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The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

Book Review by Elizabeth Marsh

In Lisa Mangum's debut novel, we meet Abby Edwards, a vivacious girl who has started to tire of her safe, predicable life. She is dating the perfect boyfriend -- her next door neighbor and the boy her parents have wanted her to marry since their introduction at four years old. Her college plans, but not her dreams, coincide nicely with what her best friends have decided to do. Underneath it all, however, she longs to live a "Life without Limits".

When Dante Alexander, a foreign exchange student from Italy, shows up unexpectedly, Abby's world is shaken. Not only is she drawn to the mysterious Dante, but she starts to notice that time seems to shift around him. Dante is soon joined by Zero Hour, a popular band that is somehow connected to Dante and whom disaster follows. Abby is shaken to realize that History lives among us, and that Time may be more fluid than she ever thought possible.

Lisa Mangum did a good job with her first novel. The characters are somewhat reminiscent of the Twilight characters, but Abby has more spunk, Dante has a more innocuous secret, and the villains are more terrifying in their own way. While the book itself is a little adjective-heavy, it's a quick, engaging read. Mangum has announced that The Hourglass Door is one of three in the series, and the characters are all engaging enough to warrant continuing with the series.
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The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Review by Elizabeth Marsh

Each fantastic storyline starts with a basic “what if” question. What if … Peter Pan grew up? What if … children of feuding families fell in love? What if … Sherlock Holmes really existed? What would he do after he retired? Can you really picture the best deductive mind in history raising bees? Laurie R. King’s first Beekeeper novel addresses these questions from the eyes of his accidental apprentice, fifteen-year-old Mary Russell, an orphaned, English-American who happens to (quite literally) bump into Holmes shortly after arriving in England.
Holmes takes the orphaned Russell under his wing, teaching her the art of analytical thinking and preparing her for whatever may come. Unfortunately, what comes is a ghost from Holmes' past, and one that he may no longer be able to defeat ... with or without the assistance of his new apprentice.

As an avid fan of anything Sherlock Holmes, I’m shocked it took me so long to find this book. King is a masterful author, fully immersing the reader in the world of Russell and Holmes, while injecting new life into a classic character—without changing the essence of Holmes. She even pokes fun at the Doyle novels through Holmes’ disparaging remarks as to their publication. Thrilling, suspenseful, and good-humored, this has quickly become one of my favorites. Be warned, this is the first in a series of nine. I was reluctant to read the second book, fearing that it couldn’t measure up to the first, but I was pleasantly surprised. What’s more, these books are shockingly clean – something that is becoming more of a rarity than one would suppose.