ONE FINE COWBOY
Author: Joanne Kennedy
Source: Sourcebooks
* I received this book free
of charge in exchange for
an honest review*

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (September 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402236700
• ISBN-13: 978-1402236709

SUMMARY:

He’s got a way with horses…and with women…

His heart is as wild as the horses he trained…
Nate Shawcross is perfectly content to spend his days training wild horses. So when a beautiful greenhorn unexpectedly shows up for a seminar from the famous “Horse Whisperer” of Wyoming, all Nate wants to do is send her packing…

The last thing she expects is a lesson in romance…
Graduate student Charlie Banks came to the ranch to learn about horse communication, but when she meets the ruggedly handsome cowboy, she starts to fantasize about another connection entirely…

Nate needs to stay focused if he’s going to save his ranch from foreclosure, but he can’t help being distracted by the brainy and breathtakingly sexy Charlie. Could it be that after all this time Nate has finally found the one woman who can tame his wild heart?

MY THOUGHTS:

Hubba-Hubba!  Author Joanne Kennedy sure can write the cowboy romance!

I loved this book so much that I didn’t want it to end.  With strong and believable characters, the author has created a plot that will touch your heart and keep you turning the pages.  The romance was beautiful, the story and plot twists were amazing, and the pace of the story was great.  To top it off, the author created laugh out loud moments that kept you interested and devoted to the story.  Nate was a man who kept his feelings bottled up, and when he tried to express them, it was so funny to see him try to find the words.  Charlie was a great match for Nate and had me cheering for them both.

If you haven’t discovered this author before, now is the time to pick up one of her books in this series and dive in.  I guarantee you will last more than the 8 seconds for this cowboy ride of a story!

MY RATING:

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

SEA CHANGE
Author: Aimee Friedman

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Point; 1 edition (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439922283
• ISBN-13: 978-0439922289

SUMMARY:

16-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science…and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she’s happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother’s estate.

There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can’t make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship…and reality. 

Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined? 

MY THOUGHTS:

Where do I begin with this review for this book?  There were some things that I enjoyed, but there were other things that were just not that great.

First the good of the book.  Leo, was by far, my favorite person in the book.  He was sweet, cute, and caring, yet he was also mysterious and intriguing.  I loved everything about him in this book.  The mysterious folk lore and beliefs of the island were also captivating.  I wanted to learn more about the legends of Selkie Island and  the people that live there.  The writing was good and seemed to flow at a good pace, even if there were some problems to it near the end.

Which, now brings me to the things I didn’t enjoy about the book.  Miranda was suppose to be smart, yet she kind of flaked near the ending of the book.  Its like she lost her brain in the water and couldn’t find it.  Her mother does a complete turn around after one day and now enjoys everything about the island.  One minute she is loathing the island and its people, the next she is buddies with everyone again.  The characters of TJ and his father were just too creepy for my liking and the rest of the girls Miranda tries to fit in with are just as annoying.  I also hated the ending to the story.  It left too many unanswered questions without the reader getting closure to Leo’s mystery and the legends of the Island.  I can understand this if the author plans on a sequel to the book, but too many things were left unfinished to even make for a satisfied cliffhanger for the reader.

MY RATING:

OUT FOR BLOOD
Drake Chronicles #3
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free
of charge in exchange for
an honest review*

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (December 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802721680
• ISBN-13: 978-0802721686

SUMMARY:

Hunter Wild is the youngest in a long line of elite vampire hunters, a legacy that is both a blessing and a curse at the secret Helios-Ra Academy, where she excels at just about everything. Thanks to her friendship with Kieran Black, Hunter receives a special invitation to attend the coronation of Helena Drake, and for the first time, she sees the difference between vampires that must be hunted and vampires that can become friends—or even more.

 When students at the academy fall victim to a mysterious illness, Hunter suspects they are under attack from within. She will need someone she can trust to help her save the future of Helios-Ra . . . help that shockingly comes in the form of Quinn Drake, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire. Who said senior year would be easy?

MY THOUGHTS:

I have been waiting for a book about Quinn.  I was curious to see how the author was going to take Quinn off the dating market since he is basically the player of the family.  When the author introduced us to Hunter Wild at the end of the second book, Blood Feud, I knew this was going to be a great match.

I loved the story that the author brought to us this time.  We finally get to see the Vampire Coronation and so does Hunter. She is thrilled to witness the event even though she is technically a Helios-Ra Academy student.  She has been trained by her Grandfather that you kill all vampires.  If you have read the previous books in the series though, you know that not all vampires are evil and deserve to be killed.  The book literally picks up shortly after the previous book ended.  I loved Quinn, yet I wish the author would have had him more of the focus in this book than Hunter.  I didn’t like reading all about the academy as much as I wanted to see Hunter and Quinn interact more.  I wanted a slow progression of a love story, with the suspense and action we had from the first two books, instead of rushing their relationship.

While I really enjoyed the book, to me it was more of a filler book.  A book to set the pace and arc for the next installment.  The book could be read as a stand alone, but I don’t recommend it if you want the full effect of the personalities of each character involved.  I still can’t wait for the next book in the series though to see what happens next.  It is my understanding that the next book is suppose to focus on Conner, who just so happens to be Quinn’s twin brother.

What appealed to me the most about this series is not only the romance and action, but the witty dialogue, strong and determined females, and heart racing vampire Drake men! 

MY RATING: