Tag Archives: series

Book Title:
Of Sea and Stone
Book Author:
Kate Avery Ellison
Book Series:
Secrets of Itlantis, #1
Publishing Date:
February 2nd, 2014
Date Read:
October 2nd, 2015

Synopsis

All her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.

When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.

Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving...

My Review

I feel the need to start off by saying I don’t typically enjoy books in a series.  Sometimes I have a difficult time keeping up with a standalone novel to the end, let alone want to keep reading about the … Continue reading

4.5 stars
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Book Title:
Darkest Dawn
Book Author:
Katlyn Duncan
Book Series:
Willows Lake, #1
Publishing Date:
September 17th, 2015
Publisher:
HarperCollins
Date Read:
October 16th, 2015

Synopsis

One desperate journey for the truth

Returning to Willows Lake eleven years after her mother’s tragic death, Sloane Baker knows she will finally get the answers she needs! She always suspected that there was something more sinister at the heart of the accident that claimed her mother’s life, but a cryptic note could be the key to her past…

Two lives changed forever

The small town has always seemed safe to Brianna Taylor – until a mysterious new girl arrives who looks exactly like Bri! Now everything Bri knew has been thrown into question and Sloane’s arrival has changed the world of Willows Lake forever.

Strange things are happening in Willows Lake. But when they turn deadly, Bri and Sloane must find a way to save each other or risk losing everything they hold dear…

My Review

Darkest Dawn by Katlyn Duncan is an interesting book with a plot that’s definitely gripping.  It was a great page-turner that I didn’t want to put down until I had finished it! The story starts off with Sloane receiving a … Continue reading

3.5 stars
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Book Title:
Unspeakable
Book Author:
Michelle K. Pickett
Book Series:
Freedom, #1
Publishing Date:
February 10th, 2015
Publisher:
Clean Teen Publishing
Date Read:
October 19th, 2015

Synopsis

“Breathe. No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.”

On the outside, Willow appears to have it all. She’s beautiful, smart, from an influential family, and she dates the most popular guy in school—Jaden. But she would walk away from it all in a second. Willow is tormented by lies and suffocating guilt, not the hearts and flowers people believe her life is full of.

She carries a dark secret. Plagued by nightmares and pain, the secret dominates her life. If she hadn’t walked away. If she had just…but she didn’t. And now she has to live with her choice. But when someone uncovers her family’s past, they use it against her, crushing her spirit little by little. She tells herself she just has to make it to graduation. Then she can leave Middleton, and her secret, far behind.

When Brody transfers to Cassidy High, he turns Willow’s life upside down. He shows her what it feels like to live again, really live. And suddenly, she isn’t satisfied with just surviving until graduation. She wants a normal life—with Brody—and he wants her. But the closer they become, the more it threatens to unravel the secret she’s worked so hard to hide.

Willow finds true love with Brody. Will she let his love save her, or walk away from him to keep her secret safe?

My Review

Willow seems like your average teenage girl – she has a few close friends, she goes to football games, and she likes spending time with her boyfriend, Jaden.  Jaden is every girl’s dream boyfriend – he’s good looking, the captain … Continue reading

4 stars
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Book Title:
Queen of Always (Stolen Empire #3)
Book Author:
Sherry D. Ficklin
Book Series:
Stolen Empire, #3
Publishing Date:
September 15th, 2015
Publisher:
Clean Teen Publishing
Date Read:
September 10th, 2015

Synopsis

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

If her time at court has taught Catherine anything, it’s that there is no room for weakness in Imperial Russia. With the Empress’ health failing and rumors of a change in the line of succession, her place in the royal line is once more in jeopardy. Tormented by her sadistic husband and his venomous mistress, Catherine must once more walk the fine line between pleasure and politics—between scandal and survival.

When her young son becomes the target of those rebelling against Peter’s reign, Catherine will have to rise up to protect herself, her child, and her nation from his unstable and potentially catastrophic rule. This means putting herself at odds with the most dangerous man she’s ever known, trusting those who once proved to be her enemies, and turning a nation against its sovereign. In the ultimate battle for the crown, new alliances will be forged, loyalties will be tested, and blood will be shed.

Don’t miss this breathtaking conclusion to the Stolen Empire series!

Queen of Tomorrow is a YA historical fiction based on the life of young Catherine the Great. Fans of the hit TV show REIGN will devour this scandalous glimpse into the life of one of the most dynamic women in history.

My Review

If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, go read them now.  Really, go read them.  I’ll be here when you get back. All finished?  Great!  Now, weren’t they absolutely fantastic?! I mean, that beautiful cover alone … Continue reading

5 stars
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Book Title:
Emerge: The Awakening (The Awakening #1)
Book Author:
Melissa A. Craven
Book Series:
The Awakening
Publishing Date:
April 1, 2015
Publisher:
Midnight Hour Studio
Date Read:
August 13, 2015

Synopsis

Allie Carmichael has always believed life is simple.

You’re born.

You live.

You die.

She has no cause to believe that equation works differently for her, but there has to be a reason the world treats her like a pariah.

When an unexpected move to Kelleys Island brings Aidan McBrien crashing into her life, Allie is thrown by his reaction. He doesn’t shrink from her touch. He doesn’t stutter or make a quick exit. He smiles and welcomes her into his circle of friends, who aren’t exactly comfortable with Allie, but they seem to get her in a way most people don’t.

Finally, Allie has a real shot at normal and rides that high right up to her sixteenth birthday when she wakes in agony—an experience Aidan insists they have all faced. She struggles in ignorance, uncertain of what is real and what isn’t. When she emerges, Allie is different. She has always been different, but even among her extraordinary friends, she and Aidan are special.

As Allie struggles to maintain her tenuous grasp on the power that threatens to overwhelm her, she worries she will lose herself in this strange new world. A dangerous world where she will have to fight tooth and nail to defend the power and freedom that is her birthright.

…only Allie hates to fight.

My Review

This book was not what I was expecting at all.  I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, but I didn’t think it would be this good…I was completely blown away by the amount of action and the brilliant plot … Continue reading

4 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
Gathering Frost (Once Upon A Curse #1)
Book Author:
Kaitlyn Davis
Book Series:
Once Upon A Curse
Publishing Date:
February 4, 2015
Publisher:
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Date Read:
April 13, 2015

Synopsis

Will his kiss be enough to revive her frozen heart?

Once Upon A Time meets La Femme Nikita in GATHERING FROST, a dystopian romance from bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis that reimagines the classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.

Jade was only a little girl when the earthquake struck. Before her eyes, half of New York City disappeared, replaced by a village that seemed torn out of a storybook. Horses and carriages. Cobblestone streets. A towering castle. And, above all, a queen with the magical ability to strip emotions away. Ten years later and Jade has forgotten what it is to feel, to care...even to love. Working as a member of the queen's guard, she spends most of her time on the city wall staring at the crumbling skyscrapers of old New York. But everything changes when the queen's runaway son, Prince Asher, returns. Jade is tasked with an unusual mission--to let the Prince capture her, to make him trust her, and then to betray his secrets to the crown. In return, she'll earn her freedom. But life outside the queen's realm is more than Jade bargained for. Under Asher's relentless taunts, her blood begins to boil. Under his piercing gaze, her heart begins to flutter. And the more her icy soul begins to thaw, the more Jade comes to question everything she's ever known--and, more importantly, whose side she's really on.

My Review

I read this book a few months ago, back before I started Here’s to Happy Endings and only did my reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, and I thought that it definitely deserved a place here on the blog itself, because … Continue reading

4.5 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
Queen of Tomorrow (Stolen Empire #2)
Book Author:
Sherry D. Ficklin
Book Series:
Stolen Empire, #2
Publishing Date:
July 14, 2015
Publisher:
Clean Teen Publishing
Date Read:
July 9, 2015

Synopsis

Sophie―now Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia―had a tough first year at Imperial Court. Married at sixteen to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne, and settled in their own palace, things start to look up. As a new day dawns, Catherine thinks only of securing her future, and the future of their country, during one of the greatest political upheavals of her time. Fighting desperately against forces that try to depose the Empress Elizabeth and put the young Prince Ivan on her throne, Catherine soon finds herself in the middle of a war brewing between her beloved Prussia and her new empire. While navigating the fragile political landscape, she quickly realizes that she has only begun to discover the tangled web of deceit and infidelity woven over the lavish court of Oranienbaum Palace. When a strange and delicate alliance forms between the young couple, Catherine glimpses a future of happiness, only to see it vanish at the hands of those who still seek to end her life―and prevent her reign. Out of favor with the empress and running out of options, Catherine must sacrifice her own innocence on the altar of Russia if she is to save the nation and herself. To survive, she will have to do the unthinkable, betray those closest to her and become something greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined she could be… a queen.

My Review

Rarely have I come across a second book in a series that is even close to being as good as the first.  This is one of those cases where I actually enjoyed the second book better than the first. I … Continue reading

5 stars
4 Comments
Book Title:
Queen of Someday (Stolen Empire #1)
Book Author:
Sherry D. Ficklin
Book Series:
Stolen Empire, #1
Publishing Date:
October 7, 2014
Publisher:
Clean Teen Publishing
Date Read:
July 8, 2015

Synopsis

ONE GIRL WILL BRING AN EMPIRE TO ITS KNEES... Before she can become the greatest empress in history, fifteen-year-old Sophie will have to survive her social-climbing mother’s quest to put her on the throne of Russia—at any cost. Imperial Court holds dangers like nothing Sophie has ever faced before. In the heart of St. Petersburg, surviving means navigating the political, romantic, and religious demands of the bitter Empress Elizabeth and her handsome, but sadistic nephew, Peter. Determined to save her impoverished family—and herself—Sophie vows to do whatever is necessary to thrive in her new surroundings. But an attempt on her life and an unexpected attraction threatens to derail her plans. Alone in a new and dangerous world, learning who to trust and who to charm may mean the difference between becoming queen and being sent home in shame to marry her lecherous uncle. With traitors and murderers lurking around every corner, her very life hangs in the balance. Betrothed to one man but falling in love with another, Sophie will need to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in order to become the empress she is destined to be. In a battle for the soul of a nation, will love or destiny reign supreme?

My Review

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I started reading this.  The cover is absolutely beautiful, and I won’t lie – it definitely made me want to read this.  Then I read the description of the book, and it … Continue reading

4.5 stars
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Book Title:
Prophecy (Legacy #2)
Book Author:
Ellery Kane
Book Series:
Legacy, #2
Publishing Date:
May 29th, 2015
Publisher:
Dog Ear Publishing
Date Read:
June 30, 2015

Synopsis

Over a year has passed since Lex Knightley journeyed alone into desolate San Francisco. The Guardian Force is disbanded, emotion-altering drugs banned, and citizens allowed to return to the seemingly resurrected city. For Lex, life is almost normal, but normal is precarious. Normal has a way of falling apart. One rainy night changes everything. Out on parole, Quin McAllister's father is arrested for the brutal murder of his new wife. As the Resistance resurges, claiming a conspiracy, Lex doesn't know what-or who-to believe. When old enemies resurface in new disguises and trusted friends start keeping secrets, normal splits right down the middle, leaving Lex and Quin on opposite sides. Prophecy-the second novel of Ellery Kane's Legacy trilogy-continues the story of Lex and Quin, testing the strength of friendship, forgiveness, and love.

My Review

If you haven’t read the first book in the Legacy series, you should go check out the review for it here.  There might be some spoilers here that you might not want to read before reading the first book. This … Continue reading

5 stars
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I have had the wonderful opportunity of doing an author interview with Ellery Kane, author of the amazing Legacy series. About Ellery Kane: About Ellery Kane: In my real (non-fiction) life, I work as a forensic psychologist in the San … Continue reading

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