BOOK REVIEW: BLANK SLATE BY TIFFANY SNOW

Title: Blank Slate

Author: Tiffany Snow

Genre: Romance, romantic suspense

Published on: December 18, 2012 by Montlake Romance

Special Agent Erik Langston has been tracking Clarissa O’Connell for nearly a year, always one step behind the cyber hacking thief. She’s escaped his clutches often and easily.

Except tonight.

In the snow-covered switchbacks of the Colorado mountains in a worsening snowstorm, a car crash robs Clarissa of her memory and lands her as Erik’s prisoner.

Riding out the storm in a cabin, Erik is forced to protect someone he knows to be a criminal, though O’Connell isn’t anything like he’d imagined her to be.

In a race to stay one step ahead of those who’ll do anything for what she knows, Clarissa and Erik must dig into her locked memories if they’re going to survive. But revelations of her past prove to Clarissa she’s everything Erik despises. Can she trust his feelings even when he knows the truth?

Is it really possible to start over with a blank slate?

This is one of those books that outshine their cover art. So don’t judge based on looks! Blank Slate is Tiffany Snow’s debut novel, which shows how amazingly talented she is. The book is told from the first-person POVs of Special Agent Erik Langston and Clarissa O’Connell. She’s what mainly drew me to Blank Slate, as Clarissa is a highly skilled computer hacker. I like women who aren’t intimidated by technology. Anyway, Erik has been tracking down Clarissa for months. He is following a solid lead that could let him catch Clarissa once and for all.

Erik crashes a party where Clarissa is rumored to be. She turns out to be there and is on a personal mission. Clarissa leaves after finishing what she needed to do, but not before Erik spots her. The two engage in an adrenaline-pumping car chase. Despite all her efforts, Clarissa is unable to lose Erik. She ends up going over a cliff. This sounds deadly, but Clarissa survives the crash. The impact does leave her amnesiac, though.

BOOK REVIEW: POWERLESS BY TERA LYNN CHILDS

Title: Powerless
Author: Tera Lynn Childs, Tracy Deebs
Genre: Fantasy

Published on: June 2, 2015 by Sourcebooks Fire

In a world of superheroes, the line between good and evil is always clear. Right?

Kenna is constantly surrounded by superheroes. Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, practically everyone she knows has some talent or power. Kenna doesn't have a power. Sure, she's smart and independent, but surrounded by all the extraordinary, it's hard not feel very ordinary. And she's tired of it.

So when three villains break into the lab where she interns, Kenna refuses to be a victim. She stands her ground. She's not about to let criminals steal the research that will make her extraordinary too.

But in the heat of battle, secrets are spilled and one of the villains saves her life. Twice. Suddenly, everything Kenna thought she knew about good and evil, heroes and villains is upended. And to protect her life and those she loves, she must team up with her sworn enemies on a mission that will redefine what it means to be powerful and powerless...

While fantasy is one of my favorite genres, I haven't come across many novels in the superhero sub-genre. When I found Powerless in the Kindle store, it seemed like it would be up my alley. The protagonist is Kenna Swift, a regular girl who lives in a world of supers. There are two factions: Heroes and Villains. Kenna is the daughter of Jeanine Swift, a prominent scientist who works for the heroes at a secret lab. Kenna works there as an intern.

Kenna is working at the lab one night when three notorious villains break into the place. They’re looking for something—or someone. Kenna surprises them and is taken hostage. She’s terrified, having heard extreme stories about them. Kenna is afraid the villains will kill her if she opposes them too strongly. She has some protection at least, courtesy of Jeanine. Kenna manages to alert authorities and the villains bolt. Not before they plant a few seeds of doubt in Kenna’s mind, though.

BOOK DISCUSSION: THE WARCROSS DUOLOGY

Hello! Today I am introducing a new post category: book discussion. As the name implies, I will discuss a book or series, mainly about stuff that couldn’t go in a book review. Book discussion posts allow spoilers, but that’s not the point. I’ve been wanting to create this kind of post for a while. This desire became greater after reading certain books. Among these is the Warcross duology by Marie Lu. They are science fiction novels popular for their portrayal of cutting-edge technology and their lovable main character.

The protagonist of Warcross and its sequel Wildcard is Emika Chen. She’s an Asian-American teenager living in a New York not much different from ours. The difference is that technology is significantly more advanced. The most prominent example is known as the NeuroLink. It’s a pair of electronic glasses—which soon become contact lenses— that allow their wearer to enter a stunningly realistic virtual world. The most popular use of the NeuroLink is to play Warcross, a game akin to a cross between Fortnite and Quidditch. Its popularity is such that an official Warcross championship is as huge an event as the real-life Super Bowl or Olympics.

BOOK REVIEW: KILLING ULYSSES BY P.M. STEFFEN

Title: Killing Ulysses

Author: P.M. Steffen

Genre: Thriller, mystery

Published on: August 22, 2018 by Lion Dog Press

A BRUTAL MURDER.

A STOLEN CHILD.

A PRICELESS PAINTING.

Life is about to get treacherous for forensic psychologist Sky Stone. She’s retired from police work, happily teaching at a local university, until one steamy July morning when wealthy art collector Edmund Clayworth is found brutally murdered in his Beacon Street home. Like a moth to a flame, Sky is drawn to the case.

Sparks fly when former lover Jake Farrell grabs control of the homicide investigation. Complications mount fast. A stranger begs Sky to rescue her stolen daughter. A handsome Texas cowboy from her past shows up asking dangerous questions. Add the theft of a priceless painting and Sky’s obsession with an artist twenty years dead and you have a nonstop rollercoaster ride. Sky leads the reader through Beacon Hill mansions, a posh art gallery opening, and a maze of secret underground tunnels in her quest to solve this murder before the killer strikes again.

Sky Stone returns in Killing Ulysses, the pulse-pounding sequel to The Profiler’s Daughter. Amazon bestselling author P.M. Steffen’s enigmatic and brilliant heroine battles her own demons as she tracks down obscure leads and cryptic clues, little realizing that the killer is watching her every move.

It’s here at last, the sequel to The Profiler’s Daughter. I’ve been waiting for it for a long while. Skylar Winthrop Stone, the protagonist, is a compelling forensic psychologist with a sharp mind and alluring beauty. I like female investigator characters, and Skylar easily became one of my favorites. Even though she's rich and powerful, Sky doesn't feel hard to relate with. She's not elitist at all, as she works alongside much less wealthy cops as an equal. Skylar is sort of retired from police work now, though. Her last murder case was intense and dangerous. The experience left her shaken, so Skylar is now a psychology professor.

That's not the only change in Skylar's life. She now has a baby, Samantha Crowninshield Winthrop Stone (yes, seriously), who is a few months old. Everyone calls the girl Sammy, for obvious reasons. Even with a child and a new job, Skylar can't stay away from police work for long. She just has great inherited talent. At her university office, Skylar gets an unexpected visit. It’s Detective Angel Butera, who wants her help in a new case. Skylar is reluctant to accept, partly because Butera wasn’t a big fan of her. He isn’t only reaching out to make amends, though. Butera wants Skylar’s expert opinion, as the crime scene is…interesting.