Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins - Review

Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things. 
Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

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I'm just going to dive straight in with this one!

It picks up about six months after Sweet Evil ended. Kai is still AWOL, but now Anna has a reputation as the party girl of the school - meaning she's working. She tries to be good about it, she really does, but in the end all of her pretending kind of becomes the truth. And she hates herself for it. Add to that her missing Kaidan and you get a pretty depressed Anna.

So, when Kaidan comes blowing into town (or near enough) with his band, you can imagine Anna's determination to see him. Kai, of course, acts equal parts hot and infuriating, something we've all come to expect by now! ;)

This is all slowly building up to the moment when we get our first real taste of PLOT! Anna gets visited by the spirit/soul/angel/consciousness-thingy of a certain someone and all gets revealed. (And by all I mean the prophecy that only Anna can fulfill.) 

So then, Anna spends the rest of the book gearing up for the big showdown that's going to happen in book three. PLOT kind of takes over here, a symptom of classic Sequel Syndrome (which means no, erm, distracting Kai for about two-hundred pages!). This, however, was not a particularly bad thing, because a lot of development took place over the course of these pages that is essential to the storyline.

We see way more of Kaidan towards the end. I'm going to call this section of the novel the Relationship Progression Stage. Then you have a super tense ending that will lead in perfectly to the third book. 

WHAT I LIKED:

• Anna is no longer that "sweet little Southern girl", yet she still manages to retain her essence, her sense of self. I liked that character development and it was necessary to strengthen her character.
• Kaiden. Seriously, how can you not love Kaidan? He is the bad boy with a heart - and he's in a band.
• Okay, just characters in general then. Some surprised me, others (surprisingly) held true to their nature. But they were all relatable and you could understand why they did the things they did.
• The Relationship Progression Stage. I liked this part!
• I liked the book in general.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE SO MUCH:

• As I said before, this book had a case of Sequel Syndrome. That's when the author pulls out the cliches of sequels in general: prophecies, super-plot, lets-skim-over-that tactics, more focus on politics than action, the heroine going off to "find herself" or hone her new-found powers, you get the idea. The thing about cliches though, the reason people use them, is this: They work. And they worked for this novel, just like they worked for the last three-hundred, and just like they will work for the next.  These cliches were used sparingly and well applied (Go Wendy!) For that, I can ignore the little things.
• It didn't hold my attention. I know, I know, there is a 94.281% chance that it was just me, but I got stuck about halfway through for awhile and just wasn't pushed to continue. I made myself though, and once I got past the "lull" in the middle, I found myself fully immersed in Anna's story once more.

This took a lot of consideration, but I'm going to give this book:

Three hats! This is a series worth reading.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks - Review

PREMISE

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen — literally, ouch! — both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . . 

Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

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This book was actually pretty good. It starts when Emma runs (literally) into this handsome guy on the beach and they are both all "Ooh, damn you is hot!". As things turn out, he's the prince of the Syrena (mer-people) and thinks that she is one of his subjects on the run. Of course, she doesn't have a clue about any of this, and it doesn't help matters when said prince keeps getting distracted by her pretty face and the shocking heat they feel when they touch...

In addition to believing she is a secret mermaid, he thinks she has the long lost "Gift of Poseidon". (It let's her talk to the fishies, basically.) This would make her a mermaid princess of his arch enemy and....political scheming ensues. He takes on the responsibility to keep an eye on her (which is no hardship, really. He does think she's hot.) Then PLOT happens and everything goes BAM!

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It was good and well paced, with some romance thrown in for good measure. There was also a surprising amount of plot (in a good way!) and some twists that I, for once, did not see coming. However, it was chock full of grammatical mistakes and it kept alternating points of view. One chapter would be written in Emma's POV and the next in Galen's, but Emma's would be written in the first person and Galen's would be written in the third. After awhile it gave me a headache.

It was, in many ways, a typical YA read: light, romantic, mysterious and fun. It would be a great book to bring to the beach and I enjoyed it enough to read a sequel. I give it:
 Three hats. The mermaid's made it magical.

Quick Post - TGIF

Thank God it's Friday! Also.....it's a long weekend! Wooo! No school on Monday!

Phew. Now that I've gotten the appropriate enthusiasm out of my system, it's time to get down to business.
So, question is this:

WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS WEEKEND? 

I'm finishing Sweet Peril, and I'm hoping to make some serious headway on The Fellowship of the Ring.


Anyway, I want to know what you guys are reading. Let me know!

Sweet Peril Release Day!

Today is the day! My Kindle is so happy with me because at 12:01, my pre-ordered copy of Sweet Peril arrived!

Sweet Peril (by Wendy Higgins) is the second book the the Sweet Trilogy. After the gut-wrenching ending in the first book - Sweet Evil - I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! I am about halfway through it, but I am tearing myself away from Kai (the sexiest drummer ever) to update you guys on the sitch.

Here's the synopsis. I'll post a review as soon as I finish it, but for now: Go get yourselves a copy!

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Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things. 

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

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Sound's good, right? Clicking the picture brings you to Amazon. *hint hint*

Rant - Wrecked by Shiloh Walker

PREMISE

In the nineties, Abigale Applegate and Zach Barnes were the most beloved sitcom child stars in the world. Then they grew up and left Hollywood behind…

Whatever happened to Abigale Applegate?

She’s been wondering the same thing.

With her Hollywood dreams long gone, Abigale now has a nice, neat, uncomplicated life—until the day her perfect fiancé needs to talk. Dumped, a little more than shattered, and totally confused, Abigale turns to Zach, her best friend since forever, to help her pick up the pieces. He does it with a gift—a copy of Wreck This Journal. She can vent her frustrations, and sketch out a new plan. Zach just hopes he’s part of it. Because he’s been in love with Abigale his entire life.

When the journal falls into Zach’s hands, he discovers Abigale wants a new man. And fast. Nothing more than a hot distraction. Zach has a strategy, too. He’s going to be that man. It’s his last chance. Abigale might be out to shake up her life, but Zach’s out to reinvent it. Now, all he has to do is convince Abigale that life can go as planned.

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Looks good, right? Which is why, even though I'm not one for contemporary romance, I was really looking forward to this. In fact, I got so hyped up about this that I pre-ordered it for my Kindle and got up at 12.01 to read it!

..... and I think I've wasted my time. 

Don't get me wrong, it starts out pretty well. The tension between Zach and Abigale is absolutely delicious  and it was fun being in Zach's head. However, this book is supposed to be about "getting the girl" after waiting so long for her, right? 

Well, they have sex at the beginning of the book - and spend the rest of the book having sex. 

Seriously, where did the synopsis go? I must have completely misinterpreted it because I was waiting for this big build up and then a BOOM! at the end, when she discovers that her best friend like likes her and vice versa. Instead, Zach kind of bypasses the whole "friend" thing and head straight to "lover" almost as soon as the book starts. I know that the synopsis says that he wants to be the guy she has an affair with, but they way it was written just didn't ring true. Also, even though they are "Best Friends Forever" who are having sex, he keeps hiding his love for her in case it scares her away. Meanwhile, she tries to figure out:

1. Whether or not she loves him.
2. Whether or not he loves her.
3. Why she's so whiny.

Oh, wait, sorry. Number three was one of the things I was trying to figure out. Which brings me to my next point: I just didn't like Abigale.

As I mentioned above, she was really whiny. She practically fell apart if she didn't have a "plan" to follow. Now that I'm thinking about it, she actually might have had anxiety issues. If she did, I'd probably be more sympathetic. I think that the author was trying to show the contrast between her and Zach, who is supposed to live life on the edge. Which is funny, because apart from owning a tattoo parlour (oooh! Danger, danger!) he seems like a pretty normal guy.

I don't know. I just didn't feel it. I think it deserved:

 Two hats. It was a spell gone wrong.

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Thoughts? Have I completely lost my mind? Do you like it, love it or go "Eh."? Let me know!

Top 5 Sundays!

Okay, so you guys know the drill: every week I post a Top Five list as part of a weekly meme hosted by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life. This week's theme is: FAVOURITE FEMALE TV CHARACTERS! I don't watch that much television, so my choices are a little limited, but I'll try my best. :)

AMY FARRAH FOWLER (Big Bang Theory)
Come on, you just have to love the way she put's up with all the Sheldon-related crap.
I think she's great!


BUFFY SUMMERS (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
...Do I need to explain this one?


PIPER HALLIWELL (Charmed)
Another kick-ass lady! She really brought the sass. *wistful sigh for long-lost TV series*



PHEOBE BUFFAY (Friends)
Being a blonde myself, I usually object to those stereotypes, but God, Pheobe just made it too funny!


CAROLINE FORBES (Vampire Diaries)
She is blonde and smart - and she kicks-ass. I'm sensing a theme here...


So what are your faves? Let me know!