Friday, September 29, 2017

Reading Round-Up

Thanks to my friend, Silver James, for suggesting I do a sort of end of the month round up about the new-to-me/underappreciated books I've read.

September I read two books that qualified.

Bewitch Me by Amelia Blake (9/10/17) - YA Paranormal*#
The blurb:
"A messed-up magic spell, three clueless witches, and a six-thousand-year-old demon. What could possibly go wrong?

My name is Emily Fairchild and in all my sixteen years I never imagined that magic was real. That is until my best friend discovered a mysterious notebook filled with runes and magic spells, and the most popular girl in school turned out to be a real-life witch.

As a result of a horrible magical accident, we’re now stuck with a six-thousand-year-old demon who acts like a twelve year old with a really bad attitude and is trapped in our dimension.

And somehow it’s all my fault. So, until we figure out how to get rid of him, I have to babysit a demon who now lives in my room, reads my diary, eats all my food, and stalks blonde underwear models online.

How did my life ever get so complicated?"


I gave it 5 stars.

My review: Fun read, even if the little sister, Chloe, was so annoying I wanted someone to turn her into a frog. Or a dung beetle. Or whatever. But I liked the other characters and it was nice to escape into this book for a while. I can't wait to see what happens to the gang next.

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Caught In Between by Allison L. Perry (9/14/17) - YA Paranormal*#
The blurb:
"She’s not like the others…

Sixteen-year-old Sadie is a vampire who faints at the sight of blood, trips over her own feet, and can only, at best, be called cute.

As the imperfect middle child in a perfect vampire family, she struggles to fit into a world where she is different from everyone else.

Forced to follow her parents’ wishes by attending University, the local finishing school for graceful young vampires, she soon becomes the laughingstock of her oh-so-perfect class. But when the most popular boy on campus comes to her rescue and calls her “beautiful,” Sadie becomes the target of a group of mean girls who rule the school.

Plagued by a series of embarrassing failures, Sadie is kicked out of University and must face reality: she doesn’t belong with vampires. And when a mysterious elder vampire seeks her out with vague and cryptic conversation, she’s even more convinced that something is amiss.

With no other acceptable choice for her future, Sadie must convince her traditional vampire parents to let her do something unheard of for vampires her age. But questions continue to plague her. Is she truly a vampire? Or is she something else?"


I gave it 5 stars.

My review: This was totally awesome. I could really step into Sadie's shoes - even though she's a vampire - and remember what it was like to be different from the other teens. Sure, Sadie's got some problems unique to being a different kind of vampire - like being allergic to blood - but it was easy to feel a sort of camaraderie with her. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of this series and more from this author.
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Both books were free at the time I snagged them, but always check prices before you buy.  I was really glad I downloaded and read both of these.  So much fun!  I have a couple of SF/Dystopian books I've downloaded for next month.  We'll see how that goes.

Now here's the point where you get to talk.  Have you read anything new-to-you lately?  Tell me about it.

2 comments:

  1. I had to go back and check my Goodreads list. LOL Nope. No new-to-me authors recently. I am starting one later today when I go to Wallyworld later. It doesn't fit your criteria of few reviews but it caught my attention in a newsletter and not only is it free to read on Kindle Unlimited, it's free to listen to so yeah. It's DEAD SPOTS (Scarlett Bernard #1) by Melissa F. Olson. I listened to the sample and it sounded interesting a little different and hey...FREE! I'll let you know what I think. Here's the blurb:

    Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten feet of her, and any supernatural spells or demonic forces are instantly defused—vampires and werewolves become human again, and witches can’t get out so much as a “hocus pocus.” This special skill makes her a null and very valuable to Los Angeles’s three most powerful magical communities, who utilize her ability to scrub crime scenes clean of all traces of the paranormal to keep humanity, and the LAPD, in the dark.

    But one night Scarlett’s late arrival to a grisly murder scene reveals her agenda and ends with LAPD’s Jesse Cruz tracking her down to strike a deal: he’ll keep quiet about the undead underworld if she helps solve the case. Their pact doesn’t sit well with Dash, the city’s chief bloodsucker, who fears his whole vampire empire is at stake. And when clues start to point to Scarlett, it’ll take more than her unique powers to catch the real killer and clear her name.

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