Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

 

How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.
My Review:
What a great book!
I finished it in one day. Just couldn't put it down.
The storyline in it's self is very well written and continued to keep me interested from start to finish.
I loved all the characters, though I have to say my favorite was Hector.
There is tons of action,tragedy,multiple love plots, and deception what more could you possibly ask for aside from the next book to hurry up and be available!
This is a great beginning for a new series!
I give Josephine a Strong 5 star review for this great book

Die for me by Amy Plum

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.
Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.
Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.
While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?
My review:
Die for me is definitely one that I will be putting on my most loved list for the year.
With a  devastating loss,a new beginning,new friends, the discovery of a paranormal existence,and a great love story.
Kate's life will keep you turning the pages to see where Amy takes the story of  her and Vincent from moment to moment.
I can't wait to see what comes next!

I recommend Die for me with a solid 5 stars!

One hundred candles by Mara Purnhagen

Synopsis

It's taken a long time for me to feel like a normal teenager. But now that I'm settled in a new school, where people know me as more than Charlotte Silver of the infamous Silver family paranormal investigators, it feels like everything is falling into place. And what better way to be normal than to go on a date with a popular football star like Harris Abbott? After all, it's not as if Noah is anything more than a friend….
But my new life takes a disturbing turn when Harris brings me to a party and we play a game called One Hundred Candles. It seems like harmless, ghostly fun. Until spirits unleashed by the game start showing up at school. Now my friends and family are in very real danger, and the door that I've opened into another realm may yield deadly consequences.
My review:
I thought this book was a fun read.
With an easy to follow story line, strong character, a plot full of creepiness,deception,sadness and of course love
Not knowing it was a second book in a series I found it to be great on it's own but look forward to see what the future holds for Charlotte and her family.
I recommend One hundred candles with 4 stars!

 

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

 

 

Publishers Weekly

In Carter's first YA novel, the Greek pantheon isn't just down to Earth, it's occupying Eden, Mich., and attending high school. Kate Winters doesn't notice anything special about classmates Ava, James, and Dylan, but pale-eyed Henry gets her attention when he appears to resurrect Ava from the dead after a malicious prank goes horribly wrong. Kate can't quite believe that Henry is the god of the underworld, as he claims, but she also can't dismiss him. Kate's mother is dying of cancer, and Kate is willing to grasp at anything that might win her one more loving maternal conversation. The bargain she strikes with Henry is a grim one, but the full enormity of what she has undertaken—"live forever or die trying"—is not revealed until it's too late to recant. Carter wears her influences openly, with many passages reading like outtakes from Robin McKinley's Beauty by way of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Nevertheless, the narrative is well executed, and Kate is a heroine better equipped than most to confront and cope with the inexplicable. Ages 13 18. (May)

My review:

I loved loved loved this book.

I am very fond of Greek mythology and this story was a wonderful new twist.

Following Kate a great main character who lets face it is better than most of us. Henry the loveable greek god of the underworld as well as a great supporting cast of characters.

The whole idea of this book is wonderfully well written and flows in a manner that had me not wanting to put it down. For a story filled with the loss,passion,friendship,deception,and love

 I reccomend The Goddess Test with 5+ stars!

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

 

Synopsis

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out.

My review:

 This Book made me step back and say Wow!

 A very well written story!

 Able to catch your attention from line one and hold it until the very last word.

 I hope we never come to live in a world like this, yet in some ways we already do which makes it so much more believable and scary.  

The girls are so different and yet here they are in this cage of a life with no choices of their own.  I found myself wondering what life I would choose if given the choice to live their old lives or the life as a Sister wife.

Rhine who narrates the story from her view and her desire to escape is strong willed with a never ending desire to be home again. She is caring but also a very capable liar able to deceive to her advantage.

Jenna who is resigned to live the rest of her life as a sister wife is quiet but misses nothing that is going on around her.

Cecily is a naive child who sees love, wedding bells, children and one big happy family. She cannot imagine a better life and therefore cannot imagine why everyone is not thrilled to live this life they share.

 In the beginning I disliked linden the husband but by the end I just felt sorry for him.

 His father gives me the creepy crawlies all through the story.

I look forward to see where Lauren takes this story. Will there be a happy ending to this series?

I guess I will have to wait and see.

I recommend this book with 4.5 starts from cover to cover!

Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

ARC

Product Details

• Pub. Date: March 2011
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback , 416pp
• Sales Rank: 96,277

• ISBN-13: 9780312624675
• ISBN: 0312624670
• Edition Description: First Edition

Synopsis

Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams,  Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…
One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.
Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 
Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…
My review:
Simply a must read !
I found I couldn't put this book down. 
Kylie is your "almost" typical teen with The  ex -boyfriend, parent issues, the friend who likes to party a bit more than you and somehow you end up in trouble, and she sees a ghost.Most of us have at least one of these in our teen years if not all. Which makes Kylie easy to relate to from the start. Once she is sent to Shadow Falls things get a little stranger but through the strangeness and help of new friends  Kylie begins to understand better who she is as a person and where she comes from although she still has a lot to figure out including what to do about the hot half fairy"Derek" and the super hot werewolf "Lucas" who I truly hope to read a lot more about in books to come!This book had  a great paranormal twist with hot guys,creepy cool new friends, a bit of mystery when added together have created the first book in what I believe is going to be a great series!
I recommend this book with a solid 5 stars!

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

netgalley

Overview -

Angel Burn

Product Details

• Pub. Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Format: MP3 on CD

• ISBN-13: 9781455809325
• ISBN: 1455809322

Synopsis

Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow that Willow herself. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he’s one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil. In the first book in an action-packed romantic trilogy, L. A. Weatherly sends listeners on a thrill ride of a road trip – and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this first book in the Angel trilogy, from the truly creepy thought of Angels who feed off humans "I mean really wouldn't that just suck!", the fighting and running for your life action, and of course the  always enjoyable love story.
Following Willow"Half angel" and Alex"Angel Killer" through the short glimpses of their life prior to meeting each other and how the Angels affected both of their lives and family's, their dislike and eventually love for each other and how they get   from one point to the other all the while trying to survive on the run from Angels was great and had me turning page after page. 
I cannot wait to see how this trilogy continues .
I recommend this book with 4.5 stars!