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| Reading Level: | New Adult |
| Format: | EBook |
| Publisher: | Self-Published 10/5/11 |
| Parasols: | 4 |
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I can't remember how I found this book, I think it might've been mentioned on twitter or goodreads, but I'm glad I did find it. Toni Aleo writes with such passion and her storytelling is getting stronger with each book. This one is the first in what I hope is a long line of series. The hockey team is really the star of the show and Toni can write the best hockey scenes I've read to date. She's a true hockey fan (and hey, she loves the Bruins so she's awesome!)
Elli Fisher is a depressed, sad and lonely woman who is tired of the abuses she suffers at the hands of her family and the men in her life. When her uncle hires her to photograph the Lord Stanley Cup winning Nashville's Assassin's Hockey Team, of course she jumps at the chance. She's a huge hockey fan, and it doesn't hurt that her uncle owns the team!
Shea Adler is the hunky star of the team who is tired of the bumbling bimbos and unsatisfying sexual experiences. When he meets Elli, he instantly knows that this is a person that he wants to know. However, things become really complicated when Elli backs off and is afraid to allow Shea into her life. She's been a huge Shea Adler fan and kinda wears that on her sleeve, as in in her house and how she dresses for games.
Elli has a sister who is the most despicable person on earth or wait, that might just be her mother. Both of them are horrible. When Elli's uncle gives her the team, she has to separate love and business and may just have to let Shea go because the two can't comingle.
Toni scores a hat trick with her three published books so far. I know that people are skittish about indie pubbed books out there, but there are so many good ones that I say give them a chance, I did and I'm happier for it. I've met a wonderful lady in Toni and I'm so happy that her books are doing so awesome. I had no problem giving this book 4 parasols because I just loved all the characters. Even if you're not a hockey fan, but you love a realistic romance, definitely get this book.
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| Reading Level: | Young Adult |
| Format: | EBook |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Kids 7/17/12 |
| Parasols: | 4 |
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Jeannine Garsee captures the essence of mental breakdowns and ghostly encounters with grace. Rinn Jacobs is a 16 year old girl who is bi-polar. And because of this, she is to blame for the death of grandmother who died in a fire under mysterious circumstances. So mom and Rinn leave California and move across the country to her mom's hometown in podunk Ohio.
Once she arrives in Ohio strange things begin to happen. She meets up with some friends who are really mean girls in disguise. But she does meet the kindly-hearted Nate who takes an instant liking to the feisty Corinne. However, once Rinn finds out about Annaliese, she becomes obsessed with finding out more about her and the circumstances of her death twenty years earlier.
When strange things begin to happen to Rinn's friends, she believes that Annaliese is haunting them, but some people think that Rinn is imagining everything because she's not exactly the most mentally stable person in the world. Even Nate begins to question Rinn and her illness.
I absolutely enjoyed this story and I read several versions of this, but the finished product was perfect. I read an advanced copy so not a completely clean copy, but the message and the hysteria of the novel was dead on. You never knew if Rinn was just going crazy or if she was really seeing things that Annaliese wanted her to see. Rinn is not a very reliable nor credible main character, you're constantly second guessing yourself especially with the way that Garsee writes. Being a nurse for a busy psychiatric ward in Downtown Cleveland probably gives you more than enough credibility to write with such aplomb. The ending of the book is by far once of the more scariest and unbelievable turn of events that I've ever read and it will remind you of that final secret in THE SIXTH SENSE. I remember finishing the book and just sitting there with mouth wide open wondering what the hell. Damn you, Jeannine!
If you like a ghost story, a human interest story and one that has a slight love angle, then you'll really love this book. It's creepy, scary and downright bizarre in a good way. The twists and turns keep the reader on edge and you will find no cheese between those pages. You get pulled into the story and feel like you are Rinn and all her craziness.
I highly recommend this one and with the Halloween season coming upon us, it'll be a great time to dive into THE UNQUIET. It just might scare the bejeezus out of you.
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| Reading Level: | Young Adult |
| Hardcover: | EBook |
| Publisher: | Del Rey 10/18/11 |
| Parasols: | 4 |
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During BEA, I could not stop talking about this book. Everyone seems to be on a steampunk kick, including me. But this one is a bit different. Let me explain: First of all, it's Victoriana, Steampunk, Sci-fi, and it includes, and don't faint, extremely hot zombies. Yep, I said it, hot zombies. Oh, more surprises? it takes place in the year 2195!
Abraham Griswold "Bram" is a punk miner on the outskirts of the very Victorian New London, which just so happens to be in South America because the rest of the world has died off. Bram and his best friend Jack are killed within the opening moments of the book; attacked by unknown forces that are really not explained.
Nora Dearly, is your proper Victorian young lady. Her dresses are the right length, her parasol is perfect, her boots laced up nice and tight. Yet, she can wield a digidiary and cell phone like the best of them. Yet, Miss Dearly is an orphan living with an aunt who has lost all their money. It's been one year since her father's passing and she is coming home for the Christmas Festivities. However, her stay with her aunt is short-lived. She is attacked by zombies trying to kill her and wanted by zombies who need to protect her.
Pamela Roe is a girl of no station and is Nora's best friend. She seems more like a handmaiden to the lovely Miss Dearly, but they love each other equally. So when Nora goes missing, she does what she can to find out who took her and why. Pamma is one of those strong characters that I can really get behind. Her family may not be rich, and her brother might be annoying, but she loves them and Nora and would do anything to protect them. Even if it means crossing paths with zombies.
Nora's life is turned around in a matter of seconds when a group of Z Company zombies take her to their camp and inform her that her father is not dead, but undead and has gone missing when he found out his daughter's life is danger. Bram is the one person that seems to get Nora's attention and even though he is undead, he helps her understand what is going on and why they are what they are.
The language that Lia Habel uses made me feel like I really was in 1800's London, not some society three hundred years in the future. Nora's choice of words endear her to the members of Z Company, and not just because her dad is what created them. A Laz virus infected some people and when they were bit, they died and if you came back to life right away, you still kept all your facilities. Dr. Dearly created a way to keep their bodies mobile and supple so they weren't just losing limbs or various other bodily necessities. Complications arise when Nora and Bram start to fall for each other. A human and zombie? That is just not done. But there is humanity within Bram, and because he died so young (16), he still wants to experience things like love and devotion. Especially when he was so cruelly turned out by his family who now think of him as a monster.
While Pam is doing everything in her power to find Nora, she is burdened with the task of realizing that Zombies took Nora and she may not be alive. B
I assume like Jace, Will has a sad back story. I can't wait to find out! Glad the book carries on the greatness from book one. :)