The Alchemy of Forever
Author: Avery Williams
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books
 (January 3, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-1442443167

After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world’s riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human’s life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she’s done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again. 


Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying to save her. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she’s inhabiting–and falling in love with the boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she’s his again, and every moment she stays, she’s putting herself and the people she’s grown to care about in danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that’s eluded her for centuries: true love?

Whew! Talk about a book that can force you to forget about daily chores!  Seriously, when I first received this book, I just thought it was going to be another young adult paranormal to add to my list of reads without any more thought.  However, once you start reading about Sera and Cyrus you forget everything else just to find out what is going to happen.

The first part of the book features Sera and Cyrus.  It goes into detail on how the two met and how they have come to be immortal.  Cyrus learned of a way to become Incarnate through the study of Alchemy.  Science is his passion and belief with no interest in anything spiritual.  What started out as love between the two, has now evolved into ownership and control.  Sera is desperate to escape the clutches of Cyrus and their fellow Incarnates and has even been hoping for a chance to come along.  When the body starts to die out after 10 years or so, they are forced to find another lonely soul to claim.  They take a life to save their own and Sera has grown tired of it.  She is feeling remorse and just wants to finally move on to the next step of Heaven or Hell.  When she gets her chance to escape she takes it.  While on the run from Cyrus and the group, she decides she is going to do one last redeeming thing in the hopes to at least show how sorry she has been for taking souls.  She tries to save a girl who is near death, but ends up taking her body and soul in mistake.  Now she is forced to live as Kailey and pray that Cyrus cannot find her.

I really enjoyed this story of Immortality.  It is based on something scientific but it also has some paranormal touches to it as well.  I did feel sorry for Sera in this book as she comes to terms of what she has done.  She is also trying to figure out how Kailey lived as well.  She finds herself enjoying the life Kailey had at home and finds out that she wasn’t always the best person to some people.  She tries to change Kailey into a person that everyone could like and in turn falls for her childhood friend.

If you are looking for a new read in this genre and topic, then this is a fresh new read that will keep you in suspense.  Be prepared for an ending that will frustrate you, but also leave you anxious for more.  I personally can’t wait for the next book in the Incarnation series by this author.  I still can’t believe the ending was left the way it is, but it definitely leaves you craving more!

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!

* I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Tales From the Crib
Author: Jennifer Coburn
Source: Author Submission
Genre: Adult Fiction
Publisher: Kensington
 (February 1, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0758209832

Lucy and Jack are about to become parents.


Lucy is pregnant-and she can’t wait to surprise her husband with the good news. But she’s the one in for a shock when she discovers that Jack has some surprising news of his own. It seems he wants a divorce. At least he did, until he found out they were having a baby. Now he’s convinced they should stay married and raise the baby together…as friends.


But will they stay husband and wife?


Only Lucy doesn’t want to be just friends. Sure, their marriage has hit a rocky patch, but she still believes in happily ever after. Besides, she wants them to be a family. But she’s agreed to give this kooky arrangement one year which means she has exactly twelve months to win back the heart of the man she married. Unless, of course, someone else shows up to sweep her off her swollen feet first.

I really wanted to enjoy this book especially after reading the prologue and the opening chapter.  I laughed at the envisioned dinner Lucy was going to share with her husband and tell him the exciting new of her pregnancy.  Then the bubble burst and her reality dinner was much worse than she hoped.  The first chapter even had me laughing out loud at her therapist who decides to go into hiding and not return the couples calls because he just doesn’t want to deal with their problems.  Seriously? Any time a therapist fires the patient, you know there is good reason and usually a good story behind it.

After the first few chapters though, the fun kind of wore off for me.  The book started to decline and hit bottom with no ladder of hope in returning to the top.  I really wanted it to, but it just didn’t have the steam to keep going.  This book is definitely a chick lit book with witty dialogue, funny characters and no paranormal in sight, but it did lack something even if I can’t put my finger on it.  It just seemed to stall for me.  It does have a good ending and it leaves the reader with the feeling of everything being wrapped up nicely.

If you are just looking for a quick chick lit read with lots of laughter and eccentric characters, then give this book a chance.  This might just be what the therapist ordered to get your funny bone laughing again.

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Shot Through the Heart
Author: Niki Burnham
Source: Author Submission
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Summer Road Press
 (December 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0984706914

At Eastwood High, love is a battlefield. * * * From the RITA-Award winning author of ROYALLY CRUSHED and SCARY BEAUTIFUL, an all-new romantic comedy! 


Two guys, two girls, two thousand dollars, and one epic water gun battle. 


Senior year? It’s all about Senior Assassin, a yearly water gun tournament where the last team standing receives a cool two grand. Connor wants nothing more than to split that prize with his best friend, Josh. When their mission is put in jeopardy by Molly–thanks to her crush on Connor–Josh comes up with a plan to thwart her, one that involves his sister, Peyton… 


Peyton’s deepest desire is to score entry to MIT. She’s working her tail off to achieve her goal, but when she’s dragged into Connor and Josh’s water gun tournament, their antics threaten to leave her high and dry. As Peyton’s forced to choose between chemistry class and chemistry with Connor, will the super student and the super athlete discover they have more in common than they imagined? 


One thing’s for certain: When Connor, Peyton, Josh, and Molly load their weapons, someone’s bound to get shot through the heart.

Every once in awhile, I love a quick and uplifting read to get me through reading slumps.  When the author sent me this book for review, I knew it would help out in the laughter department and give me that feel good feeling I enjoy with contemporary books.  What made it even better was that it was young adult and the cover put a smile on my face before I even started reading it.

The book is told from several points of view.  That in itself was fun because we got to read what each character was thinking and feeling.  With winning the prize of $2000 being one of the main plots of the story, you shouldn’t expect anything else except fun, sweet romance and lots of snickering at the characters personalities.

While the book was fun and kept me reading straight through until the end, I couldn’t help but wonder at how much a reader will expect from the book.  Fun and laughter? Yes.  A compelling plot point that has mystery? No.  What I can say is that it will lift your mood while reading about the characters and you too might find yourself smiling by the last page!

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Empty
Author: Suzanne Weyn
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult Dystopia
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
 (February 1, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-0545172790

A dystopic look at what happens to one American town when all the fossil fuels run out…


Civilization has just run out.


It’s the future – the very near future – and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no driving. No heat. Supermarkets are empty. Malls have shut down. Life has just become more local than we ever knew it could be.


Nobody expected the end to come this fast. And in the small town of Sage Valley, decisions that once seemed easy are quickly becoming matters of life and death. There is hope – there has to be hope – but there are also sacrifices that need to be made, and a society that needs to be rethought. Niki, Tom, and Gwen may find what they need to survive. But their lives are never going to be the same again.

For such a short read, this book pulls out all the punches!  When it first arrived in my mailbox, I wasn’t too sure I wanted to start reading another Dystopia right now.  I seemed to be leaning toward dystopia lately and I didn’t want to get burnt out on them just yet.  When I saw that it was a short read though I went ahead and gave it a go!

Imagine ten years from now the price of gasoline being $20 a gallon.  Not hard to imagine with the way gas prices have been climbing the last few years.  Now imagine the price of oil being in the $500 a barrel range.  Are you starting to form a picture in your mind yet?  Without oil, our country would be in a world of hurt and that is what this book presents to the reader.  What would our country be like with low amounts of oil available and gas prices so high that only the super rich could afford to drive anywhere.  In turn, this causes electricity to sky rocket to where heat and cooling becomes something of the past.

This book is told from three different point of views involving Gwen, Tom and Niki.  While the characters were okay, they weren’t outstanding.  They were pretty plain and basic within the realm of characterization.  They were the typical teens thrown into the element of survival.

If you are looking for a quick read in the dystopia world of young adult reads, then give this one a chance.  It may not be as amazing as some of the other books out right now, but it does give you a real look into what our world could be like in the future if things don’t change now in the real world.

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Desire Unchained
A Demonica Novel #2
Author: Larissa Ione
Source: Personal Purchase
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Forever
  (March 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0446400985

Pleasure is their ultimate weapon . . . 


Runa Wagner never meant to fall in love with the sexy stranger who seemed to know her every deepest desire. But she couldn’t resist the unbelievable passion that burned between them, a passion that died when she discovered his betrayal and found herself forever changed. Now, determined to make Shade pay for the transformation that haunts her, Runa searches for him, only to be taken prisoner by his darkest enemy. 


A Seminus Demon with a love-curse that threatens him with eternal torment, Shade hoped he’d seen the last of Runa and her irresistible charm. But when he wakes up in a dank dungeon chained next to an enraged and mysteriously powerful Runa, he realizes that her effect on him is more dangerous than ever. 


As their captor casts a spell that bonds them as lifemates, Shade and Runa must fight for their lives and their hearts-or succumb to a madman’s evil plans.

I am enjoying this series so much that I haven’t taken a break from it since starting them!  I was looking forward to seeing how the author was going to work the curse that Shade carries and how she was going to be able to give him happiness in the end.  What I wasn’t looking forward to though was the torture of having to scramble to find the time to be able to read the book with no interruptions!

When I finally started to read Desire Unchained, I was instantly swept back into the demon world that proved to be full of excitement, sexiness, suspense and drama.  Shade was not one of my favorites from the previous book, but he did capture my interest with the curse that he has and how the author was going to develop a book around it.  I loved how Shade and Runa were thrown together and tortured into submission and bonding.  Roag is truly showing his true side in being the evil brother that you love to hate.  He is ruthless and evil to the core with no regard to the consequences.

Runa was the perfect match to the cockiness of Shade.  I loved how she didn’t put up with his crap and shoved it back at him every chance she got.  It showed me that the author truly wanted Shade to meet his match in a mate.  Runa also brought out the softer side of Shade and made me realize that he does have feelings that he chooses not to show on the outside.

Again in this book, we are treated to side stories involving Gem and Kynan.  While I am truly enjoying their chemistry and build up, I do with the author would have made their connection a separate book so the reader could fully enjoy their characters.

While Shade and Runa were a great couple and this book was much better in the character development,  I am still not a huge fan of this one as I was the first one.  It could be that I am just not willing to accept Shade as a good guy because of his lack of emotions from the previous book, but it was still one I enjoyed and would read again.  I am looking forward to the next book that involves Wraith and the torment he is going to have to suffer to find his happily ever after.  I also enjoyed the ‘surprise’ that is revealed at the end of this book for Shade and Runa!  That should be entertaining to read about in the future books!

Very Good! I would recommend this book!