Magnetic Shift by Lucy D. Briand (Review)

   In a world of high-speed races and cut throat competition, Lexi has a dangerous and wondrous ability. She can move metal with her mind. After being pretty much sold off to a NASCAR team by her father, she is swept up into a dangerous world where she meets Colton, an up and coming champion racer. As their love blooms things get more and more dangerous as a competitor tries to ruin things... in a potentially deadly way.
    Disclaimer, I am not a huge fan of racing, so I came into reading this book with a slight negative bias. That aside, I think Magnetic Shift is just an average book. I didn't find anything about it to be special or stand out as fantastic. It was actually quite boring and generic through most of the novel. There were some moments of supernatural intrigue, but they were left unexplained and were completely glossed over. The characters themselves were not excessively unique or developed either. I found it was a struggle to get into the book and actually care about the characters. Overall I didn't really enjoy the book and I give it only THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Tone Deaf by Olivia Rivers (Review)

    Romantic and heartbreaking, Tone Deaf tells the story of a young deaf girl who is running away from an abusive home. Hidden away with the famous rock band Tone Deaf, Ali Collins meets the rude and reclusive Jace Beckett, lead singer of the band. Together they forge on and try to save and protect Ali from being sucked back into her abusive home.
     I found this story adorable. The romance in the story was built up slowly but surely. The painful pasts of Jace and Ali made me fall in love with them page by page. All I wanted to do was reach into the book and protect them both from the evils of the world. Plot wise, the story was well written and causes the readers to be very engaged in what they are reading. I really enjoyed the voice of the narrator, and found the characters in the novel to be very rounded and engaging. Tone Deaf hits on a lot of hard and real topics that make the book just that much more relevant, while at the same time leaving room from more impossible things in the novel (like being picked up by a famous band). Overall, I very much enjoyed Tone Deaf and give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Tone Deaf by Olivia Rivers (Review)

    Romantic and heartbreaking, Tone Deaf tells the story of a young deaf girl who is running away from an abusive home. Hidden away with the famous rock band Tone Deaf, Ali Collins meets the rude and reclusive Jace Beckett, lead singer of the band. Together they forge on and try to save and protect Ali from being sucked back into her abusive home.
     I found this story adorable. The romance in the story was built up slowly but surely. The painful pasts of Jace and Ali made me fall in love with them page by page. All I wanted to do was reach into the book and protect them both from the evils of the world. Plot wise, the story was well written and causes the readers to be very engaged in what they are reading. I really enjoyed the voice of the narrator, and found the characters in the novel to be very rounded and engaging. Tone Deaf hits on a lot of hard and real topics that make the book just that much more relevant, while at the same time leaving room from more impossible things in the novel (like being picked up by a famous band). Overall, I very much enjoyed Tone Deaf and give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Pull by Anne Riley (Review)

    In a magical form of London, time travel is a real... well partially. Certain people can pull back time by a couple minutes, just enough time to stop horrible things from happening. This is a world Rosie Clayton is violently thrown into when she witnesses a mugging on her first night in London, and then time rewinds. From there on her life is changed. She is faced with trials, mysteries, magic, danger, crazy kidnappers and homicidal gunmen.

     Pull was pretty good, but was also pretty bland at the same time. They were many unique and interesting moments in the novel, but sometimes I found the story to slow down a lot. There was some discontinuity between Rosie's home life and the action packed dangerous life she lived when she left then house. She didn't really behave at home like a girl who just saw someone get mugged then have something as insane a time reverse happen to her. I did like her as a character and found her friends to be very interesting. Romance wise, the story was not chock full of lovey-dovey stuff. There was a wee bit of romance, but not enough to be called a YA romance novel. Plot wise, the storytelling was okay. The story was pretty slow at first, but really gets the reader engaged later in the novel. Overall, Pull was not bad and I give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Pull by Anne Riley (Review)

    In a magical form of London, time travel is a real... well partially. Certain people can pull back time by a couple minutes, just enough time to stop horrible things from happening. This is a world Rosie Clayton is violently thrown into when she witnesses a mugging on her first night in London, and then time rewinds. From there on her life is changed. She is faced with trials, mysteries, magic, danger, crazy kidnappers and homicidal gunmen.

     Pull was pretty good, but was also pretty bland at the same time. They were many unique and interesting moments in the novel, but sometimes I found the story to slow down a lot. There was some discontinuity between Rosie's home life and the action packed dangerous life she lived when she left then house. She didn't really behave at home like a girl who just saw someone get mugged then have something as insane a time reverse happen to her. I did like her as a character and found her friends to be very interesting. Romance wise, the story was not chock full of lovey-dovey stuff. There was a wee bit of romance, but not enough to be called a YA romance novel. Plot wise, the storytelling was okay. The story was pretty slow at first, but really gets the reader engaged later in the novel. Overall, Pull was not bad and I give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Sparked (Metal Bones #1) by Sheena Snow (Review)

    In a world where robots are being introduced into everyday households, Vienna suspects something sinister is up. Distrustful of the new life-like machinery, Vienna starts to research these machines when she is interrupted by killer robots, only to be saved by more robots. Thrust into this new world of danger and love, Vienna is on the run for her life.
    I was pleasantly surprised by Sparked. I did not know what to expect, but the story was actually pretty good. I enjoyed the romance between Vienna and Alec. The romantic tension held my attention while the story unfolded. I loved the adventure in this literary universe, it was engaging and fascinating. The characters were mostly all perfectly developed, and were enjoyably to read about. I do have a couple complaints about the novel though. I found some of the internal dialogue to be a little strange, making it hard to connect to as a reader. I also found that there was a moment at the end in which I found there to be some discontinuity in the plot. It bugged me a bit when I noticed, taking some of the enjoyment out of the reading. I give Sparked the honest review of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Sacrifice (Elemental #5) by Brigid Kemmerer (Review)

    The fifth installment of the Elemental series, Sacrifice is the story of the oldest and most responsible of the Merrick brothers, Michael. After a tragic and malicious arson of an entire neighborhood, the Merrick brothers are out of house and home and are in grave danger. Being a family of powerful elemental, the brothers are hated and hunted by many. Michael is being stalked by an unknown killer and he will do anything to protect his family and the family of his girlfriend, Hannah.
      The story was good, just not amazing. I enjoyed moments in the novel but ultimately it was hard to love the overall plot. There were things left to be desired in the romance and in the conclusion. I was expecting a large romance to enfold between Hannah and Michael, since portions of the story are told in her perspective, but minus a couple seconds at the end of the novel there was little to no romance whatsoever. The lack of romance was quite disappointing. Action wise, the novel was full of it, from shootings to fighting with elements. Overall the novel was okay. I give sacrifice THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

Alpha Unleashed (Alpha Girl #5) by Aileen Erin (Review)

    The fifth installment of the Alpha Girls series, Alpha Unleashed is the climax of the conflict with the evil witch Luciana. Luciana's end game is coming and Tessa and her wolves need to prepare for it. With demons cropping up all over the place the stakes rise, and the end quickly approaches.
     I found Alpha Unleashed to be excessively long. On more then one occasion I would find myself getting board and loosing interest in the story. There was plenty packed into the story, but reading it felt slow and tedious. I still like Tessa as a character, as well as Dastien her mate; but in this novel their characters felt less potent and witty. The story picked up at the end and became very good in the last few chapters, but up until then it was a difficult read. The series itself is stellar, and Alpha Unleashed was not a terrible addition. I felt the conclusion of the story was well done and was very satisfying. I love the wolves, witches and other creatures you encounter in this novel. Each of them are interesting and well described. The romance between Tessa and Dastien was great as always, which I did enjoy immensely. Ultimately I give Alpha Unleashed THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Descent (Kissed by Death #3) by Tara Fuller (Review)

   In a dark adventure through Hell, an angel of joy and a reaper of Hell learn to love and how put their pasts behind them. Decent is a very dark and disturbing story, which makes sense because it takes place mainly in Hell. Descent definitely does not sugarcoat the horrors that would come with Hell. I found it hard to concentrate on the rest of the plot when I was preoccupied being horrified the the graphic terrors described.
   I did love the purity and selflessness of the main character, the angel named Gwen. She has a huge heart for others and all she wants to do is take away their pain and replace it with joy. I also liked Easton. Although I could deal without his extreme moodiness, Easton was a pretty chill and spunky reaper. Him and his reaper friends were all unique and distinct characters that had a well developed dynamic, even though they were not mentioned a lot as a group in this novel. I thought both main characters had solid motivations for their actions and Easton is definitely a well developed character.
      Descent is has a strong narrative, but was very dark. So dark that some times that it was hard to actually concentrate on the story. I give Decent the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Frostfire (Kanin Chronicles #1) by Amanda Hocking (Review)

    I very much enjoyed the new world that Amanda introduces us to in her new novel Frostfire. I have never before pictured trolls as magical humanoids that are both beautiful and powerful, so it took some getting used to, thinking of the characters as trolls. On top of that, unlike many YA novels, the story actually takes place in Canada, yes the freezing snow covered most of the time Canada. I find that pretty awesome, yah know, being a Canadian. I find that it is rare to find a story taking place in my home and native land. I like it. Living in Canada, I could picture the freezing land the trolls live in quite clearly.
   On to the story it's self. I thought that the characters were very unique, and that the drive that is found in the main female protagonist, Bryn, to be very strong and solid. That definitely helped with rounding her as a character, doing so by giving her a goal that the readers can empathize with. Moving on, and looking at the plot, I did have one or two complaints. I felt like their was not enough twists or "big revelations" to keep the reader as invested as they should be. I found my thoughts wandering during lulls in the story. Coinciding with that, there was some parts of the story left untouched and undeveloped. For example, her charge from the beginning of the novel. Towards the end he just drops off, unmentioned in the rest of the story. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely nitpicking. The story it's self was very interesting and I really enjoyed reading it. I do recommend you at least take a look at Frostfire. I give Frostfire the rating of THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Gathering Frost (Once Upon A Curse #1) by Kaitlyn Davis (Review)

    I found the concept of Gathering Frost riveting. The concept of mashing out current modern world and the world of magic and fairy-tales together by force is something that had me curious, had me trying to picture what that would look like. That is very good because a story that sparks imagination is a truly good story.
   Delving into the character development, I loved the way the evil Queen was designed. She reminded me of an evil Elsa, from Frozen. From the way she wore crystals to her white-ish blond hair. She set the stage for the rest of the characters and their motivations very well. Now Jade, the main female protagonist, is a super strong character. Although there was some room for improvement with the introduction of Jade. The author does not give enough of a glimpse into Jade's past in the beginning to allow the reader to make a deep connection from the very beginning.
    I love the relationship between her and Asher. The romance was heart touching and lovely. The twi characters seemed very well suited for each other. Although, again, I do feel there was room for improvement in the ways of the romantic tension. I feel that the romance would have been more potent if the tension leading up to it had been more described and tense. As it was, it was still a very good book, and I recommended it to those fairy-tale fans out there. I give Gathering Frost the rating of THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FOUR STARS!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

The Institute (The Institute #1) by Kayla Howarth (Review)

    In a post apocalyptic world where Defectives are rounded up and forced to live separate from society in unknown conditions, Allira Daniels will do anything to keep her family safe from the Institute. Specifically her  younger brother with the ability to see the future, labeling him a dangerous "Defective" to society.
     I actually quite enjoyed the narration of The Institute. The tone of voice was very effective in its story telling and consistent with the personality of the main character Allira. I did have some trouble with the commencements of the story because it did have a lul not far into the story, boring me a bit. The redeeming factor for it is that if the reader pushes through the lull, they will be a huge surprise/plot twist to come, making the wait worth it. The story its self is very interesting and touches the emotions of the reader very effectively at many different moments. Heads up, there is a cliff hanger ending! Be aware of that, in case you love or hate those. There is a sequel to this called Rebellion. I enjoyed The Institute and give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

You Are Mine (Mine #1) by Janeal Falor (Review)

      Right off the bat the beauty of the cover caught my eye, but it was the synopsis that truly caught my attention. Reading the novel, I found a very disturbed society where women are objects and the amount of magic in your blood dictates your value in society. In this novel, one young girl goes on a slightly romantic adventure as she starts rebelling from her societies "norm" by becoming more and more independent with the aid of her "barbaric" fiance/owner. I found that there were some truly heart wrenching moments in this novel that made me cry a bit, and some truly boring lulls that were in the story as well. All in all, You are Mine was not bad. It was not the novel of the year, but it is definitely a unique story with a complex plot. It was an interesting read with some externally deep moments. I give You Are Mine THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS!

Fire Study (Study #3) by Maria V. Snyder (Review)

     The third installment of the Study Trilogy, Fire Study has Yelena taking on her final set of foes. In this epic tale, Yelena has to take on a Fire Warper, a delusional "prince", and a soulstealer/rapist/murderer/all out horrible human being. With the odds constantly staked against her she has to be constantly taking chances. I personally was a little bit bored by this installment, with very little personal development seemingly happening in the characters, leaving for a less empathizeable storytelling. At times these characters had so such endurance it was simply inhuman. Making up for that was the plentiful and interesting action scenes that catches the readers attention pretty well, and makes Yelena look pretty intense and kick-butt. Ultimately a pretty satisfying conclusion and a good read if you have read the rest of the series. I give it THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS!

Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles #1) by Chloe Jacobs (Review)

   Thrown into another world as a thirteen year old girl, Greta adapts to a world of goblins, fae, fairies and trolls; all which utterly hate humans. Blending in also lead to becoming one of the most fierce and renowned hunters in the realm. 

    In this epic story of magical creatures and survival, Greta is also having to deal with the a grumpy and determined Goblin King. The romance between them is very steamy, but also confused me a lot with the certainty in the relationship between the Goblin King and Greta to suddenly acting like they can't stand each others presence. But that aside, Greta and the Goblin King is a riveting and addicting story. I do recommend Greta and the Goblin King to all those paranormal romance lovers out there. I give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!

Soul Corossed (Of Demns and Angels #1) by Lisa Gail Green (Review)

     A demon and an angel both fighting for one soul, and by proxy to prevent/cause the end of the world. What happens when these souls are star-crossed? In this epic story of love, Heaven and Hell; Grace and Josh have died and are sent to their final destinations. When there, they are both recruited for a task, to sway the soul of a human named Camden. 

    Soul Crossed is an emotional roller coaster ride where the reader if forced to confront whether or not people are redeemable, and ultimately ask what good and evil truly is. The romance in Soul Crossed is intense and was very well done... well if not a wee bit rushed. The very position these lovers were in had me on the verge of tears for a good long time. This novel is definitely not for the feint of heart with some extremely freaky and dark content put throughout the story. I give Soul Crossed THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

The Girl Who Never Was (Otherworld #1) by Skylar Dorset (Review)

     The Girl Who Never Was is a very unique young-adult fantasy. Selkie – half-faerie, half-ogre – goes in search of her mother with her crush (and faerie), Ben. This story was extremely fast pace and is very hard to keep up with. It’s almost too much sometimes, with events following one another in a dizzying fashion leaving little room to breathe, and the narration sometimes felt a bit distant and made it hard to connect to Selkie. The mystical universe was interesting with its separate yet connected universes and its many many mystical creatures that capture the attention of the reader very effectively. This tale is both simple and complex, original and often bizarre.This magical novel became more and more interesting as the story went on. I give the Girl Who Never Was the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS!