Dirty

Title: Dirty

Author: Kylie Scott

Series: Dive Bar, Book 1

Number of Pages: 275

Date Read: 6/24/16 

Genre: Romance, Erotic

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

The last thing Vaughan Hewson expects to find when he returns to his childhood home is a broken hearted bride in his shower, let alone the drama and chaos that comes with her.

Lydia Green doesn't know whether to burn down the church or sit and cry in a corner. Discovering the love of your life is having an affair on your wedding day is bad enough. Finding out it's with his best man is another thing all together. She narrowly escapes tying the knot and meets Vaughan only hours later.

Vaughan is the exact opposite of the picture perfect, respected businessman she thought she'd marry. This former musician-turned-bartender is rough around the edges and unsettled. But she already tried Mr. Right and discovered he's all wrong-maybe it's time to give Mr. Right Now a chance.

After all, what's wrong with getting dirty?

My Review:

No Review as of yet

Rating:A+

The Red Pyramid

Title: The Red Pyramid

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: The Kane Chronicles, Book 1

Number of Pages: 516

Date Read: 6/14/16 

Genre: Mythology, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Middle Grade 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. 

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. 

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

My Review:

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan Video Review

Rating:A+

Ivory and Bone

Title: Ivory and Bone

Author: Julie Eshbaugh

Series: Ivory and Bone, Book 1

Number of Pages: 275

Date Read: 6/24/16 

Genre: Prehistoric Romance, Historical Fiction, Romance 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

A prehistoric fantasy—with allusions to Pride and Prejudice.

Hunting, gathering, and keeping his family safe—that’s the life seventeen-year-old Kol knows. Then bold, enigmatic Mya arrives from the south with her family, and Kol is captivated. He wants her to like and trust him, but any hopes of impressing her are ruined when he makes a careless—and nearly grave—mistake. However, there’s something more to Mya’s cool disdain…a history wrought with loss that comes to light when another clan arrives. With them is Lo, an enemy from Mya’s past who Mya swears has ulterior motives.

As Kol gets to know Lo, tensions between Mya and Lo escalate until violence erupts. Faced with shattering losses, Kol is forced to question every person he’s trusted. One thing is for sure: this was a war that Mya or Lo—Kol doesn’t know which—had been planning all along.

My Review: 

No Review

Rating: A

Walk on Earth a Stranger

Title: Walk on Earth a Stranger

Author: Rae Carson

Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy, Book 1

Number of Pages: 431

Date Read: 6/10/16 

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift. 

My Review:

Here is my review video for this book: 

Walk on Earth a Stranger Video Review

Rating:A

A Drop of Night

Title: A Drop of Night

Author: Stefan Bachmann

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 439

Date Read: 6/5/16 

Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Fantasy, Paranormal

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Seventeen-year-old Anouk has finally caught the break she’s been looking for—she's been selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace buried a hundred feet below the suburbs of Paris. Built in the 1780's to hide an aristocratic family and a mad duke during the French Revolution, the palace has lain hidden and forgotten ever since. Anouk, along with several other gifted teenagers, will be the first to set foot in it in over two centuries.

Or so she thought.

But nothing is as it seems, and the teens soon find themselves embroiled in a game far more sinister, and dangerous, than they could possibly have imagined. An evil spanning centuries is waiting for them in the depths. . .

My Review: 

So this book was ok. 

I will say that the synopsis is misleading and I was disappointed in that. I thought this book was going to be a thriller with historical aspects in it. Instead I got a fantasy and it was reminiscent of the book Survive the Night by Danielle Vega. 

What I thought I was gonna read about were teens excavating a hidden underground palace that was just found and somehow, perhaps because of crumbling structure, they would become trapped and have to find a way out. Well the characters did get stuck the palace, not the way I thought they would and they do spend the whole book trying to get out. Ok I could deal with this. It could still be interesting because they have to find a way out of a palace that's been buried for 200 years. They obviously have to have some hardships because, again the palace is old and the structure can't be that sturdy. Well I was wrong. I did not expect the paranormal aspects, the monsters or the whole premise of immortality. While I did find the book enjoyable overall, I was disappointed at being mislead by whoever created the synopsis. 

Most of the book is told in the present in the pov of a girl named Anouk. There were some chapters or inserts between chapters, that took place in 1790's France, when the palace is being made. The pov of these inserts were from a girl named Aurelie, whose father commissioned the palace. Aurelie's chapters are about her time in the palace, the weird things going on and why the modern teens were brought to the palace. I have to say I liked Aurelie's chapters the best. 

As for the characters they were ok. The main character Anouk was a jerk. I really disliked her in the beginning but she kind of grew on me. She was rude, obnoxious and mean to everyone and she put on a tough facade. She was very smart however but she did do some pretty stupid things that I was screaming at her for. But she was quick thinking and tried to get everyone out of the palace. 

I really liked Aurelie. She was sassy and spunky. She was so not what you'd think a french 1790's aristocratic teen would be. She cares deeply for her sisters and the whole time she was in the palace all she thought about was getting to her sisters and escaping. She was willing to beat up/ fight a servant for their help. She was very smart, clever and had a quick tongue. I loved her! She was the best character of the book. I wish there was more of her in it. 

I will say that there is a lot of action and obstacles/attacks/bad guys in this book that the characters had to fight/overcome/escape. I will say that I enjoyed the descriptions of the different parts and rooms of the palace as well as the crazy traps that people set for the characters. The author really put the characters through the ringer. When they think they're in the clear, something else happens to them. 

So all in all an ok book but I was disappointed by the synopsis because the reader is not really getting what the synopsis claims.

Rating:B

Ruthless

Title: Ruthless

Author: Carolyn Lee Adams

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 248

Date Read: 6/1/16 

Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Survival, Contemporary 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Ruth Carver has always competed like her life depends on it. Ambitious. Tough. Maybe even mean. It’s no wonder people call her ruthless.

When she wakes up with a concussion in the bed of a moving pickup truck, Ruth realizes she has been entered into a contest she can’t afford to lose.

At a remote, rotting cabin deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ruth’s blindfold comes off and she finds herself face-to-face with her captor: A man who believes his mission is to punish bad girls like Ruth. A man who has done this six times before.

The other girls were never heard from again, but Ruth won’t go down easy. She escapes into the wilderness, but her hunter is close at her heels. That’s when the real battle begins. That’s when Ruth must decides just how far she’ll go in order to survive.

Back home, they called her Ruthless. They had no idea just how right they were.

My Review:

This book was ok but it made me so angry.

The plot of the book is a girl trying to escape her captor. Ruth is taken by a man up to a remote cabin in the mountains. She doesn't know the reason why or what he wants. She eventually escapes. The rest of the book is her escaping and trying to find civilization while he is hunting her. Along the way we learn a few things about the man and what made him turn out to be a psychopath serial killer through flashbacks in between chapters. We also learn a bit about Ruth told in flash back of 5 years ago when she was attending the horse event. This is also told between the chapters and is alternated between chapters with the man's history. 

I loved that the book opened in suspense. Ruth is just waking up in the bed of a moving truck and the first chapter is her trying to work out where she is. This book has a lot of suspense in it for the fact that Ruth was being hunted through mountainous woods. You never knew if the wolfman (that's what she calls him) is just around the bend and if he's really going to catch her. I liked the creepy atmosphere of the book and I enjoyed the journey of survival Ruth had to take. I did think that every event that happened to her was adding too much to the story. Events just kept piling up and up and its hard to think that a person could survive all those things happening to them. 

The sad thing is that I didn't really like the characters.

Ruth was ok. Some things she was smart but other things she was incredible stupid. I liked that she didn't give up and was determined to survive. I also liked that she became delirious after days of running and scavenging for food. It made the story believable that the things happening to her were taking a toll on her body and mind. Ruth was incredibly brave and resourceful. But I didn't like her all that much. What we get of her personality was that she was mean, difficult to be around, rude and basically a brat. 

Then there was her stupidity that made me not care if she survived because hey if she didn't care then I didn't. 

Potential Spoilers ahead for this paragraph:
So she escapes her captor and is on the run for awhile. Then she reaches an empty house and sees the wolfman after her so goes in the house to hide. Of course he gets in because there wouldn't be a story if he didn't. However she gets the upper hand and takes him hostage. And what does she do? She gives him water and decides to have a conversation with him! I'm like wtf? Get out of there! In my head I was thinking she should shoot and kill him. Or she could of shot him in both kneecaps and arms so that he is immobile and she can get away. But no....she talks to him? At teh very least she could of knocked him out with something. After she's done chatting she LEAVES the guy tied up and goes to the bathroom!. She goes and takes her damn time cleaning all her wounds. At least if she knocked him out or shot him she could take the time to clean herself up. And then she's surprised when he escapes. I mean really? There were so many times she could of shot and killed him or shoot him in the knees and arms. But she didn't want to kill him. F that! I'd of taken his own gun and shot him in the face!

The man was your run of the mill psycho who had mommy and daddy issues that made him the way he was. Of course I hated him but he was very smart and very prepared to kill Ruth. He just didn't count on her survival instinct. It's clear that she was not his first victim by the state of the cabin. He was just gross, evil and psychotic. He liked to kill and found excuses to do it. 

I'm also not sure if there is a paranormal element to this book. Ruth has hallucinations that actually help her to escape and find her way. However I'm not sure if the hallucinations were real or not. Ruth also got feelings about things that were happening with her family that were correct but again I don't know if it was her intuition or something paranormal. 

The book was short and I breezed through it. I liked the overall plot and the survival instincts of Ruth but I just didn't like and couldn't connect with either character.

Rating: B

Riders

Title: Riders

Author: Veronica Rossi

Series: Riders, Book 1

Number of Pages: 362

Date Read: 5/29/16 

Genre: Paranormal, Supernatural, Fantasy, Mythology 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

My Review: 

So overall I like this book but I did have some problems with it. 

The book is about the main character Gideon becoming one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He had a near death experience or actually dies and was brought back to life (that's still not clear), and when he wakes up he has these powers/abilities and a cuff around his wrist that can't come off. He gets entangled with a girl name Daryn, who calls herself a seeker. He becomes a horseman because some demons known as the kindred are looking for a key and the four horsemen are being called to protect it. The book is mainly about finding the rest of the horsemen, learning their powers and fighting the kindred. 

I didn't really like the way the story was told. It's told through interrogation. The book opens with Gideon strapped to a chair being interrogated by an officer to tell his story. One of the big battles in the book has already happened and the book is mainly Gideon recalling everything that happened (except the last few chapters that finally catch up to the present). While the story was good I wasn't a fan the story being told through memories with parts of the present cutting in when the officer wanted to ask him questions. For me that disrupted the flow of the story.

The characters were ok but my favorite was Bas (Sebastian), who wasn't even the main character. Bas was funny, had the best intentions and was always helpful. He was the sweetest guy and the most fun to be around. He had already mastered some of his abilities by the time Gideon found him. He was not one to fight though but did when it was necessary. I really liked him. I would gladly read a book just about him or where he is the main character which I hope Rossi does. 

Gideon is the main character. He was alright. I think I grew to like him as the story went on. He was in the army before his accident so its appropriate that he becomes war. I though he was very pushy at times and felt like he needed to lighten up. He had a lot of rage and anger inside him which made him unstable at times. Gideon did have a good heart and was trying to understand the mission and help. He just got too angry sometimes. He was a soldier so everything with him was about intel, control, the mission and training. He was very strategic and wanted to protect Daryn at all costs. I liked that he took the mission seriously.

Jode is one of the other horsemen and he's kind of forgettable. He come in late in the book and while I did like him well enough he didn't have much part in the book except in the battles. Marcus is the last horseman and I didn't like him at first. He had a bad attitude, always wanted to fight and was hostile. Actually the whole hostility between Marcus and Gideon was getting so old for the amount of time it lasted. They were at each other throats and always wanted to fight. It was annoying. But once the horsemen decided to work as a team and both Gideon and Marcus stopped acting like asses I liked them more. 

I really didn't like Daryn. She was just ehh. She is the seeker whose job is to get the horsemen together. She is very secretive and keeps information from the guys throughout the whole book. She wants them to do their "job" but doesn't want to give them any information about it. She also leads Gideon on with wanting him but then saying she can't be with him but then doing things like hug him and hold his hand. WTF man, pick something already. Either yes or no to him. I just didn't liker her or really see a reason for her to be there. She was always arguing with Gideon and didn't really contribute anything except for the locations of the other horsemen. 

I enjoyed the mythology behind the horsemen with their weapons, abilities and their horses. They weapons were awesome and I loved seeing them train with them. Personally I would of wanted the bow and arrow for my weapon. They're abilities on how they can affect people was awesome too. Individually they were ok but used together they were awesome. I absolutely loved the horses. Each horse was different and manifested different, had different personalities and abilities. My favorite was Gideon's fire horse. That horse had a bad attitude in the beginning and I could totally see him as a warhorse. 

The demons in this book were interesting as well. They're abilities were awesome and their true forms were so nasty and gross. The leader was Samrael and he had a nasty power that could take down any horseman. Personally, I think he was the strongest being in the book, way stronger than any of the other demons and the horsemen. He was also pure evil and was good at it. 

This book did have some action in it in the form big of battles but they happened at the end of the book which was kind of a long time to wait but oh well. 

The ending killed me and it ensured that I will read the second book in the series to find out what happens. I hate cliffhangers. 

Rating: B+