Monday, August 29, 2016

Dance in the Wind by Jennifer Probst


Title: Dance in the Wind (Rising Storm Season One: Episode 4)
Author: Jennifer Probst
Genre: Adult, Contemporary
Length: 93 Pages
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Inc
Release Date: October 5, 2015
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Secrets, Sex and Scandals … 

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming. 

During his time in Afghanistan, Logan Murphy has endured the unthinkable, but reentering civilian life in Storm is harder than he imagined. But when he is reacquainted with Ginny Moreno, a woman who has survived terrors of her own, he feels the first stirrings of hope.



*****
The fourth season of Storm Rising was a bit on the sweeter side, which was actually surprisingly nice! With all the drama, backstabbing, and lies (which I loved) of the previous books, it was nice to take a bit of a breather and watch a couple good things happen in Storm, TX.

Logan has returned and we have a bit of a love story unfolding between him and Ginny. Now, I'm just waiting for this to explode later down the line because of Ginny's potential lie (we really don't know for sure if it's true or not yet). But watching these two people damaged and grieving connect was very beautiful.

Now, there's still some scandal floating around in this one. Our senator is still cheating with the troubled young woman and we see a little bit more into the dynamics on this, but not too much. Just enough to keep it alive in our minds.

I'm eagerly anticipating episode 5, I wonder how long this romance can last before things blow up. Will the senator get caught? What about Lacey and her need for attention? So many questions to be answered!


The Secret Lives of Rockstars by Suzanne Lazear


Saving the world, one tour stop at a time.

Title: The Secret Lives of Rockstars: Book One 

Author: Suzanne Lazear
Publisher: Leap Books
Genre: New Adult Elf Punk, Urban Fantasy
Release Date: September 26, 2016



Saving the world, one tour stop at a time.

Eighteen-year-old Bitsy Butler has never quite fit in, not with the dragons who raised her, the druid who took her in, or even with the non-human members of the cirque noir punk band she thinks of as family. Her chance to prove she can make it on her own comes with her band's first big solo tour. It’s all going according to plan when an angel walks into a bar and demands help with his demon problem. 

If she doesn't step up, a magical war will break out, threatening Arizona and all those who call it home. With the help of a human, a sexy dragon, and the members of her band, Bitsy must stop an angry mob of chaos demons before the band leaves for their next tour stop.

It’s nice to be needed, but Bitsy has no idea how to defeat the demons and she just might get herself killed trying. But then, at least one problem would be solved...

Fitting in doesn’t matter if you’re dead.
Excerpt from The Secret Lives of Rockstars:
“I’m Jake, Jake Messenger. I’d like to speak with you alone, if you please.”
My blood ran cold and everything around us ceased to exist. “Why?”
But I knew. There was only one reason why one of the Grigori would seek me out. Somehow celestials just knew when someone could work gates properly, especially the angels who walked the Earth. Anyone could make gates, but it took a linewalker to work them without it being suicide. Linewalker wasn’t a race, but an inherent ability. One I had.
Also, if the celestials – the angels, demons, and the like – needed help from outsiders, things were very bad. The kind which ended in running, screaming, and death.
I so didn’t need this right now.

About Suzanne Lazear:
Suzanne Lazear spins tales of the fantastic. She’s the author of the New Adult Elfpunk The Secret Lives of Rockstars (Leap Books) and the YA dark fairytale steampunk series The Aether Chronicles (Flux). Suzanne lives in Southern California with her daughter and husband where she’s trying to make tiny dragons out of wool. One day she’ll actually create a working cupcake cannon.

Visit Suzanne on TwitterFacebook, and her website.


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Monday, August 22, 2016

Killer Takeout by Lucy Burdette


Title: Kille Takeout (Key West Food Critic Mystery #7)
Author: Lucy Burdette
Genre: Adult, Cozy Mystery
Length: 304 pages
Publisher: NAL
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Source: Contest
Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

It’s Fantasy Fest at Key West, and food critic Hayley Snow is ready to celebrate. But a killer seems intent on crashing the party. . .

Every year, Key West’s weeklong Mardi Gras–style festival has tourists and locals alike lining up for costumed revelry and delicious eats. Key Zest magazine has assigned Hayley to write a piece on the fest’s grab-and-go food, so she’s planning on hitting up the mobile eateries while checking out the party preparations.

Hayley’s office mate, Danielle, recently elected Queen of Fantasy Fest, is also buzzing between festivities and fundraisers.  But when a former royal rival gets taken out, Hayley needs to put down her party hat and her pen and figure out who served up a side of murder—before Danielle gets crowned a killer. . .
 




Cozy mysteries are always a lot of fun - and for some reason when you throw food into the mix they're even better. I loved the mystery in this one. It was full of twists and turns, false leads, and sudden epiphanies. The setting was incredibly fun and dynamic, with Fantasy Fest (think Mardi Gras) flooding the area with revelers and muddying the waters of the investigation, there was just so much going on.

The Queen of Fantasy Fest may have killed the runner-up, but things are crazier than normal this year. Hayley isn't on the case, but she can't help but ask around when her friend Danielle becomes the prime suspect in the murder. But in true cozy fashion, she manages to think outside the box and head down an unexpected trail.

Once or twice it took a turn that was just a tad too far out there for me. It pushed my ability to suspend belief, but this was full of great characters and a great mystery.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Tangled Lines by Bonnie J Doerr


Title: Tangled Lines
Author: Bonnie J Doerr
Release Date: August 15, 2016
Genre: Middle Grade Eco-Mystery
High school changes everything for Kenzie Ryan and Angelo Sanchez—especially their relationship. After spending all summer cracking crimes against endangered wildlife in Big Pine Key, Florida, now they barely see each other. Angelo hangs out with a Porsche-driving quarterback and a stunning local “Conch princess” and Kenzie struggles with being a newbie among the Key West cliques. 

But high school drama gets over-shadowed when horrific numbers of pelicans are found tortured near the islands where they live. Kenzie begs Angelo to help stop the slaughter, but he refuses until a stunning family secret is revealed. 

When a Sanchez Fish House employee falls under suspicion, the list of suspects explodes, and the discovery of illegal activity exposes Angelo and Kenzie to the same deadly risk faced by the pelicans they are trying to save...


About Bonnie J Doerr:
Bonnie J. Doerr, an avid traveler, gardener, and nature lover, is the acclaimed author of eco-mystery novels for tweens. For over thirty years, she taught reading and writing skills to students of all ages—from kindergarten to college. Ms. Doerr enjoys sharing her ecological research, writing experiences, and educational insights with adults and children. Her work has been described as a “mashup of Jean Craighead George and Carl Hiaasen” by some and as a “teen detective series inspired by Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys by others. Her work has been honored by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) with a grant for its use in environmental education and has been included in Milkweed Editions literary field guides. She lives in a log cabin on the edge of a historic park in North Carolina.
Learn more about Bonnie at www.BonnieDoerrBooks.com.

Follow Bonnie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.


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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Crosswinds by Elisabeth Naughton ~ Review


Title: Crosswinds (Rising Storm Season One: Episode Three)
Author: Elisabeth Naughton
Genre: New Adult/Adult Contemporary
Length: 85 Pages
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts
Release Date: October 8, 2015
Source: Self-Purchased
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Secrets, Sex and Scandals … 

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming. 

Lacey Salt's world shattered with the death of her brother, and now the usually sweet-tempered girl is determined to take back some control—even if that means sabotaging her best friend, Mallory, and Mallory's new boyfriend, Luis.



Lacey is used to getting everything her way, but every since her brother's death, things haven't gone the way she wanted them to. Feeling left out and ignored at home, she turns her attention to Luis Moreno. But Luis is her best friend's boyfriend. But bored little Lacey thinks she'll play a game. She wants Luis now, and she doesn't care if she hurts Mallory trying to get him.

Luis is a bit blindsided by Lacey's new behavior and isn't quite sure how to handle it. His good friend is turning into a mean girl right before his eyes - but his past crush on her isn't letting him look away. A twisted little triangle is being formed, but that isn't all Mallory will have to deal with.

Crosswinds sets another relationship foundation and we get a deeper look into some of the characters we've met in the past. Things are starting to be all knotted together in a very twisted way.


Storm Rising
Season One

Monday, August 8, 2016

Sunborn Rising by Aaron Safronoff ~ Review


Title: Sunborn Rising (Sunborn Rising #1)
Author: Aaron Safronoff
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 385 Pages
Publisher: Newoglyphic Entertainment
Release Date: May 31, 2016
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Discover award winning author Aaron Safronoff's lavishly illustrated, all-ages fantasy novel Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall. 

Cerulean is on the brink of collapse. The decay wasn't fast, it wasn't obvious, but now the world stands on the precipice.

Woven forests floating on an ocean around a star, Cerulean's once vibrant treescape has grown dim over generations of arboreal life, and the creatures of the forest have forgotten the light.

Barra, a young, willful Listlespur, finds her late father's hidden journal, and reads about his discovery of Cerulean's brighter past and the mysterious plague he believed has all but destroyed it. He warned the Elders. He urged them to take action. Those were his last words...

Together with her two best friends, Barra will rekindle her father's legacy and traverse the Great Forest to relight her world, even if she has to travel beneath the Fall.



Sunborn Rising was an incredibly fun story - and it is perfect for all ages. With bright illustrations and lots of excitement, I could even see some middle grade readers enjoying it. The creatures of Sunborn Rising are vaguely familiar, but still strange and mysterious. Barra is clever and mischievous and will appeal to readers of all ages with her brave, but often foolish, ideas and adventures.

Every page was filled with new and amazing scenery and characters. As Barra and her friends venture from the treetops do the depths of the ocean and even beyond into a place that I couldn't even begin to describe - all in the search for a way to go home and save it.

I'm very excited that this is going to be a series, and the ending of the story leaves room for some great adventures to come.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Thursday, August 4, 2016

White Lightning by Lexi Blake ~ Review


Title: White Lightning (Rising Storm Season 1: Episode 2)
Author: Lexi Blake
Genre: New Adult/Adult, Contemporary
Length: 89 Pages
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts
Release Date: October 1, 2015
Source: Self-Purchased
Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

As the citizens of Storm, Texas, sway in the wake of the death of one of their own, Daddy’s girl Dakota Alvarez also reels from an unexpected family crisis … and finds consolation in a most unexpected place.



More drama unfolds in Rising Storm as secrets are revealed and mistakes are made. Dakota is a bit of a wild child, and when a family crisis makes her feel like she is worthless - she lashes out in an interesting way. I think I've already found the man you're supposed to hate in this series, and the authors are making it very easy to do so.

There is drama unfolding on every page, and as these talented authors continue to set the stage for Storm, TX, I really want to see where things are going and learn more of the this town's dirty little secrets.


Storm Rising
Season One

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Tempest Rising by Julie Kenner ~ Review


Title: Tempest Rising (Rising Storm Season 1: Episode 1)
Author: Julie Kenner
Genre: New Adult/Adult, Contemporary
Length: 101 Pages
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts
Release Date: September 24, 2015
Source: Self-Purchased
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

Nestled among rolling hills and painted with vibrant wildflowers, the bucolic town of Storm, Texas, seems like nothing short of perfection.

But there are secrets beneath the facade. Dark secrets. Powerful secrets. The kind that can destroy lives and tear families apart. The kind that can cut through a town like a tempest, leaving jealousy and destruction in its wake, along with shattered hopes and broken dreams. All it takes is one little thing to shatter that polish.

Ginny Moreno didn’t mean to do it, but when she came home to Storm, she brought the tempest with her. And now everyone will be caught in its fury…



This book was such a guilty pleasure read. There's no romance, there's no real ending, but it's everything dramatic in the world that is entertaining. It reminds me of soap operas - which is exactly what the series promised it would do.

Starting the with car accident that kills a beloved local boy and the events that follow, I was drawn in quickly and didn't come up until the episode was over. An incredibly fast read, but full of juicy stories. I'm not even sure where to start with it all. 

I'm interested to see how the story holds up with multiple authors writing about the same characters. It looks like each book has a slightly different focus, but in such a small town, the main characters look like they pop up in each book. I can't wait to see what happens in episode two.