Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I feel like I'm being redundant with my raves for this series. I started Don't Judge a girl by Her Cover in the middle of the night right after finishing the last one. That is the beauty of eBooks. I am really happy to see that there is a book 5 in the works. I know that I now will have to go right to the Heist society books because one thing I realized while reading this series is that I just like Ally Carter's writing.

This time she threw in not only the usual action and intrigue, but, she also threw in a mystery that has you doing a double take at the end. You're reading it so fast because the book has you completely enthralled, so quickly that you do not even have time to try and guess who really is whom or what is really going on. Of course, I bought Only the Good Spy Young and will be starting it right away. That's what holidays are for, enjoying great books!



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Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was a great Sunday read. It continued the story of Cammie and her roommates at the Gallagher Academy. This time there are a ton of secrets being held by the staff, including Cammie's mom. But, she made a promise to her mom, who also happens to be the headmistress of the school. Those promises were seriously tested and it all ties in to the results of I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You.

There are some serious surprises for the girls and they are going to be tested, especially Cammie. Has she learned anything from her adventures in the first story? I really think she did. They all have gone through some changes, even Macey. Liz' choices in what she wants to do for the agency means her path is different at the school than Cammie and Bex and she was really up for it. Even Anna showed some growth. Macey demonstrated that there is more to her than the side she shows her parents. The girls learn how to work with people that do not attend their school.

Ally Carter shows that she can really tell a story and that she is not afflicted by the 2nd in a series curse that some authors suffer. I have already downloaded and begun reading Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover which is just as exciting as the first two.


Review can also be seen at http://ladytechiesbookmusings.blogspot.c...



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I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book. It was fun, well written and thoroughly had my attention. I started it yesterday and stayed up until the middle of the night to finish it. I had this book on my shelf for several years. I then bought Heist Society and shelved it next to it. I have been having trouble selecting books for the last month. I can only attribute it to being over-saturated with urban fantasy.

Ally Carter is really a gifted writer. She has very good knack for telling a story. Her characters are believable. Macey was meant to be a spoiled, insufferable brat and she really came across that way and made you hope that Bex would deck her. Liz was the brainiac of their crew and she did an excellent job of showing you just how smart she is and how much she cares for her friends. Cammie's relationship with her mother brings back memories of how even I as a teenager tried to maneuver around my mom when I knew something was against the rules and she would put me in my place by showing me she was always a step ahead of me. Cammie's grief about the loss of her dad literally had me crying and remembering the loss of my dad and how I felt and still feel every time I run into one of his friends or previous co-workers and they tell me about him and how much he meant to them.

I have already downloaded the sample for Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy as well as the other 2 books in the series. I already follow Ally Carter on Twitter and look forward to the Heist Society series. I cannot wait to see what else they have in store for her fans.

Review of this awesome book can also be seen on my blog at http://ladytechiesbookmusings.blogspot.c...



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Children of the Lost Moon by Gabrielle Blue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Huh, go figure. Over the year or so that I have been a member on Goodreads I have had a few authors request that I add them as friends. I am happy to do it since I am always open to try new books. Yesterday I happened to finish one book which had a very good ending. That normally makes me extremely critical over whatever comes next. I happened to receive a Tweet from Gabrielle Blue requesting friend status on Twitter. I love following authors, even those I have not read before. Some people are music groupies. I am a book groupie. I love to learn about new books and the ideas that go into them. So I sent a sample of Children of the Lost Moon to my Kindle. I liked the sample and decided the price was good.

Anyone who knows me really well knows that though I loved the Twilight series books I am not a fan of the movies at all and have stayed away from them since the first movie. I was a bit worried when I began reading Children of the Lost Moon. I was not in the mood for anything that was going to be reminiscent of Twilight. I stuck it out and I really am glad that I did. Not only was Savannah a good character in her own right, but, I loved the whole fencing backdrop. I have wanted to take fencing lessons for a long time. I waited so long that the local fencing school suffered from the economy and closed. Now, I have to register as a student at Michigan State University to have access to their fencing club. Since I am already nearing the end of a PhD that is really not something I want to do at this time. It was wonderful reading about it and learning the names of the different positions and thrusts. I loved reading about the competitions. I enjoyed reading about Savannah's love for the different blades.

Another great thing was Roxy. She was great comic relief and really loved grapes. I hate to see what would happen if they ever had a freeze in Florida and could not find grapes for that bird. I'm imagining no sleep to be had until they had some imported as Roxy yelled "grapes", "grapes", "grapes" all day and all night. There were some really great characters in this book. To be honest I was happier with Savannah not being that predictable with her transitions and growth. This made the story Gabrielle Blue's original work and her own niche. But, outside of that Ruth and Poppy were my favorites. The very ones that seemed to have the most depth to them were the ones that stood out because they were not the warriors of the pack. They brought the most to the story by how much they gave to the pack by just being different. I am not sure what the future holds for these characters. But, I would enjoy reading more about them.



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Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! Just wow! I know I am really late with this one. But, I found myself in a snit when I bought Bayou Moon on the date of its release and found that it was not about Rose and Declan. I am not a fan of series that are about different characters in each book, even if there is a bit of crossover. But, now that I finally picked it up I found myself seriously engrossed in this book and it took me less than 2 days to finish it. I found myself on the edge of my seat and ignoring television. When I reached the last few pages I was not happy that it was about to end. I immediately went to the Ilona Andrews site looking for news about if and when the next book would be out. I was excited to see 2 more books under contract.

Bayou Moon was a spin-off of the tales surrounding The Edge, which apparently borders Louisiana. It feels almost like it is more of a border into another realm as opposed to a separation between land where magic rules and land where people who also have magic but are exiled. This place borders what is considered The Broken that is where non-magical humans live. This story focuses on William from On The Edge and what happens in his life after that story concludes. We learn more about him and his childhood and how his life evolved. He takes on a mission for a group on his side of these strange worlds which takes him right into a conflict with Spider, his arch-enemy. In the beginning of this story William is traveling with Cerise who is from the swamp area of The Edge. I see some similarities between Cerise and Rose which makes it understandable that William would be drawn to her. Cerise's family, The Mars are an amazing, quirky group of people and this book is their story also. One of my favorites is Kaldar! He is funny and great comic relief. But, the strength of this group of people is their love and devotion for one another.

I am not sure if Gordon Andrews writes the male parts and Ilona writes the women parts. However this happens they make it work. They are an excellent writing team and somehow play off each others' skills very well. I thought I could love nothing as much as I love The Kate Daniel Series, but, this series comes really close. The magic is amazing and one of my favorite parts and I cannot wait to see what happens next.



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Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Grave Dance was a good read. When I first started it I did not remember anything from Grave Witch. I re-read my review which did not have enough details in it to remind of anything. I decided to get it out of my library and re-read it. I read the first few chapters again and the characters and story started coming back to me. I read the last 15 pages again and remembered. I really liked Grave Witch and was now looking forward again to seeing what happened to Alex, Falin, Caleb, Holly, Rianna, and even Death. I was not too fond of Alex's father and sister by the end of Grave Witch, but, I had high hopes for her father.

In this latest portion of the story, Alex is called out to use her grave witch gifts to help the police when body parts are found in a remote area of "Nekros". I am not sure where the name of this city comes from but, it reminds me of New Orleans when it is described throughout the book. Alex is brought into the investigation and the story goes sideways. I was not in love with part of the way the end unfolded. But, it was not enough to keep me from the story or to stop me from enjoying Grave Dance.

Grave Dance was intricately woven with detail and what appears to be several story lines. I cannot imagine the map or flowchart Kalayna Price had to use to keep up with things. This story started out as a mystery that appeared to be tied to the Fae and then it appeared to be tied to the witches, then the collectors. To borrow from Winston Churchill, "it was a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma." For a while I thought I would get confused by the way the mystery was unfolding especially when Fae politics came calling. I love Fae politics. I detest the machinations of some of the Fae, but, it makes for great entertainment.

One of the things that I found myself liking about Alex is that she was strong but, she had a couple of major weaknesses, some of which revolved around the use of her powers. The other revolved around her relationships with her friends and men. The unfolding of one of the relationships was a zinger and I loved it. Alex showed some serious backbone and I loved how she stayed true to herself, especially as she learned more about her own past and met people that were more a part of her life then she realized.

In addition to Fae machinations we get to see more about Death and his cohorts. We also get a better glimpse at how his and Alex's relationship evolved. Another great thing about Grave Dance is Roy the ghost. I'm happy to see he is part of the story. He is great! Not only is he funny, but, he makes an excellent sidekick. Although his story is told in Grave Witch, we get reminders of what happened in that story, which makes it a bit easier for people who read Grave Dance without knowing it has a predecessor. You can read it without it but, you miss out on a great story if you do not start out with Grave Witch. I look forward to the next installment in the Alex Craft series.

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Hourglass by Myra McEntire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Hourglass is a breath of fresh air. In a young adult arena that is flush with love triangles, werewolves, vampires, and now dystopia, Myra McEntire has found a place in the YA genre to call her own, and shine. I made a couple of tweets about the great editing really early on and became very worried that I I had gotten ahead of myself. Unfortunately, or maybe not, this made me scrutinize the writing and editing even more. I am in the middle of writing my dissertation proposal so I cannot help but read and critique a little more harshly on the style and editing. It is a habit. I was ecstatic to see that Myra McEntire and whomever she has editing on her behalf did an amazing job.

Emerson Cole is a strong girl who sees herself as the exact opposite because of her past. She has had a very tough childhood and the next few days just seem to add on to that. Despite all that she has been through she has some good people standing by her who all have a lot to lose themselves. The one thing I love about this story is how much her sister-in-law stepped in and loved Emerson, and helped her brother, Thomas, make a family for Emerson. Her best friend, Lily, is made of true best friend material. I wish she was more a part of the story and hope she is in future books, that is, if I am guessing correctly and this is the great start of a new series. Thomas is a smart, gifted, amazing man who steps up and takes in his younger sister. He straddles a thin line between being a supportive brother and being a father to his minor sister. He works diligently to find help for his sister and when she is experiencing some things that most would merely assume were the hallucinations of a mentally ill person he steps out on faith that there is more there. He finds her help even if it means unconventional methods.

Now Emerson's world has taken on a completely different slant. Good or bad she has stepped into something big and dangerous. Myra McEntire does a good job of developing this world, these characters, and this story. Every time you thought, is this going to be predictable? It was not. Every time you thought, are the characters just going to be like characters in other books or thought you saw right where the story was going, you were wrong. That is what makes this book so brilliant! Not only is it a great urban fantasy, but, now the story steps up and pulls in some science fiction and a bit of romance. There are twists and turns with not only the story, but also with the characters. People we thought were one thing might just be something else. That means we also have a bit of mystery and thriller going on here, and a bit of action. Emerson is a fighter and I look forward to more of her story.



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