Review: Ghost Story - Jim Butcher

Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Roc Hardcover; First Edition edition (July 26, 2011)

When we last left the mighty wizard detective Harry Dresden, he wasn't doing well. In fact, he had been murdered by an unknown assassin.
But being dead doesn't stop him when his friends are in danger. Except now he has nobody, and no magic to help him. And there are also several dark spirits roaming the Chicago shadows who owe Harry some payback of their own.
To save his friends-and his own soul-Harry will have to pull off the ultimate trick without any magic...

Reading this was like coming home after a long vacation and seeing all your old friends. I LOVE Harry and the crew! I was a bit apprehensive about how this book was going to play out, but it was very enjoyable. Actually I think this book gave the secondary characters a chance to really come into there own. I also loved how Harry never hesitates even if it puts him in danger. If he thinks he can save someone he just jumps in head first. Harry being dead gives a new perspective on things and Harry. I really was engrossed in this story and thought I had it all figured out, and bam a twist sent me spinning into the wall. I was very pleased with the ending and am looking forward to the nenxt instalment. I give this one 5 stars and strongly suggest this series to all of you. 

On a side note my very wonderful soon to be husband told me he wanted to watch The Dresden files tv show on Netflix, and now that we have finished it I think I have him sold on listing to the audio books! Yay!

Review: Explosive Eighteen - Janet Evanovich

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (November 22, 2011)
Language: English

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 from Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, she’s flying back to New Jersey solo, and someone who sounds like Sasquatch is snoring in row 22. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. The FBI, the fake FBI, and guns-for-hire are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photograph—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the Bail Bonds Agency it’s business as usual—until the bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke, Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their “largest” FTA yet, lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment, and everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?!

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii.  And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

These books provide me with an endless source of entertainment. Reading a new Plum novel is like hanging out with old friends that I haven't seen in a while. Lula, Grandma Mazur, Connie and Vinnie never fail to make me laugh. Ranger and Morelli never fail to make me drool. The best thing is Stephanie never gets any better at her job which keeps things very entertaining. This addition to the series involoved FBI, some fake FBI, dead people and a car full of horse poop. I know some people are getting sick of this series or think that Stephanie should could use some character growth, or at least make a choice between Morelli and Ranger. I on the other hand disagree. This series is perfect, I would love to just keep reading them and enjoying a nice light funny read. This one get 5 stars and huge laughs from me. 

Review: Frost - Marianna Baer

• Reading level:
 Ages 13 and up

• Hardcover:
 400 pages

• Publisher:
 Balzer + Bray (September 13, 2011)

Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school begins with a shock: Frost House, her cozy dorm of close friends, has been assigned an unexpected roommate: confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar. But while Leena’s anxiety about a threat to her sanctuary proves valid, it becomes less and less clear whether the threat lies with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind, or within the very nature of Frost House itself. Mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and Celeste’s brother, and the reawakening of childhood fears, all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. Frost is the story of a haunting. As to whether the demons are supernatural or psychological . . . well, which answer would let you sleep at night?

My Thoughts...

Leena thought her senior year at her boarding school would be perfect. Her and her friends are set to live in Frost house. The only problem is when they get there they have an extra roommate. Celeste, who is known to be a bit odd. It doesn't take long for things to start getting weird. Celeste's things start getting broken, and the room she and Leena share freaks her out while Leena developes an obsession with the closet in their room, and a very protective mindset of the room itself. Celeste stops sleeping and is covered in bruises she eventually changes room and Leena gets worse, she redecorates the room and basically starts sleeping in the closet. She is hearing voices, I'm not sure if the house itself was haunted or if Leena was just crazy. This story had its creepy moments and left me with alot of questions at the end. Was it Leena or was it the House? I guess it is one of those things that the author wants us to think about and come to our own conclusion. I for one just hope it was the house cause otherwise Leena was really just wacked out.  I had a hard time getting into this one and I struggled to finish it. All in all the story wasn't bad but this really wasn't the book for me. I gave this one 3 stars.

Review: Deadly Cool - Gemma Halliday

• Reading level:
 Ages 13 and up

• Paperback:
 320 pages

• Publisher:
 HarperTeen (October 11, 2011)

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool. 
But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.

My Thoughts...

This was a cute, sometimes creepy mystery. I enjoyed this one. I really found i to be a cute easy read. Hartley  is having a rough day...first she finds out her boyfriend is cheating with the head of the chastity club, then when she goes to confront him she finds said "miss chastity" dead in his closet. From there she walks down a path that has her tripping over dead bodies, making spooky midnight meeting with informants, all because while her ex may be a jerk, he isn't a killer. There were parts to this that did creep me out, and I was surprised by the resolution. But the biggest thing for me was, I fell in love with Hartley. She was awesome and while afraid she pushed through because deep down she truly believed her ex was innocent. I also might be a little in love with Chase! I really want to see what kind of trouble Hartley can get into next. I give this one 4 stars!

Review: Never Have I Ever - Sara Shepard

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up

• Hardcover: 320 pages

• Publisher: HarperTeen (August 2, 2011)

Sara Shepard, the author of the Pretty Little Liars novels, has followed up those top-selling fictions with an even more artfully knotted series. At its center is a murdered narrator whose long-lost identical twin sister Emma is serving as a stand-in detective to find the killer. In the second episode of their hunt, the pair discovers new clues, but they know that as they search for the killer, he or she is watching their every move, waiting for the right moment to end it all. Editor's recommendation.

My Thoughts...

I loved the first book and dropped everything to read this one. I loved Emma and Eathen. They strike me as so cute. The other thing that I really liked was getting a closer look at the Twitter Twins. I felt like we got the quick introduction to them in the first book, but this one we really got to see who they were and what they were about. I enjoy the mystery and suspense in these books and I really am having a hard time waiting for the next. 

I have to say that Emma has to be one of my favorite characters. She has been dropped in an impossible situation, and while she is scared and doesn't really know who around her she can trust she is making the best of things. As much as I don't want to see this series end because I truly enjoy it, I really need to know what happened to Sutton. I picture her laying somewhere dead, and I really want to find out what happened, and I want her to get the goodbye she deserves from her family. I also really want to see what would happen if Sutton's parents found out what happened and that Emma isn't really Sutton, would they love the girl that they have thought was there daughter? Would they accuse her of planning all of this? There is so many options for where this series will go that I really can't wait to see what turn we will take. 

I give this one 5 stars and I hope that if you guys haven't started this series yet that you do soon, It is truly a great read. I haven't watched the TV show that was inspired by these books, but I have heard good things about it. 

Review: Heist Society - Ally Carter

• Reading level:
 Ages 11 and up

• Hardcover:
 304 pages

• Publisher:
 Hyperion Book CH (February 9, 2010)

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected. 
Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help. 

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

My Thoughts...

It took me a little while to get into this one, but once it grabbed me it didn't let go! I am a huge Ocean's 11 fan and this book reminded me of those movies, but with teenagers, which I think actually makes it cooler (sorry George! lol) These characters were pretty kick butt. Kat was the right mix of confident/insecure. Gabrielle was someone I thought I wasn't going to like but she really ended up being not that bad. Hale seemed pretty awesome! The brothers were just fun, and Simon holds a special place in my heart. I love a good geek! reading about these kids traveling all over and making plans to pull an impossible job was awesome. I sat here the whole time thinking I would love to see this as a movie! Great characters and story! This one gets 4.5 stars from me!

Review: Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich

• Hardcover:
 320 pages

• Publisher:
 Bantam; 1st edition (June 21, 2011)

• Language:
 English

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.  Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list.
Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.” And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts “the eye” on Stephanie.
With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.

My Thoughts...

I could read these books forever! I know that after a while some things might get repeated, and that some people want to see Stephanie choose between Morelli and Ranger but I couldn't live without both of them! Once of the things I love is the highly entertaining cast of secondary characters. We got to see quite a few classics.  Grandma Mazur, Steph's parents, Lula, the bail bonds team, and the men. We did get an addition to the crew. Apparently fans aren't the only ones who want Steph to settle down. So does her mom, she thrusts Dave at Stephanie. It was a lot of fun watching Steph fight off advances from Dave, and trying to keep her mom at bay. I won't lie, another thing I love is that they are set in New Jersey. Its nice to read a book set in the state I live in. Ranger and Morelli were both hot in this book, and while I am totally team Babe, I do love Morelli too. This book had everything I have come to expect from this series, a good story, great characters, car deaths, and lots of humor! I give this one 5 stars and recommend this series to everyone!

Review: Mercy - Rebecca Lim

• Paperback:
 288 pages

• Publisher:
 Harpercollins Childs (October 28, 2010)

An electric combination of angels, mystery and romance, MERCY is the first book in a major new paranormal series.
There's something very wrong with me. I can't remember who I am or how old I am, or even how I got here. All I know is that when I wake up, I could be any one. It is always this way. There's nothing I can keep with me that will stay. It's made me adaptable. I must always re-establish ties. I must tread carefully or give myself away. I must survive.
Mercy doesn't realise it yet, but as she journeys into the darkest places of the human soul, she discovers that she is one of the celestial host exiled with fallen angel, Lucifer. Now she must atone for taking his side. To find her own way back to heaven, Mercy must help a series of humans in crisis and keep the unwary from getting caught up in the games that angels play. Ultimately she must choose between her immortal companion, Lucifer, and a human boy who risks everything for her love.

My Thoughts...

I think this might be love! I was sucked into from the first page.  Chapter 1 was haunting and beautiful! The story of Mercy seems complex and quite confusing. Even at the end of the book while I feel like I learned something about Mercy I'm still confused, but in a good way, in a way that makes me wish I had the next book sitting here to dive into.  But all the while we are trying to learn about Mercy, we are also learning about a girl named Carmen, and a family in crises. It is really quite a complex weave of the fates of many in this book. I loved the mystery aspect of this story. I wasn't expecting it really and it was well done.  I really loved the characters even the "mean girl" types", they all seemed to have so much life to them. I also think the pacing of this story was great. It never bored me and I was always guessing at where the mystery would eventually end up. I really looked forward to reading more about Mercy. I give this one 5 stars.

Review: Clarity - Kim Harrington

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Point; 1 edition (March 1, 2011)

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

My Thoughts...

I've had this one my list since I saw the cover and also the trailer.  I don't know why I waited so long to read it but either way it was a great read.  I love a good mystery and this falls into that category.  I feel that the writing was solid and that Clarity was also a great voice and character.  I also liked the romance angel of this story.  Overall in my opinion it was a light read but a good one.  The rest of the character cast seemed well written and genuine.  One of my favorite characters was Miss Maslov,  while she personally didn't get much page time she played a big part in the story, and in the end left Clarity with more questions than she had to start with.  I look forward to reading more about Clarity and the gang, and I can't wait to see where this story s going to go.  I give this one 5 stars!

Review: The Lying Game - Sara Shepard

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (December 7, 2010)

I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.

The worst part of being dead is that there’s nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It’s enough to kill a girl all over again. But I’m about to get something no one else does—an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

Now Emma’s desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me—to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she’s the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?

From Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of thePretty Little Liars books, comes a riveting new series about secrets, lies, and killer consequences.

Let the lying game begin.

My Thoughts...

I really really enjoyed this book.  It was suspenseful, a little frightening, tense, and heartfelt.  To find another person on the internet that looks just like you would be very confusing, but to see your "twin" involved in an apparent snuff film must be down right disturbing.  So you find a name for this person and contact them only to find out that you really are probably long lost twins!  You make plans to meet but while waiting you are found by your long lost twins friends and are mistaken for her.  Going along pretending to be her in hopes that there is a mistake and will meet up with her at some point.  Only to find out that your long lost twin is dead and her murder wants you to live her life.  Learning as you go about the girl you are now suppose to be, and not liking everything you find out.  The more you learn the more you find out that everyone around you might have killed your sister and be threatening to you.  I loved how nothing happened quite like I expected it to.  I give this one 5 stars and hope that all of you give it a try!