Awaking - Madeline Freeman

This book is a hard one

to review.

I really enjoyed it.

But there were times I got frustrated.

It's almost like there was something missing.

Something lacking.

I loved the characters

and the storyline,

I even felt the pace was great.

But something...

something was missing. 

Morgan Abbey is about to begin

her senior year. 

She has always had the ability

to read palms. 

She's even started a little side business.

A few weeks into the end of summer,

she meets a stranger who tells her

she's The One.

He also claims to know her mother

who disappeared 10 years ago.

Morgan is suddenly thrown into a world

she never knew existed.

She learns she is a part of a secret society,

called The Veneret

who have special powers.

They now live in hiding and she's viewed as the One

to save them.

I liked Morgan. 

She's an outcast,

her father was arrested for killing her mother.

Her mother disappeared,

no body was ever found.

She discovers her hobby as a psychic 

isn't just fun and games,

that she has a talent.

She also discovers she's developing new powers.

There's a love triangle,

of sorts.

First we meet Corbin.

Morgan's best friend has a serious crush on him.

Morgan attempts a reading on him

and suddenly opens him up to powers.

Then there's the barista, Lucas.

Again,

after a reading, 

he learns he has powers too.

And let's not forget Kellen.

The mysterious stranger who introduces Morgan

and her friends to the Veneret.

But is he a decent guy?

Or the villain? 

The Shadows - Megan Chance

I love going on vacation

with a Kindle full of books.

We were away this past week

and had no internet network.

I grabbed my iPad to find something to read.

But without internet,

I couldn't check what some of the books

were about.

That meant taking a risk.

And this turned out to be a great one!

The Fianna are a legendary group 

of ancient Irish warriors.

They have been asleep for over 2,000 years

but have now been summoned to help

the Irish fight the British.

Yet, they do not know who summoned them

and start to look for the veleda.

Patrick Devlin,

is a New Yorker of Irish descendant.

Having spent the last 3 years in Ireland

trying to help the cause,

he comes back determined to call the Fianna

for help.

He's passionate about Ireland

and Grace.

Grace Knox is about to turn 17.

Her family,

once wealthy,

have lost everything.

If she married a rich man,

her family can be saved. 

Grace's grandmother has told her the folktales

of the Fianna and Fomorians.

But she believes it's just stories.

Suddenly,

Grace finds herself in the middle of a battle.

The ancient tribes of Fianna and Fomorians

need her as the veleda.

She is also torn between Patrick

and Diarmid,

a Fianna,

whom she finds herself drawn too.

I've always loved mythology.

But have never looked at Irish myths.

I think it's high time I do!

Breeders - Ashley Quigley

In Breeders

we meet Ariet.

She lives in a new world.

One isolated from disease and war.

Her daily life,

follows a simple routine.

Each morning,

everyone has a brief medical examination.

One day,

what seems like a routine medical exam

everything is thrown upside down.

Ariet is drugged

and taken away from her family.

She is told she is the carrier of a unique gene

and therefor she is to become a breeder.

Her family will be told she died of an illness.

Ariet learns,

that not only is she a breeder

but her mate has been chosen for her.

She is given a few weeks to get to know her mate,

and then she is expected to start the breeding.

However, 

if the child does not carry the desired gene,

her pregnancy

and possibly her herself 

will be terminated. 

The concept of the book was fabulous

however,

it felt rushed.

Her relationship with Mason

doesn't really develop.

Do they have feelings for one another

or not?

We learn his parents were terminated

but never learn why.

At the end,

Mason's friend Thor

meets his grandfather.

And then we're at the epilogue.

Really?

Just cut us off like that?

So I don't know.

Did I love the book?

No.

But I did enjoy it.

That counts,

right?

Sixth Grave on the Edge - Darynda Jones

Oh Charley!

How I love you!

Sixth Grave on the Edge

has our favourite Grimm Reaper 

on a new adventure. 

She has a dead naked man

riding in her car. 

(He's a departed.)

She's learning,

or trying to learn,

more about Mr Wong,

the departed hanging out in the corner of her living room.

Her newest client wants her to help get his soul back.

Yes his soul.

He sold it to a demon,

but now wants it back.

Which means she now has to deal

with this demon

tricking people out of their souls.

Oh, 

and then there's the scared girl

who was abused.

Charley wants to find out what happened.

Yes Charley has her plate full.

On top of all this,

she has Reyes' proposal to answer,

she's looking into the 'kidnapping' of him 

as a child.

Oh, she's also conspired with Cookie

to make her uncle jealous.

And in the end,

well,

in the end,

Charley leaves us with an 

OMG!!

Immortal - J.R. Ward

And another series comes to an end.

Immortal is the final installment in 

The Fallen Angels series.

And what an ending it was.

I'll admit,

I cried a little at the end.

So far, 

Jim, our fallen angel

is loosing to

Devina, our evil devil,

2:3.

He would have been up one,

but he exchanged a win in a previous book.

So now, 

there are 2 souls left.

If Devina wins the next round,

Hell wins.

But who is this soul?

Will Jim be focused?

He lost the last round,

as he could not focus on the "game".

His mind was focused on Sissy.

Even Nigel was disappointed in him.

Immortal begins with Jim deciding he needs to get

Nigel back.

He decides he must enter Purgatory.

The first half of the book 

you wonder who the soul is.

We all know Jim will be the last soul.

Jim spends the first half of the book

getting Nigel back,

working out his feelings for Sissy

and controlling his anger against Devina.

And even after he wins,

he's too focused on winning

and beating Devina

to realise there is another soul in play.

But really,

it's the last book with Jim.

Did you ever have any doubt he'd win?

This Makes Me Happy

Every once in awhile,

you see something that really makes you happy.

You know,

you can't stop smiling,

and every time you think about it,

you smile.

You know those things,

right?

Well, 

this is one of those things

that makes me happy.

So I had to share. 

Writer's Workshop - Books

October is National Book Month, 

tell us about the best book you've read so far this year. 

For the last couple of years,

I've challenged myself to read a certain number of books.

The challenge, 

and keeping track of the books

are all on Goodreads. 

So for MamaKat's prompt,

I decided to take a look at the 

26 books I've read so far.

Now really,

I'm suppose to choose the best

book from these?

Yikes!

Not sure if I can.

The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

is a children's book

that I could not put down. 

Phoenix by Dawn Rae Miller,

was the end of an amazing YA trilogy.

And this one did not disappoint. 

Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin

is the last book I read.

It's one I probably would never had read

had it not been recommended.

And I loved it!

I was chatting with a mate the other day,

commenting how I had a lot of reading to do

as it appears all the authors have chosen

October as the month

to release their new book.

In case you're looking for something to read

here are some great ones to look out for.

Baking Cakes in Kigali - Gaile Parkin

OMG! I loved this book!

Angel Tungaraza is a Tanzanian.

She now lives in Kigali, Rwanda

with her husband

and their 5 grandchildren.

In Angel's kitchen,

she bakes cakes

and listens to the stories of her clients.

A mate of mine recommended this book.

She loved it.

I loved it.

And then I noticed on Goodreads

that not many people loved it
as much as we did.
And that got me thinking
about the different reasons
I found the book endearing.
It was the stories
that Angle shared.
I found myself laughing out loud
at different parts.
And one reason I laughed so much
were these are things I could see happening here
in Dar.

Here, listen to the following story.
A baby is named Goodenough.
When asked why,
the reply is simply
"They really wanted a boy.
But a girl is good enough."
How many of you are shocked?
How many of you laughed?
How many of you can't stop laughing?
I'm the third.
Even now I'm still laughing!