BOOK REVIEW: THE EDGE OF FOREVER BY MELISSA E. HURST

Title: The Edge of Forever

Author: Melissa E. Hurst
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published on: June 2, 2015 by Sky Pony

In 2013, sixteen-year-old Alora is having blackouts. Each time she wakes up in a different place with no idea how she got there. The one thing she is certain of? Someone is following her.

In 2146, seventeen-year-old Bridger is one of a small number of people born with the ability to travel to the past. While on a routine school time trip, he sees the last person he expected—his dead father. The strangest part is that, according to the Department of Temporal Affairs, his father was never assigned to be in that time. Bridger’s even more stunned when he learns that his by-the-book father was there to break the most important rule of time travel—to prevent someone’s murder.

And that someone is named Alora.

Determined to discover why his father wanted to help a “ghost,” Bridger illegally shifts to 2013 and, along with Alora, races to solve the mystery surrounding her past and her connection to his father before the DTA finds him. If he can stop Alora’s death without altering the timeline, maybe he can save his father too.

I started reading The Edge of Forever with moderate expectations. The cover’s good looking, but it was the synopsis that drew me in. It made this book sound similar to the Rewinder trilogy by Brett Battles, which I’ve read. The protagonist of this story is Bridger Creed, a seventeen-year-old cadet from 2146 United States. In his world, there are people born with the ability to travel back in time. Bridger’s one of them, which is why the Department of Temporal Affairs is training him. At the start, Bridger is on a training trip to a significant event. What’s supposed to be a straightforward mission soon takes an unexpected turn.

Bridger witnesses something that he has a hard time believing. His father Leithan, a DTA agent, is present—even though he’s supposed to be dead. The man quickly vanishes before Bridger can do much of anything. But his distraction has disastrous consequences. Vika, Bridger’s girlfriend and fellow trainee, is severely injured. Their superiors quickly shift back to their time. There, Bridger not only has to deal with the consequences of leaving his post. He also has to ponder why Leithan wanted to save someone from the past. People in Bridger’s time call these people “ghosts”, because their fates are fixed and it’s against the law to mess with them.

BOOK REVIEW: THE THOUGHT PUSHERS BY DIMA ZALES

Title: The Thought Pushers (Les Pousseurs de pensée)

Author: Dima Zales

Genre: Science Fiction

Published on: October 29, 2015, self-published

La suite tres attendue du livre Les Lecteurs de pensée par un auteur de bestsellers au classement du New York Times et de USA Today.

Que suis-je ?

Qui a tué ma famille ?

Pourquoi ?

Il me faut des réponses avant de me faire tuer par la mafia russe.

Si mes amis ne me règlent pas mon compte avant.

This second entry in the Mind Dimensions series picks up shortly after the ending of the previous one. Les Pousseurs de Pensée (I read the French editions of this series) continues the story of Darren Goldberg. He’s a seemingly average man in his mid-twenties who works as a hedge-fund analyst in New York. The story takes place in our contemporary time. What’s different is that there are two groups of people with special mind abilities. Darren is a Thought Reader, which is self-explanatory. And as he discovered recently, he’s also a Thought Pusher: someone who can control the minds of regular people. Darren found out by accident while trying to save his new friend Mira Tsiolkovsky’s life. It seemed like they might be attracted to each other, but Mira is now furious with Darren and won’t talk to him.

There’s a good reason why Mira is acting that way now. She and her brother, Eugene, had already told Darren that Thought Readers and Thought Pushers hate each other. They have been warring for centuries. As if that wasn’t enough, one of them murdered Mira and Eugene’s parents. Whoever this Pusher is, he or she is still around and gunning for the siblings. Now this person seems to have Darren on their sights. He only narrowly escapes a murder attempt thanks to his newfound Pusher ability.

BOOK REVIEW: A GOOD KILLING BY ALLISON LEOTTA

Title: A Good Killing

Author: Allison Leotta

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Published on: May 12, 2015 by Gallery Books

Former federal prosecutor and critically acclaimed author Allison Leotta’s spellbinding thriller follows prosecutor Anna Curtis as she heads home to Michigan to defend her sister in a case that will bring her to her knees.

How far would you go to save your sister?

Anna Curtis is back in her hometown just outside of Detroit. Newly single after calling off her wedding, Anna isn’t home to lick her wounds. She’s returned to support her sister, Jody, who has been wrongfully accused of murder after their old high school coach, a local hero, dies in a suspicious car crash.

But maybe Jody isn’t so innocent after all. The police are convinced that Jody was having an affair with the married coach and killed him out of jealousy. As Anna investigates with the help of her childhood friend Cooper Bolden, an Afghan War veteran with a secret of his own, she slowly peels back the facade of her all-American town and discovers that no one is telling the truth about the coach, not even the people she thought she knew best. When the town rallies against them, threatening not just Jody’s liberty but both sisters’ lives, Anna resolves to do everything she can to save her sister and defend the only family she has left.

In her best book yet, Leotta, “the female John Grisham” (The Providence Journal), explores the limits of vigilante justice, the bonds of sisterhood, and the price of the truth.

Everything has changed in the fourth book of the Anna Curtis series. She's the main protagonist, an Assistant U.S. Attorney from D.C. Speak of the Devil had a shocking development that completely altered Anna's life. It left me rather bummed. For almost three books, the series had been building a romance between Anna and Jack Bailey. The latter is the head of the Homicide Unit at the USAO. The two were an inch away from getting married. It turns out that Jack's deceased wife, Nina Flores, was alive after all. She faked her death to protect her family and bring down an extremely dangerous criminal. Nina still loves Jack, so with her back in the picture, Anna felt she couldn't go forward with the wedding.

A call from a high school friend gives Anna an excuse to get away from D.C. for a bit. She returns to Holly Grove, her hometown. Anna has no idea what awaits her, though. She soon learns that Jody, her younger sister, is in trouble. Jody has played a small role in the two books she's appeared in so far. Now, Jody shares protagonist status with Anna. Things start with a local tragedy. Owen Fowler, a beloved high school coach and pillar of the community, is found dead. He was inside his car when it crashed into the school gym. The police find the circumstances suspicious. Knowing of Jody's relationship with the coach, they want to bring her in for questioning.

BOOK REVIEW: THE THOUGHT READERS BY DIMA ZALES

Title: The Thought Readers (Les Lecteurs de Pensée)

Author: Dima Zales

Genre: Science Fiction

Published on: July 27, 2015

Une nouvelle série sur les mediums par un auteur de best-sellers (classements du New York Times et de USA Today) 
Tout le monde pense que je suis un génie.

Tout le monde a tort. 

Oui, je suis sorti de Harvard à dix-huit ans et je me remplis les poches dans un fonds spéculatif. Mais ce n’est pas parce que je suis extraordinairement intelligent ou travailleur. 

C’est parce que je triche.

J’ai un talent unique, voyez-vous. Je peux sortir du temps pour entrer dans ma version personnelle de la réalité — un endroit que je nomme ‘le Calme’ — où je peux explorer mon environnement pendant que le reste du monde est immobile. 

Je pensais être le seul à pouvoir le faire — jusqu’à ce que je la rencontre.

Je m’appelle Darren et voici comment j’ai appris que j’étais un Lecteur.

 

After teaching myself French, I searched for novels in that language in the Kindle store. It ended up being harder than I expected, as there aren’t that many. Les Lecteurs de Pensée is one of the first I came across. It’s part of a series centering on the character of Darren Goldberg. He’s a guy in his early twenties who has an unusual ability. Darren first discovered it when he was a kid. He can stop time, in a way: Darren can phase out of his body, a la Doctor Strange, and the world around him freezes. He calls this “drifting into the Calm”. Darren has used this power to his advantage a myriad times once he learned how to control it. For instance, freezing time allows Darren to cheat at casinos without being caught. The book introduces him during a game of poker.

Unbeknownst to Darren, his life is about to change irrevocably. A new challenger comes to the table to play. All of a sudden, the world freezes around Darren. Only this time, Darren didn’t willingly drift into the Calm. Then he sees the challenger, a woman around his age, who has phased out of her body and inadvertently brought Darren with her. This is significant because his whole life, Darren has believed he was the only person who could “freeze time”. He goes to regular therapy sessions because of this. Before Darren can question the woman, though, she bolts out of the place and vanishes.

BOOK REVIEW: TWISTED BOND BY EMMA HART

Title: Twisted Bond
Author: Emma Hart
Genre: Romance, mystery
Published on: June 11, 2015, self-published

I’m an Italian-Texan woman in a family full of cops. I’m passionate and shoot before I think. You only f*ck with me if you’re stupid.

Photograph cheating spouses. Hand over the evidence. Cash my check.

That was my plan when I returned home to Holly Woods, Texas, and became a private investigator.

Finding the dead body in my dumpster? Yeah… Given the choice, I think I would have opted out of that little discovery, especially since all three of my brothers are cops. And my Italian grandmother is sure the reason I’m single is because of my job.

Of course, my connection to the victim is entirely coincidental. Until I’m hired by her husband to investigate her murder and shoved bang-smack into the path of Detective Drake Nash. My nemesis, a persistent pain in my ass, and one hell of a sexy son of a bitch.

Shame he still holds a grudge from that time I shot him in the foot twelve years ago, or we could have something. In another life.

So now all I have to do is avoid my nonna’s blind dates, try not to blackmail my brothers into giving me confidential police files, and absolutely do not point my gun at Drake Nash. Or kiss him. Or jump his bones.

All while I hunt down the killer.

Sounds totally simple—until a second body proves that sometimes things that start as coincidences don’t always end up that way…

I’m familiar with Emma Hart. She is one of the first self-published authors I discovered. Hart mostly writes romances aimed at women…the kind I don’t read. So I’ve only picked up a small fraction of her works, the few ones I wouldn’t mind others knowing I own. Twisted Bond caught my eye because of its genre. I was intrigued when I found out Hart branched into mystery. It’s one of my favorite genres. I had to see whether the author pulled it off.

Twisted Bond takes place in the fictional town of Holly Woods, Texas. I would know because, well, I’m a Texan. The main character is Noelle Bond, a 30-year-old hotheaded private investigator. She’s the owner of Bond P.I., an agency that mostly handles infidelity cases. Noelle is also part Italian, and it’s a huge part of her character. She has a grandmother (whom she calls ‘Nonna’) who is bent on finding Noelle a husband. And he has to be part Italian, like them. Noelle is too independent and self-assured to  care about having a man in her life.

BOOK REVIEW: WHEN I WAS YOURS BY SAMANTHA TOWLE

Title: When I Was Yours

Author: Samantha Towle

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: November 10, 2015, self-published

“Marry me.”
“What?” I stared back at him, unblinking.
He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. “I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me.”

What’s an eighteen-year-old girl who was madly in love with her nineteen-year-old boyfriend say?

Of course, I said yes.

Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel to the sounds of “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. Not the best omen. I get that now.

Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why.

I haven’t seen him since. Not in ten long years.

Now, he’s here, standing before me. Looking at me with nothing but hurt and hatred in his eyes, he wants answers.

Answers I can’t give.

 

I’d been looking forward to reading a Samantha Towle book for a while. She seems to write the kind of romance novels that appeal to me. When I read the synopsis for When I Was Yours, it made me piqued. The main characters are Adam Gunner and Evie Taylor (I know). They met one fateful summer, shortly before they were due to attend college. Adam is a rich guy, and the only son of two Hollywood moguls. In contrast, Evie’s family is barely able to make ends meet. She also has a younger sister, Casey.

Adam first notices Evie when she’s out on the beach not far from his house. She’s sitting on a rock, drawing on a sketchpad. Adam’s quite a ladies’ man, but there’s something about Evie that he can’t resist. Unfortunately, Adam takes a long time to pluck up the courage to talk to Evie. When they finally are face to face, it’s a coup de foudre. Adam thinks Evie is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Evie also really likes Adam, even knowing he spent weeks simply watching her.

BOOK REVIEW: A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES BY SARAH J. MAAS

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Fantasy, romance

Published on: May 5, 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

 

Before I started reading this book, I had a few doubts about it. I’d read some reviews (as I do with some of the books I get) and they were divisive. I’m not completely swayed by critiques, though. That lots of people didn’t like a particular novel doesn’t mean I won’t like it. So I decided to read A Court of Thorns and Roses, looking forward to seeing who I’d agree with. The main character is Feyre. She’s nineteen and lives in a cottage with her father and two sisters. They are desperately poor, so Feyre must hunt to provide for them all. This has made her skilled with a bow. Feyre is also kind of an old-soul, and the most resilient of her sisters.

The setting of ACOTAR is a fantastical land where fairies exist. Long ago, there was a war between them and humans. After it ended, the fairies isolated themselves, claiming a huge chunk of the territory. Humans settled for a small portion of the south. The land is a country-sized island, and the fairy section is known as Prythian. This surprised me a little bit. I’d thought the fairies would live in a separate realm/dimension. Instead they live in the same physical world as humans.

BOOK REVIEW: THE THIRTEENTH WORLD BY A.N. WILLIS

Title: The Thirteenth World
Author: A.N. Willis
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Published on: September 29, 2015 by Alloy Entertainment

Time is running out for Stel Alaster. The Corridor, the only portal between First and Second Earth, is failing and the barriers between all twelve worlds are thinning. Using her unique ability to travel through the multiverse, Stel sets out to save the Corridor . . . and ends up discovering a mysterious new world.

In the sequel to The Corridor, will the thirteenth world hold the key to the Corridor’s secrets? Or will the portal implode and take every last universe down with it?

 

 

After the last book ended in such a cliffhanger, I eagerly got a copy of The Thirteenth World. The protagonist is Estele “Stel” Alaster, an eighteen-year-old girl who can travel between parallel realities. Stel’s home, First Earth, hosts an inter-dimensional portal called the Corridor. It connects to Second Earth, a world that was ravaged when the Corridor opened. Dr. Samantha Tabor, Chair of the Corridor Facility on First Earth, has been after Stel since learning about her power. She thinks that Stel can fix the increasingly unstable Corridor. It threatens to unleash a new Pulse that could be worse than the one that hit Second Earth.

A stunning betrayal landed Stel in Dr. Tabor’s clutches. The former is now being held in the Facility. Dr. Tabor has been questioning Stel for weeks, and has gone as far as torturing her. Fortunately, an ally within the Facility helps Stel out. This person is Justin, Stel’s older brother. He is a recent deserter from the Corridor Guard. Justin is a very upstanding, by-the-book kind of person. That doesn’t keep him from protecting his loved ones, though. Together, Justin and Stel flee throughout the multiverse to join back up with their friends. The Corridor established that there are twelve Earths linked together somehow. Stel sent her group to one of them, Libra Earth, before Dr. Tabor captured her.

BOOK REVIEW: WICKED BEAUTIFUL BY J.T. GEISSINGER

Title: Wicked Beautiful

Author: J.T. Geissinger

Genre: Romance

Published on: December 1, 2015, self-published

Life coach and best-selling author Victoria Price has it all: a successful career, fabulous friends, a fantastic penthouse in Manhattan. What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again.

Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago.

Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?

 

When it comes to romance novels, I tend to choose optimistic ones, like those by J.A. Redmerski or Samantha Young. I haven’t read anything like Wicked Beautiful, which is what drew me to it. The protagonist, Victoria Price, hates the romantic interest, Parker Maxwell, from the start. I found this intriguing (having read only one enemies-to-lovers romance before). This novel is written in the first-person POV. It lets you see how strong Victoria’s feelings are toward Parker. She recounts how Parker broke her heart several years ago. The experience made Victoria into what she is today.

Victoria is a famous celebrity who lives in New York. She made her fortune working as a life coach of sorts. Victoria’s fans are exclusively female. She’s known as the Queen B****. Victoria heads seminars where she teaches women how to own their power and to not let anyone take advantage of them or treat them wrong. Bitter much? You bet. As for Parker, he’s also wealthy in his own right. By this time, Parker is the owner of around 20 restaurants all over the country. Victoria encounters him again when visiting his newest restaurant with her friend Darcy. The latter’s a food blogger with formidable influence. To Victoria’s relief, Parker doesn’t recognize her. He does feel an intense attraction toward her, though.

BOOK REVIEW: NYPD RED 3 BY JAMES PATTERSON AND MARSHALL KARP

Title: NYPD Red 3

Author: James Patterson and Marshall Karp

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Published on: March 16, 2015 by Little, Brown and Company

PROTECT THE RICH. SERVE THE FAMOUS. HUNT THE GUILTY.

NYPD Red is the elite, highly trained task force assigned to protect the rich, the famous, and the connected. And Detective Zach Jordan and his partner Kylie MacDonald-the woman who broke his heart at the police academy-are the best of the best, brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to deliver justice.

Zach and Kylie's New Year's celebrations are cut short when they're called to the home of billionaire businessman Hunter Alden, Jr. after he makes a grisly discovery in his townhouse garage. When Alden's teenage son goes missing soon afterwards, and his father seems oddly reluctant to find him, Zach and Kylie find themselves in the middle of a chilling conspiracy that threatens everyone in its wake-especially their city's most powerful citizens.

NYPD Red 3 is the next sensational novel in James Patterson's explosive new series, a thriller that goes behind the closed doors of New York high society and into the depths of depravity.

 

A new case is about to land for the NYPD Red unit. And in the book, it’s the start of a new year as well. A few things have happened since the events of the previous entry. The city of New York has a new mayor, Muriel Sykes. It seems the city voted her predecessor, Stan Spellman, out because they felt he wasn’t proactive enough. At first it felt to me like Mayor Sykes would be an antagonist, but she’s proving to be on NYPD Red’s side. Why do I say this? She gave me the kind of vibes that Laurel Hitchin from The Blacklist did. Turns out I was wrong.

The main characters are Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald. They’ve become Red’s star detectives now, after solving two high-profile cases. This book’s new case begins in chilling fashion. Someone discovers a dead body inside an expensive limo in a deserted parking lot. That would be unusual in itself, except that the body was decapitated. The head wasn’t anywhere nearby. The dead person had ID on him, so investigators are able to learn who he is. The victim was Peter Chevalier, the personal driver of rich businessman Hunter Alden, Jr. This is enough to call in NYPD Red to handle the case.

BOOK REVIEW: FRICTION BY SANDRA BROWN

Title: Friction

Author: Sandra Brown

Genre: Mystery, romance

Published on: August 18, 2015 by Grand Central Publishing

After a courtroom gunman threatens everything he holds dear, a Texas Ranger with a checkered past must choose between vengeance and family in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

Crawford Hunt wants his daughter back. Following the death of his wife four years ago, he fell into a downward spiral that knocked him down to deskwork and landed his five-year-old daughter Georgia in the custody of her grandparents. But now that Crawford has cleaned up his act and met the court's requirements, the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer.

Holly, ambitious and confident, must prove herself worthy of a permanent judgeship on the cusp of an upcoming election. Every decision is high-stakes, and despite Crawford's commitment to being a better father, Holly is wary of his past. But when a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody hearing, Crawford reacts instinctively to save Holly's life.

But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness. With the gunman still at large, Crawford uncovers a horrifying truth, and the cloud over him grows even darker as he considers vengeance. He quickly realizes that pursuing the killer will jeopardize his chances of gaining custody of his daughter and compromise Holly, who needs protection not only from an assassin, but from Crawford himself and the forbidden attraction between them.

Friction will keep you on the edge of your seat with breathtaking plot twists and the unforgettable characters that make Sandra Brown one of the world's best-loved authors. It is an extraordinary novel about the powerful ties that bind us to the ones we love and the secrets we keep to protect them.

I’ve read a few Sandra Brown novels before. She’s a really good writer, so I thought I would like Friction when I saw it at the bookstore. This is a romantic suspense set in a fictional town in Texas. The main protagonists are Crawford Hunt and Holly Spencer. Crawford is a Texas Ranger who’s recently cleaned up his act. He was in serious grief after the tragic death of his wife. Now that Crawford has put himself back together, he has one goal. Crawford wants custody of Georgia, his five-year-old daughter. She’s been living with her maternal grandparents.

At the custody hearing, the second protagonist is introduced. Holly happens to be the judge handling the case. She took over the position from her old mentor. Holly wants to be elected as judge permanently. This means she’s going to be as objective and impartial as possible. No matter how much Crawford shows he loves Georgia, Holly will make her decision with the girl’s best interests in mind. Before she can do that, though, something unexpected happens. A gunman storms into the courtroom, killing someone before most people can react. Crawford instinctively saves Holly’s life and then pursues the gunman.

BOOK REVIEW: THE CORRIDOR BY A.N. WILLIS

Title: The Corridor
Author: A.N. Willis
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Published on: June 23, 2015 by Alloy Entertainment

Infinite worlds. Endless possibilities . . .

Stel Alaster has never known life without the Corridor. It appeared suddenly seventeen years ago, the only portal to a parallel version of our world—Second Earth. Everyone on First Earth fears Mods, the genetically modified Second Earthers who built the Corridor. They are too smart, too strong, and have powers that can’t be controlled. Any Mod found on First Earth is branded, then detained in the Corridor’s research labs.

Only Stel has a dangerous secret. She has a power, too: She can open a portal to Second Earth . . . and several other parallel universes she’s discovered. If anyone ever finds out, she’ll be imprisoned, no better than a Mod or common lab rat.

But when the Corridor starts to fail, emitting erratic bursts of energy that could destroy First Earth, Stel must risk everything to save the people and world she loves. With the help of an escaped Mod and an infuriatingly arrogant boy from a third universe, Stel sets out to unravel the mysteries of the Corridor and stabilize it before it’s too late. The fate of every world lies in the balance. . . .

I've never actively searched for parallel universe sci-fi novels, but I've read a bunch of them. The Corridor is one of those. I found this book while browsing the Kindle store. The synopsis sounded compelling, and I liked the cover art. The Corridor's main character is Estele "Stel" Alaster. She's a girl in her late teens who lives in a world very like ours. The difference is that its people know that parallel realities exist. Almost two decades ago, a sphere portal they called the Corridor opened without warning. It leads to Second Earth, a place that used to be far more technologically advanced than Stel's home. The Corridor ravaged Second Earth, though, so the people of First Earth have been helping them since the opening of the portal.

When the story begins, Stel is doing schoolwork in the observation area near the Corridor. As her father is Chair of the Corridor Facility, they both live in the compound. The portal suddenly acts up, and in the aftermath Stel ends up with a special power. She can open up her own temporary portal, which lets her visit other worlds. Yes, it doesn't take Stel long to discover that there are more parallel worlds besides Second Earth. Unfortunately, the Corridor's flare up had other consequences. Beyond damaging the Facility's structure, it caused Dr. Alaster to lose his post. Stel has a best friend named Lissa, whose scientist mother became the new Chair. This drove a wedge between the two friends.

BOOK REVIEW: CAREER OF EVIL BY ROBERT GALBRAITH

Title: Career of Evil
Author: Robert Galbraith
Genre: Mystery

Published on: October 20, 2015 by Mulholland Books

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible--and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them...

Career of Evil is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, it is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives.

After reading The Cuckoo’s Calling, I thought it was good enough that I bought the next two books right away. This one is the third entry. Yeah, Cormoran Strike is a trilogy now. I wonder if Career of Evil will be the last book. The characters are really good, but I’m still not a huge fan. Robin Ellacott is the exception. I’d totally read a series about her. She's one of those supporting characters that pretty much steals the show.

Career of Evil sees protagonist Cormoran Strike through his biggest case yet. After solving two murders, he’s become quite a celebrated private eye in London. Strike’s office has been getting steady business. It must be said that Robin Ellacott is in great part responsible for this success. She’s become more than a simple assistant since she began working for Strike. Robin was quite useful in the previous case, where her excellent driving skills made a big difference. It helps that Robin loves her job. Whether she's investigating or assisting an investigator, she enjoys it.

BOOK REVIEW: IN THE DARK BY MONICA MURPHY

Title: In the Dark

Author: Monica Murphy

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: August 19, 2015 by Monica Murphy

The girl next door isn't what she seems...

Stuck spending the summer with his screwed up family, Gabriel Walker is bored out of his mind and looking for an adventure. And he seems to find it with the hot girl who lives next door. The attraction between them is instant. Electric. Soon they're spending every stolen minute together. Talk about the perfect summer fling...

Lucy isn't what she seems. She doesn't live next door--she's the girl who's been hired to house sit. If Gabe wants to believe she's a spoiled rich girl looking for some fun, she can go along with that. After the summer, she'll never see him again.

They don't count on running into each other at college. Now Lucy must keep up the pretense of being a rich girl--and it's exhausting. She knows she's falling in love with Gabe and she's scared he feels the same. Will he still care about her when he discovers the truth?

After reading Fair Game, I liked it more than enough to continue this series. In the Dark is book two of The Rules series. It’s a standalone romance, meaning this isn’t part two of Jade and Shepard’s love story. These are the sort of romance novels where each book focuses on a different couple. The protagonists of In the Dark are Gabriel Walker and Lucy (whose last name wasn't mentioned, not that I recall). The former is Shepard’s best friend, who had a small but significant role in Fair Game.

Like Shepard, Gabriel doesn’t do commitment. Their sole concern is to have fun while they’re in college. Once they graduate, then they’ll be responsible adults. This means Gabriel never dates or sleeps with the same girl more than once. Things start to change as soon as this book starts. Gabriel is spending the summer with his family at their Santa Barbara beach house. The vacation would have been boring if it weren’t for a certain someone. Gabriel’s been spending a good part of his time ogling the next-door neighbor. She’s a girl around his age who likes to use the backyard pool.

BOOK REVIEW: ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES BY JENNIFER NIVEN

Title: All the Bright Places

Author: Jennifer Niven

Genre: Romance, Young Adult

Published on: January 6, 2015 by Knopf

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

 

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

 

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

 

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

I first heard about this book because of its 2020 film adaptation. It sounded interesting, so I bought the book to read first. All the Bright Places is a YA romance set in a small Indiana town. The protagonists are Theodore Finch and Violet Markey. They’re two high schoolers who meet one fateful day. Finch and Violet run into each other at the top of their school’s bell tower. The story is told from their alternating first-person points of view.

Just what were these two doing up there? From the start, we learn that Finch has a strange fascination with death. He went up to the tower to see what it’d be like to kill himself from a fall. The guy's not depressed or hopeless, just curious. One's got to admit someone who has thoughts like these must have some issues. Finch decides not to jump off. He then turns and spots Violet on the other side of the tower. She's not someone Finch expected to ever find there. It looks like Violet really will jump off. Finch manages to talk her down. By this point, several students have realized what’s going on.

BOOK REVIEW: FAIR GAME BY MONICA MURPHY

Title: Fair Game

Author: Monica Murphy

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: May 12, 2015 by Monica Murphy

When your boyfriend bets YOU in a poker game, you better know when to run…

Bad enough Jade Frost’s boyfriend drags her to a boring poker game. Even worse that he actually threw her into the betting pot during an intense round…and lost. Talk about the perfect excuse for Jade to make him her ex-boyfriend.

Now she supposedly belongs to the ultra rich, extremely gorgeous Shep Prescott. He could have anything he wants yet he seems to be in hot pursuit of her. No matter how rude, how snarky, how impossible she acts, it doesn’t stop him. More like her horrible behavior seems to make him want her more.

When she finds herself starting to fall for him, Jade’s confused. There’s more to Shep than the carefree rich charmer he portrays. No way could he want a serious relationship with her…or could he?

This is one of those books in which the premise drew my interest. It sounded like it would be an entertaining read. Fair Game has two protagonists, Jade Frost and Shepard “Shep” Prescott. The story is written in first-person POV, alternating between their perspectives. Jade and Shepard meet under unusual circumstances. Jade is with her boyfriend, Joel. He’s playing blackjack against Shepard at the latter’s clandestine gambling house. When it seems like Joel may have a winning hand, Shepard makes a bet. If Joel wins, he’ll get fifty thousand dollars. But if Shepard wins, he’ll get Jade.

That surprising bet made me intrigued to find out what happens after. Why would Shepard want a girl he doesn’t even know? He’s been watching Jade all night using a mirror meant to catch cheaters. Something about her intrigued Shepard. You can guess how the bet turns out: Shepard wins Jade. She’s irritated about it and storms off. Jade is fully aware of Shepard’s playboy reputation. He’s a one-and-done kind of guy. Not to mention Jade dislikes his pretentious-sounding trust-fund-baby name. I kind of agree with her. Names hardly get any more preppy than Shepard Prescott.

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 REVIEW: 10 YEARS LATER BY J. STERLING

Title: 10 Years Later

Author: J. Sterling

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: March 25, 2015, self-published

Cammie:

It’s been ten years since I've seen him. Ten years. I have no idea what he’s doing, where he’s been or if he’s even still single. Have I thought about him over the years? Of course. Absolutely. But that doesn't mean anything, right? Just because you think about the boy you used to be in love with doesn't mean you’re still in love with him now. Does it?

Dalton:

I haven’t seen her in ten years. She’s the whole reason I’m even coming to this reunion. If it wasn't for her, I would have stayed home. I made mistakes back in high school. Hell, I was just a kid then. But I’m here to right my wrongs, tell her I’m sorry and win her back. She changed my whole life and she doesn't even know it. It’s time she knew.

Before I bought this book, I had some doubts about it. The reason isn't that I've yet to read a J. Sterling book that wows me. No, I simply cringed at how long the couple in this novel stayed apart. Going a whole decade without seeing the love of your life would be unbearable. It’s much like the situation in The Best of Me, in which the lovers are kept apart for a long while. How these couples did it, I have no idea. Even if I don’t have a significant other, I still feel for these characters.

10 Years Later is a somewhat quick read, compared to other books I’ve finished. The main characters are Cammie Carmichael (that’s a cute first name) and Dalton Thomas. They’ve known each other since their freshman year of high school. Cammie claims that she’s had a crush on Dalton since the first moment she saw him. They became friends for the next few years, until they started dating near the end of their senior year. Their happily-ever-after doesn’t come that quickly, though. Due to a silly misunderstanding, Cammie and Dalton fall apart.

BOOK REVIEW: AN INFINITE LOOP BY DAN RIX

Title: An Infinite Loop

Author: Dan Rix

Genre: Science Fiction

Published on: May 7, 2015, self-published

Time travel sucks.

You have to squeeze inside this fridge-sized quantum computer and suffer hours of mind-numbing boredom while it loops back in time. No light, barely enough air, total solitude. All the time in the world.

It’s also like a drug.

After her first nine-hour timeloop, teenage loner Iris Strasser craves another loop, if only for the rush. Determined to one up her, pretty boy Cory Holland ignores the warning signs that they’re meddling with something dangerous and programs in his own timeloop, daring Iris to make increasingly reckless trips into the past.

But when Iris steps into a timeloop and never steps out, leaving Cory with an empty time machine and an ache in his heart, he must come to grips with the unthinkable truth—he’s lost her inside an infinite loop from which she can’t escape. He’s trapped her in the past, and this time, time travel can’t reach far enough back to save her.

Young geniuses Cory Holland, Iris Strasser, and Noah Wright are back for another adventure. It didn’t seem like they’d be up to more time shenanigans, though. In the previous book, the trio clashed against the creator of the Chronos. Edgard Faye didn’t like that they discovered his machine’s secret. He tried scaring them into leaving the Chronos alone. But the huge cliffhanger means Cory and his friends must use the machine yet again. An Infinite Loop starts right where book two left off. Iris gets a strange call, but Cory isn't sure she should answer, lest they open another can of worms.

The trio resume classes the week after their retreat. They’ve resolved to stay away from the Chronos. Of course, the temptation is too great. Cory is stung that Iris one-upped him by getting to time travel before he did. He doesn’t care that she did it out of need rather than fun. Cory wants a go as well. He comes up with a way to use the Chronos without Faye knowing about it. Iris had secretly wanted to sneak into the machine as well. Time traveling left her with an itch, an urge to do it again.

BOOK REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL BROKEN MESS BY KIMBERLY LAUREN

Title: Beautiful Broken Mess
Author: Kimberly Lauren
Genre: Romance, New Adult
Published on: April 7, 2015 by Montlake Romance (first self-published in 2013)

Jace Riley and Audrey Mills had a tender and irresistibly passionate romance…until Audrey shattered his heart. Years later, she still can’t stop thinking about him. They shared kisses that she’ll never forget, and one brief, explosive encounter that she wishes she could. But no boy could rescue Audrey from her nightmarish home life, so she rescued herself, got through college and got into graduate school…only to find herself at the same school as Jace and his identical twin brother, Jaxon, who has his own complicated history with her.

It takes only one glimpse of Audrey’s long legs and brown eyes for Jace to ache for her once more. Yet he’s determined not to fall for her again. She ripped apart his heart and betrayed his brother…or so he thought. But what if Jace made a terrible mistake about Audrey? And what if he has one last chance to fix it?

After a few sporadic appearances in Beautiful Broken Rules, a minor character returns as a protagonist. She’s Audrey Mills, a young woman attending college. Beautiful Broken Mess takes place after book one, but the beginning is from an earlier time. It introduces readers to twins Jace and Jaxon Riley before they met Emerson Moore. The Riley brothers are from a wealthy Texas family. In contrast, Audrey lived in a trailer park with a seriously abusive father.

One day, Audrey meets Jace Riley by chance. The two quickly hit it off and agree to stay in touch. Later, Audrey goes to a party Jace invited her to. Things become an absolute mess that day. Audrey makes an inadvertent mistake she’ll regret for years to come. She distances herself from the Riley family and goes on to become a model college student. Audrey hasn’t forgotten Jace, though. Despite having known each other for a few hours, they left a lasting impression on the other.