[Review] Paradise Valley by Rosanne Bittner

Paradise Valley
Roseanne Bittner
July 2, 2013
Source Books

Copy Provided for review by
Sourcebooks via Netgalley

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"Stop! Or I'll shoot your hat off."

Maggie Tucker has just gone through hell. Outlaws murdered her husband, looted their camp, and terrorized Maggie before leaving her lost and alone in the wilds of Wyoming. She isn't about to let another strange man get close enough to harm her.

Sage Lightfoot, owner of Paradise Valley ranch, his hunting for the men who killed his best ranch hand. But what he finds is a beautiful, bedraggled woman digging a grave. And pointing a pistol at his heart.

From that moment on, Sage will do anything to protect the strong-yet-vulnerable Maggie. Together, they'll embark on a life-changing journey along the dangerous Outlaw Trail, risking their lives...and their love.

With drama, romance and of course outlaws Paradise Valley by Rosanne Bittner drew me and didn’t let go until the end.  I love epic historical romance novels set in the west and this book was no exception.  I love the worlds Rosanne Bittner describes especially in Paradise Valley.  It is romantic and yet harsh all at the same time.  I can picture the wild untamed west in her book so perfectly.  I have to admit I have been a fan of Ms. Bittner since I was in high school.   I loved her books for some odd years now.  What I love about her novels is a world that is well researched and a love story that grows and matures. 

In Paradise Valley Maggie’s husband has been murdered and she has been raped and left for dead.  Then Sage Lightfoot comes upon her and she begs him to take her with him to hunt down hunt down the men that have wronged them both.  On an epic journey that sweeps across the mountains and valleys of Wyoming they begin the hunt.  I like that Maggie is a strong independent and even though she loves Sage and she wants Sage, she doesn’t need him to take care of her.  I love how the characters are both hurt not just physically but emotionally.  They both need each other to help heal the hurts and grow. 

Go read Paradise Valley because like with all Rosanne Bittner books this book is be savored as a real treat.  It was suspenseful, full of drama and romance.  I really enjoyed this book and as always look forward to reading more.   I give Paradise Valley four very strong laser pistols, because this is what a sweeping western romance looks like.

[Audiobook Review] The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test
The Goddess Test Series Book 1
Aimee Carter
April 19, 2011
Harlequin Teen

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall. 

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

This book was intriguing, moody, and full of potential. Kate moves back to her mother's hometown only to get caught up in a test not like any other test she has ever taken. A test that will test just how far she is willing to go to save the ones she loves. If you are like me and like stories of Greek mythology then you know the story of Persephone. The Goddess Test is a continuation.

Kate is tricked into the woods by a rival classmate and to save her she makes a deal with a mysterious boy. She must live with him for the winter and take the Goddess Test. If she survives she willhelp rule the underworld and marry him.

Kate lives with Henry and discovers that he is not a ruthless underworld lord but a sad lonely boy. Kate learns that she is stronger and more caring that she thought and capable of love. While I liked the story I felt parts were missing somehow. I felt like there was still a part of Henry he was holding back from Kate. I felt like if I were Kate I would have been a little more upset by all the shocking revelations. I am guessing I will have to read the next book to find out more about Kate and Henry because I have a feeling there is more in store for their relationship and the ending left me a little unsatisfied. I still liked the book and the character Ava is one of my favorites. I look forward to more from the world. I give The Goddess Test three and a half laser pistols and round up to four.

[Reveiw] The Wedding Gamble by Cindi Meyers

The Wedding Gamble
Cindi Meyers
July 8th, 2013
Entangled Indulgence

Amazon/B&N

 

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Preschool teacher Laura Nichols is celebrating her birthday and sister's bachelorette party in Vegas. Being in Sin City is thrilling and she intends on tapping in to her wild side. Laura can't resist the added excitement that comes with saying yes when a hunky man off the street proposes...

FBI agent David Abruzzo has been working undercover as a thug to bring down the Zacolli crime family, but his cover depends on convincing the mob he came to Vegas for a quickie wedding. If they catch on to his plan, his cover's blown, and he's as good as dead.

Over the course of 48 hours, David and Laura use rollercoasters, glowing condoms, and exotic male dancers to stay alive and bring the crime family down. But it will take more than Lady Luck, one night of passion, and a little Vegas magic to turn their fake marriage into something real.

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The Wedding Gamble by Cindi Meyers is sweet, flirty and fun.  I had a hard time putting it down.  I am sucker for shy wallflowers finding their inner beauty and self-worth and the sexy men who knew it was there all along.  This story is about curvy preschool teacher stuck in a rut.  Then one night in Vegas, on sister’s bachorlette party, she agrees to marry a sexy stranger.  Turns out he is undercover for the FBI trying to take down a Mob family.  Now Laura’s life is turned upside down as she puts her heart and her life on the line to save her husband.  I liked how the story flowed.  It was a very quick and very cute read.  Even though Laura and David fell in love over the course of three days it was believable.  I think everyone once in while we all need to let go of being cynics and believe in fate and happily ever after’s.  I know that is why I love romance novels so much because the girl usually gets her guy in the end.  Read this book and be swept away by the swoony romance like I was. If that doesn’t do it for you there is also hilarious hijinks as Laura goes go to whatever lengths possible to save the day.  I give the Wedding Gamble four laser pistols and highly recommend this book to anyone looking for quick romantic read.

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[Audiobook review] Etiquette & Espionage by Gale Carriger

Etiquette & Espionage
Finishing School Book 1
Gale Carriger
February 5th, 2013
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail's legions of fans have come to adore.

I love Gail Carriger's soul protectorate series, so when she came out with a YA novel set in the same world I was excited. I was not disappointed because Etiquette & Espionage read like her adult novels just with younger cast members. The humor and mystery that I have grown to love was all over this book.

Sophronia can't stay out of trouble, her mother is fed up, and she decides to send her to finishing school. Sophronia soon learns this school is no ordinary finishing school, but a school for young ladies to finish and become skillful in the arts of espionage.

I found parts of this book hillarious, especially when one of the teachers is teaching the young ladies the art of faintingor where to stash a hankerchief. "Ladies must never wipe their faces. Only dab my dears, only dab." Moria Quirk does a wonderful job narrating. She really captures some of the ridiculousness and makes the story that much more funnier. Etiquette & Espionage is a fun romp filled with mystery in a quirky steampunk world. The best way to describe the story is think Nancy Drew meets a steampunk finishing school. I give Etiquette & Espionage the audiobook four laser pistols and look forward to finding out if Sophronia will get herself out of trouble next time.

[Review] Outpost by Ann Aguirre

Outpost
Razorland #2
Ann Aguirre
September 4th, 2012
Feiwel & Friends

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

Deuce’s whole world has changed.
Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn't fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight.
To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.
Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols—those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.

This book picks up a few weeks after the first book lets off. Duece and Co. have made it, via nice trader to a town called Salvation. Despite surviving in the wilderness with the Freaks, Duece is no longer considered an adult and must fight for her place despite an overwhelming opposition. The town believes that women have a place and that place is the kitchen.

The book was way slower than the last. Most of it was spent in Salvation, or right outside of Salvation. Sure, the mutants became smarter and that was a little interesting, but the attacks were few and far between and none were overly devastating or exciting. It picks up around the last hundred pages. There is a chase, an intense discovery and a siege. Until that point, the book just plods along.

Duece's romantic options are somewhat limited and stunted. She's not really looking for that sort of thing, despite what Stalker and Fade want. All the attempts at romance are somewhat dull and lacking any sort of passion.

The next book has been set up to contain a lot of action. Hopefully it will live up to the promise.

[ARC Review] In The After by Demitria Lunetta

In The After
Demitria Lunetta
June 25th, 2013
Harperteen

Arc Provided by Book Junkee's giveaway. Thank you!

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N


 

In what seems like an instant, Amy Harris's life is changed forever. They arrive and quickly begin killing off humanity one by one. No one knows how they got here—and even worse, no one knows how to stop Them.

Marooned in a high-security house, Amy manages to stay alive—and even rescues "Baby," a toddler she finds in an abandoned supermarket. For years they escape death, forging a bond as strong as sisters, until they are finally rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living on a former government research compound.

On the surface, New Hope is the happy ending Amy was looking for. She's even started falling for Rice, a handsome researcher she's become close with at the facility. But then she makes a shocking discovery. And staying in New Hope could mean losing her freedom . . . or her life.

I loved In The After, it was scary, twisted, and full of action. As I have said before, I love a good post-apocalyptic novel and In The After does not disappoint. In the world of In The After there is the time before the aliens landed on Earth and started eating people. The After is just trying to survive in a world full of monsters, both human and alien. Amy is a teen girl of only fourteen when the world as knows it ends. She was home alone, her mom away on business and her dad at the farmer's market. They never came home. Amy is forced to take care of herself or get eaten by THEM. She hen finds Baby, a toddler and takes her in. For three years they survive and live in the After. Until helping a stranger ends with betrayal.

I loved this book, it moved fast. It was so creepy. The human and alien monsters were scary enough to give me nightmares. For real, no joke, this book scared me. I love all things scary so that just made me love this book even more. I loved how the book was broken into parts because the first part is scary. Once Amy and Baby are "saved" and taken to New Hope, a settlement filled with people living like there aren't any monsters. That is when the twists come one right after another. Amy discovers who the monsters really are and just how far they will go to protect their secrets. Even though I had a suspicion what the SHOCKING secret was. the book's ending s still very good and open for more. I give In The After five laser pistols and will be looking forward to reading more Dementria Lunetta books in the future.

[Joint ARC review] Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

 Another Little PieceKate Karyus Quinn
June 11th, 2013
Harperteen

Arc Provided by Book Junkee's giveaway. Thank you!

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

 First words that ran through my mind after finishing Another Little Piece: poetic, haunting and riveting.  Most of the reviews I saw from people that didn't like the book was that the book was confusing.  I felt that the book was not that confusing.  It was a story of a girl searching for something and making bad choices.  I felt that it was kind of a horrifying version of Ground Hog day meet Pinocchio.  Anna, the main character, had to live out the lives of other girls over and over searching for something that made her real.  Instead she was destroying their lives the way her life had been taken and destroyed.  Doomed to repeat this process over and over until she was willing to sacrifice herself for love.  Even though the story was very horrific and terrifying it stuck with me days after reading.  This book is also about love and redemption and I think that is what stuck with me.  I routed for Anna even though she is kind the anti-heroine.  For me this was one of those books I could not put down and then was like what did I just read, I really liked this book even if the subject matter was questionable.  This book asked questions like what you do to live forever and how far would you go to escape the life you were never meant to live.  I give Another Little Piece four very solid laser and highly recommend this book.

 Let me preface this review with this, there are some things left unanswered by this book. Who is the Physician, really? What role do his bruja sister's take? Why do they do what they do? This lack of understanding didn't really take away from the book, at least for me. The story had a narrow focus on just Anna and I respected that. Sometimes the overarching storyline doesn't need to be there for engrossing storytelling.

The book was written well, lacking the clunk I've come to expect from YA novels. Everything is a mystery up until the end, but the disjointed discovery of who Anna was and who she could become was as much an experience for me as it was for her.

This book is pretty gross. There's cannibalism, rape, pedophilia and that's just scratching the surface. Within the first fifty pages someone has one of the most real descriptions of sex I've seen in literature thus far and follows that up with some murder and khaleesi style heart eating. Trigger warnings abound. Still, the prose moves through this all artfully, smoothing the edges.

My love for this book has grown over the past few days. It was unique and interesting, blending the different elements together fluidly and creating something that will ultimately set the bar for the things that come after. I can't wait to see what this author can come up with next and I hope it lives up to the precedent.