a random Shadow.
Even though I really enjoyed the story, I did have some hang ups. There was of course the insta-love. These two go from not knowing each other to falling in love. I understand that it’s supposed to be this whole alien soul mates thing but I’d have liked the love to be a bit more slow building. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the mega info dump when Constantine tells Lex all about the Guild and what it all means. I felt a bit overwhelmed.
However, this was a whole new world for me. I’ve read time travel books before but never one like this that dealt with the actual person having a tweak in their DNA strand allowing them to time travel. I liked that we went back in time with A.J. and experienced the disorientation when she lands and has to figure out what to do next. Especially since she isn’t intending to time travel so she isn’t always prepared. I think my favorite part is when A.J. goes back in time twice and come across a Native American named, Hosa. I wish we’d have spent a little more time with his characters since I found him very fascinating.
This was a very interesting take on a time travel story. I liked that the author thought outside of the box with this one and brought new items to the table of time travel.
“I might have won the lottery but I hadn’t cashed in the ticket yet. And until you have the money in your hand, you don’t have the prize.”
J.H. grew up in Central America. She now lives in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies with her photographer husband and many, many books. In addition to her never-ending study of human behavior, she’s a political junkie and a certified tree hugger. Rewrite Redemption is her debut novel.
