Thursday, May 23, 2013
Book Blast: Above Rubies by Jacklyn M. Hawkes
His chivalry was strangling her. He thought he was helping her—and in truth, he was. She was in desperate straits. But as honorable as he was, he was also breaking her heart. Her attraction was drowning him. When World Champion rodeo cowboy Rossen Rockland and his friends rescue a young runaway who has been abused by her foster father and take her home to his parents’ ranch, he expects her to turn out to be a pain in the neck. And sometimes she is. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that she has way more than her allotment of troubles—and far more than her share of gifts. Lovely, talented, and ravingly brilliant, Kit Star is too young, unbelievably humble, and oh, so loveable. Knowing that she needs his protection and time to grow into her potential, Rossen also figures out that what she really is, is a pain in the heart. Watch for more of the Rockland Ranch Series!
The police didn't understand the danger, but she did. Her father had always been abusive, but now, with a ten million dollar Thoroughbred farm on the line, and a powerful bookie leaning on him, her father had become out of control. But how do you get away and take a world famous stallion with you? Carrie was getting desperate when a handsome and honorable but thoroughly cynical rodeo cowboy from Wyoming happened to show up with a horse trailer. He didn't ride a white horse, but he was definitely a knight in shining armor. He'll protect her from the mob, but can she survive falling in love with a bull rider?
Jaclyn M. Hawkes grew up in Utah with 6 sisters, 4 brothers and any number of pets. (It was never boring!) She got a bachelor’s degree, had a career and traveled extensively before settling down to her life’s work of being the mother of four magnificent and sometimes challenging children. She loves shellfish, the out of doors, the youth and hearing her children laugh. She and her fine husband, their family, and their sometimes very large pets, now live in a mountain valley in northern Utah, where it smells like heaven and kids still move sprinkler pipe.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston
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The Rules For Disappearing
by Ashley Elston
by Ashley Elston
Disney-Hyperion | Hardback, 320 pages
On the run from the bad guys, Meg has been through several moves and identity changes. She's lived by a set of rules that had so far saved her sanity from their last two relocations. Under the Witness Protection Program, she's learned not to get attached, not to make friends and to make herself as invisible as possible. But when their family was yet again relocated to Louisiana, remaining incognito had become impossible. Thanks to a boy who wouldn't leave her alone, a family on the verge of inevitable destruction, and her ever growing loneliness and impatience at the uncertainty of their future. Meg was determined to find out exactly what had happened if it was the first step to getting a semblance of their old life back. Even so far as reliving a nightmare that had plagued her nights to get to the truth that would set her family free.
Ashley Elston's compelling debut lets the readers into the clandestined lives of those in the WPP, particularly of a family whose former life was as different as night and day from the nightmare they keep finding themselves in. Meg was a believable character who had learned to step up as their mother continued her descent into oblivion via alcohol. While their father continued to take things as they were, contented to flit from one form of life to another. Her sister, in the meantime, was talking less and less. She was angry for being kept in the dark, mollified each time she'd asked the whys. The frustration seeps from the book to the reader.
The book is broken down into a set of rules Meg has set for herself to help her get through the endless cycle of moving and switching identities. It was a disorganized, disquieting life where fear rules, accompanied by loneliness. It was not a life for a teenager, let alone an eleven year old. In a way, Ethan saved both girls from themselves. Meg has found a guy who needed to be the person who could put up with the back and forth, roller coaster of emotions that she goes through on a daily basis. Her sister, who was virtually withdrawn unto herself, had found a friend who coaxed her back into the world of the living. Ethan was the quintessential perfect book boyfriend, though a bit unbelievably perfect sometimes. I liked that he's got Meg numbered and pegged from the get-go but I didn't like that he was willing to put his life on the line for a girl he barely knew. But it's part of his charm: he's kind and gentlemanly and who couldn't stand the thought of a world without Meg.
Wonderful characters, unrelenting suspense and a sweet romance to boot. What more could you ask for but for a sequel?
My rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Ashley Elston's compelling debut lets the readers into the clandestined lives of those in the WPP, particularly of a family whose former life was as different as night and day from the nightmare they keep finding themselves in. Meg was a believable character who had learned to step up as their mother continued her descent into oblivion via alcohol. While their father continued to take things as they were, contented to flit from one form of life to another. Her sister, in the meantime, was talking less and less. She was angry for being kept in the dark, mollified each time she'd asked the whys. The frustration seeps from the book to the reader.
The book is broken down into a set of rules Meg has set for herself to help her get through the endless cycle of moving and switching identities. It was a disorganized, disquieting life where fear rules, accompanied by loneliness. It was not a life for a teenager, let alone an eleven year old. In a way, Ethan saved both girls from themselves. Meg has found a guy who needed to be the person who could put up with the back and forth, roller coaster of emotions that she goes through on a daily basis. Her sister, who was virtually withdrawn unto herself, had found a friend who coaxed her back into the world of the living. Ethan was the quintessential perfect book boyfriend, though a bit unbelievably perfect sometimes. I liked that he's got Meg numbered and pegged from the get-go but I didn't like that he was willing to put his life on the line for a girl he barely knew. But it's part of his charm: he's kind and gentlemanly and who couldn't stand the thought of a world without Meg.
Wonderful characters, unrelenting suspense and a sweet romance to boot. What more could you ask for but for a sequel?
My rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Monday, May 20, 2013
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
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The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Putnam Juvenile | Hardcover, 480 pages
This book has been the subject of many gushing reviews on Goodreads. I was a little intimidated by it just because I saw myself as another outsider among the legions of fans that were tripping all over themselves. The Sci-Fi thing and the alien invasion thing aren't really my cup of tea. So that only added to my trepidation to read it. But by the end of chapter two, I'm sunk.
The invasion happened like a masterful thief in the night. Humans didn't know, wouldn't have known until they actually made their presence known by unleashing the most brilliantly executed form of invasion. It came in five waves: First - an E.M.P blast strong enough to take out all forms of communications, power and every technological apparatus known to man. Cell phones, electricity, planes, and automobiles instantly died. Second - the big one. An earthquake that took out most of the coastal cities all over the world, therefore drowning almost half of the population. Third - pestilence. An airborne Ebola virus that pretty much guaranteed whoever survived the earthquake wouldn't survive the epidemic. Fourth - the Silencer. Aliens trained to take out every human they see by putting a bullet to their heads. So the "cleansing" was almost complete until the fifth wave, which was brilliant in such a way that it was a form of psychological warfare. But you'll have to read the book for you to find out.
It was a strategic plan that the aliens had used against humans because they knew how we think and they were always one step ahead. Rick Yancey made it even more credible via his characters. It was enough to make you think that everything you've read was entirely possible. And man,Yancey knew plot twists like he invented the concept. It took me a couple of tries before I wrapped my head around it but by the time I figured it out, I was entranced and completely in awe. It was like an M. Night Shyamaylan movie playing out right before your eyes. And love him or hate him, the guy would be the man for the job to bring this book to life. Sorry (not sorry).
The fact that the aliens aren't your garden variety cone heads with dark onyx eyes only added to the suspenseful element of the book. The author would have you on tenterhooks along with the characters who were anxiously waiting for the fifth wave of the attack.
Cassie was an incredible force of a character. Her stream of consciousness vacillated between fear, anger and determination beyond any of us could ever muster. If you can even believe it, there is a romance in here that will hit you like a speeding freight train. And it's so sweet and so impossible but lovely in all the ways I love my romances in a book.
After reading this book, I have concluded that sometimes, the hype machine actually knows what it's talking about.
My rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
The invasion happened like a masterful thief in the night. Humans didn't know, wouldn't have known until they actually made their presence known by unleashing the most brilliantly executed form of invasion. It came in five waves: First - an E.M.P blast strong enough to take out all forms of communications, power and every technological apparatus known to man. Cell phones, electricity, planes, and automobiles instantly died. Second - the big one. An earthquake that took out most of the coastal cities all over the world, therefore drowning almost half of the population. Third - pestilence. An airborne Ebola virus that pretty much guaranteed whoever survived the earthquake wouldn't survive the epidemic. Fourth - the Silencer. Aliens trained to take out every human they see by putting a bullet to their heads. So the "cleansing" was almost complete until the fifth wave, which was brilliant in such a way that it was a form of psychological warfare. But you'll have to read the book for you to find out.
It was a strategic plan that the aliens had used against humans because they knew how we think and they were always one step ahead. Rick Yancey made it even more credible via his characters. It was enough to make you think that everything you've read was entirely possible. And man,Yancey knew plot twists like he invented the concept. It took me a couple of tries before I wrapped my head around it but by the time I figured it out, I was entranced and completely in awe. It was like an M. Night Shyamaylan movie playing out right before your eyes. And love him or hate him, the guy would be the man for the job to bring this book to life. Sorry (not sorry).
The fact that the aliens aren't your garden variety cone heads with dark onyx eyes only added to the suspenseful element of the book. The author would have you on tenterhooks along with the characters who were anxiously waiting for the fifth wave of the attack.
Cassie was an incredible force of a character. Her stream of consciousness vacillated between fear, anger and determination beyond any of us could ever muster. If you can even believe it, there is a romance in here that will hit you like a speeding freight train. And it's so sweet and so impossible but lovely in all the ways I love my romances in a book.
After reading this book, I have concluded that sometimes, the hype machine actually knows what it's talking about.
My rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
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